DIANE DANIELS AND HER SUPPORTERS … (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)

She’s written for the New Pittsburgh Courier for decades.

She’s very, very, very well-respected in the Pittsburgh (and of course, McKeesport) communities.

Her business acumen, her community service, and her tireless ability to be everywhere all the time has been recognized with the “Distinguished Neighbor Servant Leader” award from the City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office and City Councilman Khari Mosley, of the Ninth District.

COUNCILMAN KHARI MOSLEY AND MAYOR ED GAINEY WITH DIANE DANIELS

Before Daniels could even get to the podium to speak in Mayor Ed Gainey’s office, May 16, she had to sit there and take in all the wonderful comments said about her by her endless line of supporters — Melvin Hubbard El, Councilman Mosley, Mayor Gainey, Twanda Carlisle, Kevin Cooper, Daniels’ younger sister Sharee Daniels, Lytia Brock, Shirlene Wilson, Karen Denton, Arthur Jim Balthrop, Tina Cassidy, Anthony Hopson, and Daniels’ brother Nick Marlin Daniels.

Those many people can’t be wrong.

DIANE DANIELS AT THE PODIUM …

Diane I. Daniels, 69, was raised in the tough-nosed town of McKeesport, and graduated from McKeesport Area High School. She left Pittsburgh to attend college at Wilberforce University, near Dayton, Ohio. Upon graduation, she returned to the Pittsburgh area and, in 1978, became the first Black, full-time reporter at the McKeesport Daily News. At the same time, she began her long run as a freelance writer for the Courier.

In an interview with the Courier, she said breaking barriers at the McKeesport Daily News was aided by retired Justice Cynthia Baldwin and the late Dr. Major Mason, who demanded that African Americans work at the newspaper.

Today, Diane Daniels is the executive director of the East Hills Consensus Group and owns DiD Associates, a public relations/marketing firm.

“Boy, what a day, and look at God,” Diane Daniels said at the podium on May 16. “This is truly an honor.”

Daniels continued: “I’ve met three U.S. Presidents, shared spaces with entertainers and athletes, and have received many honors, but today tops them all. As I look around the room, there are people that represents mostly every component of my life — family, friends, my university, my church, Manchester…”

Diane Daniels brought up Manchester because she worked for the Manchester Citizens Corporation starting in 1979, and all the community work that she does now, she learned it at MCC.

Mayor Gainey said at the podium that Diane Daniels “has left a mark that will be hard to be matched in our community,” and that she has a “relentless dedication for her community.”

“I was honored and humbled,” Diane Daniels told the Courier after the ceremony. “I was just overwhelmed by the comments that the people made, and in my life, I just feel I’m doing the work I’m supposed to do.”