On December 4, 2018, SPARCC hosted a national convening that called on more than 300 activists, researchers, policy-makers, physicians, artists, investors and others from across the country to come together in conversation. We, the people, have the power of collective action to build inclusive communities. That was the message in Los Angeles at SPARCC’s national convening, Investment Without Displacement. The convening began by acknowledging the historical legacy of displacement and policies that have reinforced racial segregation and ended with solutions-based workshops that created a spirit of hope and the promise of collective action to address the challenges ahead.
The day opened with a blessing by three generations of the Tongva Tribe, whose Native ancestors inhabited the Los Angeles Basin, reminding us that displacement has a long history. Professors Manuel Pastor and john a. powell spoke of power and race and the cultural erasure that follows when families are pushed out because they can no longer afford their neighborhood. Watch their conversation below.
“Whiteness is about the organization of space… and this process of sorting people and resources is old. What’s new is you have an expression of inclusion but the practice of exclusion… It’s about erasing whiteness, not white people.”
-john a. powell, Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society
[For more on this story, go to http://www.sparcchub.org/iwd-2018/]
Comments (0)