Black Heritage Trail of NH Tea Talks — Beyond 40 Acres: Land Ownership and Black Wealth

In the 1930s and 1940s, as African Americans in urban centers like New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston began to establish themselves as part of the middle and upper-middle class, they flocked to the East Coast shoreline in summer to take in the beach and the bonfires.

For this conversation, panelists will share the history and personal stories of land ownership, discriminatory practices that have prevented wealth accumulation, and the enormous loss of farmland that Black families have experienced. Panelists will share stories of upwardly mobile Black communities and how they have recast the borders of white spaces. They will also discuss urban renewal and innovative ways Black New England farmers are reclaiming the land and sowing the seeds of health and empowerment.

Presenters: 

Lydia Clemmons, Medical Anthropologist, President Clemmons Family Farm Inc

Christle Rollins-Jackson, President Beacon Hill Scholars, Boston, MA

Keith W. Stokes, Co-author “A Matter of Truth: The Struggle for African Heritage and Indigenous People Equal Rights in Providence, Rhode Island.”

Moderator: Karen A. Spiller, Professor in Sustainability Food Systems, UNH, Durham, NH

Registration is required for both in-person and online participation. 

Register and find out more at https://blackheritagetrailnh.org/elinor-williams-hooker-tea-talks-2023/

For the 2023 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks Series, together we will create a safe space for meaningful interchanges, grounded in history and lived experience between different segments of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community. We will also investigate the current issues that continue to create tension in the community.

The Winter Tea Talks are a series of participatory panel presentations and discussions related to New Hampshire’s Black history and African American culture.