FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 16, 2019
Contacts: Janet Denise Kelly, Sanctuary of Hope 323-786-2413 or [email protected]
A morning dedicated to crucial social justice conversations on racial inequality.
LOS ANGELES – Sanctuary of Hope, a local nonprofit youth development and human service organization, will convene its 2nd Annual Black Narrative Series event “Disrupting Disproportionality: The Black Narrative of Closing Inequity Gaps in Housing, Education, Employment and Wealth”, a crucial conversation on the impacts of structural and institutional racism for Black History Month on February 21, from 9 am- 12 pm at West Angeles Church of God In Christ in the Crystal Room, 3045 Crenshaw, Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016. Doors open at 8:45 am.
Disrupting Disproportionality will address closing inequity gaps in housing, education, employment, and wealth and dismantling drivers of racial disparities that result in negative outcomes for Black people. The event will consist of a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Anthony Samad, Executive Director of The Mervyn M. Dymally African American Political & Economic Institute at California State University Dominguez Hills. Panelists include: Chancela Al-Mansour of the Housing Rights Center of Southern California, Lori Gay of Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services, Malcolm Harris of the Black Worker Center, Mandla Kayise of New World Education, and Commissioner Mike Neely of the Los Angeles County Commission for Older adults. The morning will close with a presentation of “Young, Black, and Houseless”, a recent report on Black student homelessness in Los Angeles County by Earl Edwards, graduate researcher of UCLA Black Male Institute.
Racial inequality remains a dominant socio-economic reality for most Black people in America. In the area of wealth, the insidious persistent manifestation of racism has caused a great divide among Blacks and Whites in assets and income. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, it would take 228 years for Black families to earn the same amount of wealth as White families.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first landing of Africans at Jamestown to be sold into bondage. It also marks the year of uncompromising dismantling of 400 years of oppression and racial inequality.
“Dr. King said that racism occupied the throne of our nation. I believe that to be true today. As the 400th anniversary of Africans landing on American soil to be sold into slavery is upon us, all people are called to transform the health and lives of Black people,” explains Janet Denise Kelly, Executive Director of Sanctuary of Hope. “This community gathering is about liberation and disrupting systemic historical and intergenerational transfers of practices that influence social and economic opportunities.”
“Disrupting Disproportionality: The Black Narrative of Closing Inequity Gaps in Housing, Education, Employment, and Wealth” is a free community event. Attendees are asked to RSVP at www.thesoh.org/events.
About
Sanctuary of Hope
Sanctuary of Hope’s mission is to provide a caring and multi-cultural
approach to services that will help young adults become self-sufficient and
lead prosperous lives. For more information, visit the
organization’s website at www.thesoh.org.