“Beyond Forty Acres”: Land Ownership, and Black Wealth

Sunday, February 19, 2023
“Beyond Forty Acres”: Land Ownership, and Black Wealth
Location: Levenson Room, Portsmouth Public Library

In the 1930s and 1940s, as African Americans in urban centers like New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston began to establish themselves as part of the middle and upper-middle class, they flocked to the East Coast shoreline in summer to take in the beach and the bonfires.

For this conversation, panelists will share the history and personal stories of land ownership, discriminatory practices that have prevented wealth accumulation, and the enormous loss of farmland that Black families have experienced. Panelists will share stories of upwardly mobile Black communities and how they have recast the borders of white spaces. They will also discuss urban renewal and innovative ways Black New England farmers are reclaiming the land and sowing the seeds of health and empowerment.

Presenters:

Christle Rawllins-Jackson, President Beacon Hill Scholars, Boston, MA

Keith W. Stokes, Co-author “A Matter of Truth: The Struggle for African Heritage and Indigenous People Equal Rights in Providence, Rhode Island.”

Moderator:

Karen A. Spiller, Professor in Sustainability Food Systems, UNH, Durham, NH

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