Getting things started! #LC25Years

We kicked things off here in DC for Closing the Racial Gaps with an exploration of the head and the heart. Living Cities Board Chair, Rip Rapson of the Kresge Foundation, and Living Cities CEO Ben Hecht began the day by asking us to be provocative and undergo a process of self reflection to better understand how we can help close the racial gaps in wealth, income and education across our country.

Ben talked about his journey to better understand racial equity and systemic racism, and how Living Cities as an organization has begun to take steps internally and externally to better confront racial equity. Ben also discussed how we need to leverage all of the tools at our disposal — grants and capital — to have a more “democratic capitalist” system.

We quickly moved on to activating the heart with two powerful performances from Mahogany Browne and Crystal Valentine, both spoken word poets. They delivered emotional, inspiring pieces on what it means to be black in America and the impact of systemic racism on the lives of individual Americans. They got the crowd thinking about how our work can and should change the day-to-day of everyone in this country.

Bringing it back to the head, Brooking’s Bill Frey then presented about the massive demographic shifts occurring across the country. He noted that this change is both a challenge, as many people of color currently have dramatically less wealth and income than the white majority, but also an opportunity, as the younger, more diverse generation could strengthen and grow our economy in ways never seen.

Stay tuned for more here on Medium, on Twitter using #LC25Years, and our Facebook live stream.

As part of our 25th anniversary celebrations, Living Cities is hosting a Virtual Event for our broader network to engage in critical conversation around Closing Racial Opportunity Gaps. We encourage you to tune-in, share your thoughts, provide feedback, and partake in conversation with participants.