A roundtable discussion focusing on the racial and economic challenges facing the City of New Haven will be held Tuesday, April 8, 2-4:30 p.m., at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, 77 Prospect St. Among the panelists will be local activists and representatives of government and the private sector.
"Race, Politics and Community Development in New Haven" will explore issues such as the major social and economic problems facing the city; which groups make up the majority of New Haven's poor; the state of race relations in the city; the economic well-being of the city's neighborhoods and their importance to New Haven's future; and the roles that local government and black and Latino businesses play in ensuring decent living conditions in New Haven.
Panelists include businesswoman Bea Dozier-Taylor; the Reverend Boise Kimber of the Black Ministerial Alliance; former judge Harvey Kiozim, chair of the New Haven Redevelopment Commission; education activist Curlina MacDonald; banker George Perez; Alma Ayala, director of human resources for the city of New Haven; Thomas Ficklin, editor of Inner City newspaper; and Lisa Garcia, graduate student in political science at Yale.
The panel was organized and will be facilitated by James Jennings, visiting professor of political science and director of the Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. As part of his work at the institute, "we do a lot of these forums, connecting the university and the community," says Professor Jennings. "We've been having them for about 14 or 15 years. They've impacted heavily on public policy and on the way government does business."
He says he saw the need for the same kind of vehicle in New Haven. "A lot of the issues are similar," observes Professor Jennings, who teaches a graduate seminar at Yale titled "Race, Ethnicity and Urban Politics." He notes that "New Haven is going through a demographic revolution of sorts. The question arises: How do you balance New Haven's economic development with a poverty rate that is one of the highest in the nation? As New Haven moves forward to remain economically viable, how does it do it in a way that responds to its working class? ... I will be very interested in the dialogue that takes place."
"Race, Politics and Community Development in New Haven" is being sponsored by the department of political science and the Center for the Study of Race, Inequality & Politics. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the political science department at 432-5238.