In honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, please join us in
an open conversation to examine the causes, and explore potential
solutions, to the persistence of segregation in U.S. cities. With
a focus on Detroit, we welcome guest speakers for an informal
dialogue. Opening remarks by graduate planning student
Adam Kokenakes will be followed by an inspirational poem
from distinguished Detroit poet Melba J. Boyd.
The profession of urban planning has a long and storied history of
practices that have led to the exploitation of minority populations.
Policies such as racial steering, exclusionary zoning, redlining,
federally backed suburbanization, and urban disinvestment have
caused and exacerbated racial and economic segregation. Yet along
with urban planning's flawed history has been an openness to
new ideas, new perspectives, and the learning from past failures.
This event's conversation will analyze the impacts of segregation in
metropolitan Detroit through the lens of housing, the environment,
access to resources, and current 'revitalization" efforts. We will explore
potential solutions with the hope that through understanding the
causes and discussing the solutions we can plan for a better future.
PANELISTS:
Margaret Brown - Executive Director, Fair Housing
Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Charles Stokes - Community Organizer, Detroiters
Working for Environmental Justice
Alex B. Hill - Researcher, Wayne State University
and Community Health Worker in Detroit
Stacey Stevens - Race2Equity Program Manager
with The Michigan Roundtable
PERFORMANCE:
Melba J. Boyd - Poet, Chair of Africana Studies
at Wayne State University
Light refreshments will be provided.
Co-sponsored by the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the University of Michigan Library.
