Black History Month Community Conversation: Finance, Housing & Education | Dismantling the Roadblocks to Equality

Join the Amistad Center for Arts & Culture on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. for our Black History Month Community Conversation: Finance, Housing & Education | Dismantling the Roadblocks to Equality. Local leaders will discuss historical barriers in finance, housing and education and their impact on African American upward mobility in Connecticut. They will also address how some of the barriers have been dismantled.  These themes are also explored in our current exhibition, Changing Lanes: Mobility in Connecticut.

Connecticut has a long and complicated history related to African American mobility. The United States created barriers by law and because of prejudice for African Americans in travel, housing, education, and excessive policing. Over many generations, this inequality generated responses from local community members and activists to encourage positive change.

The exhibit, inspired by Gretchen Sullivan Sorin’s Book, Driving While Black, explores the successes, struggles, and ongoing efforts of activists fighting for racial equity in Connecticut. But the question remains: What barriers still exist today, and how can we eliminate them?

Our conversation will be moderated by David Hopkins, President & CEO, Urban League of Greater Hartford.

Our speakers are:
• Shawn Wooden, Treasurer, State of Connecticut
• Fiona Vernal, PhD, Director of Engaged, Public, Oral and Community Histories (EPOCH) and Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies, University of Connecticut
• Lori-Anne Lawton, CRCM, Corporate CRA & Fair and Responsible Banking Officer, Webster Bank
• AJ Johnson, Pastor & Community Activist, Urban Hope Refuge Church

To register for this virtual event, go to: Black History Month Community Conversation: Finance, Housing & Education | Dismantling the Roadblocks to Equality | The Amistad Center