Events: Come together to understand the forces that pull us apart

As a country, we must grapple with the ways our social system continues to divide us by race. This Thursday, September 19 from 6 to 7:30 pm, you can join an important conversation at the Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) (740 15th Street Northwest, Suite 300) together with the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) asking “Who gets to live where? Who goes to school with whom? Will our government push us apart or pull us together?”

You’ll hear from Lawrence Lanahan, journalist and author of “The Lines Between Us: Two Families and a Quest to Cross Baltimore’s Racial Divide,” as well as from Cara McClellan, NAACP LDF Assistant Counsel and author of the report “Our Girls, Our Future: Investing in Opportunity & Reducing Reliance on the Criminal Justice System in Baltimore.”

The event will address how “segregation continues to divide American neighborhoods and public schools. School desegregation plans have been dismantled, and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development recently moved to weaken the Disparate Impact standard, one of the most powerful legal tools available to counter residential segregation and other forms of discrimination.” Register to attend here.

Other events from around the region:

Tuesday, September 17

SackJack: Shark Tank edition and protest: #SackJack will be holding a rally to demand that the Council hold Jack Evans accountable for his corruption. There will also be street theater, with a live episode of “Shark Tank DC Edition,” where Jack Evans will pitch eager executives on his lobbying business!

Following the action, join us in the Wilson Building to deliver petition signatures and demand Jack is removed from all Council committees. If you can’t attend make sure to sign up to call Phil Mendelson’s office tomorrow to demand he do more to restore public trust in the Council. Click here to sign up!

Rapidly transit yourself to a BRT meeting: From 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Bryant High School (2709 Popkins Lane, Alexandria, VA), find out how “Fairfax County is implementing a bus rapid transit (BRT) system along North Kings Highway and Richmond Highway from Huntington Metrorail Station to Fort Belvoir. The project team will share information about the system design and potential property impacts. Get more information here.

Friday, September 20

Add some pillars to develop your community: From 12 to 1:30 pm either online via Zoom or in-person at the University of the District of Columbia (Building 32, 2nd Floor, Suite 200, 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW), enjoy a free “seminar that explores the Five Pillars of Economic Development: A Storytelling Approach to Sustainable Economic Empowerment and Development.

UDC researchers convened a daylong meeting in 2015 with Ward 7 and Ward 8 residents to discuss their visions for their community, based on the Five Pillars of Economic Development approach pioneered by Dr. O’Hara. Residents reconvened in 2016 to provide feedback on preliminary findings from the 2015 discussion. Dr. O’Hara has completed the “Five Pillars” research report, and cordially invites community members to a discussion of the findings.” Sign up to attend here.

Check out more urbanist events at ggwash.org/calendar. Do you have an event you’d like to see featured in the weekly events post? Submit it here!