By Rotary Service and Engagement Staff
We invite you to join Rotary’s service partner, Habitat for Humanity International, for a discussion on Friday, 22 January: +You: Building the Beloved Community. The event will be streamed live on YouTube from 12-1 p.m. EST.
Having recently marked the 35th anniversary of the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Habitat will reflect on Dr. King’s vision of “the Beloved Community” — a community that includes diversity and allows for tension undergirded by love and leads to transformation. As we look to turn the page on the last year — a year that compelled us to wrestle with the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and a legacy of systemic racism — how will we move forward to build that Beloved Community?
On Friday, 22 January at 12 p.m. EST, Habitat for Humanity will host +You: Building the Beloved Community, a virtual discussion about the opportunities before us and the challenges we must still overcome. Focus will be given to the role that safe, decent and affordable housing plays in the Beloved Community, and how organizations like Habitat can orient their work through an equity lens.
Participants will include:
- Thomas Wilson Mitchell, Law professor at Texas A&M University and 2020 MacArthur Fellow
- Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity International
- Natosha Reid Rice, Global diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, Habitat for Humanity International
This event builds on a conversation Habitat held in June, +You: How historic housing discrimination against Black Americans contributes to racial inequities today. In that discussion, featuring Color of Law author Richard Rothstein, the panel discussed how discriminatory housing practices such as redlining created multi-generational wealth gaps between white Americans, Black Americans, and other communities of color. Review that conversation at www.habitat.ngo/raceandhousing.
This event is part of an ongoing series about housing hosted by Habitat for Humanity. The +You series brings together experts from across the U.S. and around the world to discuss how housing intersects and interacts with other areas of societal concern including public health, racial equity, faith, and the economy. The conversation will be available here.
Service in Action 