Panel Discussion: Racial Justice in Work & Business

Creating a Racially Just Community
A Panel Conversation Series

In June 2020, Portsmouth’s City Council passed a Resolution declaring Portsmouth a Racial Justice Municipality. What does that mean to you?

Join the Portsmouth Public Library a year on, for a three-week online conversation series on racial justice in our community and beyond. This series is co-hosted with Black Heritage Trail New Hampshire and sponsored in part by Kennebunk Savings, with additional support from Piscataqua Savings Bank.

We will offer three panel conversations on racial justice featuring Seacoast leaders, educators, business owners and activists. Panels will be moderated by library staff, with time for Q&A so members of our community can chime in.

Panel Discussion: Racial Justice in Work & Business
Wednesday June 23 | 7 - 8 PM

Local business owners and public employees will discuss what racial justice looks like at work and in our local economy.

More about our panelists:

Moderator Courtney Marshall is a scholar of African-American literature and Black feminism.  She currently teaches English at Phillips Exeter Academy where she also serves as Associate Dean of Advising.

Latonya Wallace manages a branch of Bangor Savings Bank, sits on the Portsmouth Public Library’s Board of Trustees, and is a Board Member of the Black Heritage Trail New Hampshire and founder of a non-profit, Purseverance 207. When Latonya isn’t working at her full-time job, parenting her children singlehandedly, or immersing herself in civic activities, she is building bridges; lighting the way along a nuanced path that will bring people together. Latonya has spent 20 years in the banking industry which has set the stage for who she is as a professional today.

Jay McSharry is a local restaurateur with ownership in Jumpin’ Jay’s Fish Café, Moxy, Vida Cantina, The Franklin, Street, Luigi’s West End Pizzeria, Ore Nell’s Barbecue, The Railpenny Tavern, Mr. Kim’s, Dos Amigos, as well as other projects on the Seacoast. In 2020, Jay was named James Beard Award semifinalist in the Outstanding Restaurateur category. He is actively involved in the community and has served on the boards of Share our Strength, The Music Hall, The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth, and established the Diversity Scholarship at his alma mater, The University of New Hampshire.

Katie Czajkowski (she/her/hers) is the Special Collections librarian at the Portsmouth Public Library and the co-founder of the library's Taskforce for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (TIDE). The group was formed in June 2020 as a space for library staff to discuss social justice issues and to critically examine the library's role in serving the Portsmouth community. Before starting at the library in 2018, Katie was studying wine and working in the food and beverage industry here on the Seacoast while earning a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons College. She was adopted from South Korea and raised in central Massachusetts.

Don't miss the other events in the series! Free and open to all. Register for one or all, and join the discussion.

Registration required – sign up for each event to receive a Zoom link.

Questions? Write to us at libraryevents@cityofportsmouth.com.