Purpose Built Communities today announced the participants selected for its third cohort of the Truist Foundation Racial Equity Ambassadors Program. … Continue Reading →
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Purpose Built Communities Statement on the Derek Chauvin Verdict
Purpose Built Communities believes that we cannot address the root causes of poverty without directly addressing race and the continuing impacts of systemic racism. As a result, racial equity is one of the main lenses through which we view and do our work. Yesterday’s guilty verdict for George Floyd’s murderer was a long overdue step … Continue Reading →
S2 BONUS: The Myth of De Facto Segregation
It’s been a convenient diversion from the truth that’s been told since Reconstruction - that the segregation we’ve seen and continue to see in America is just the effects of private individual biases and incidents of discrimination, rather than codified in law. But, when we look at the facts, that myth breaks down pretty quickly with the abundant examples of policies in local, state, and federal government across the country that explicitly discriminated against African Americans.
In this bonus episode, Richard Rothstein and Shirley Franklin, former Executive Board Chair of Purpose Built Communities discuss the history and myth of de facto segregation in America - and what it will take to reverse the toxic effects of that history. Listen
Locking Up Human Capital
More Americans are sent to jail than ever before in human history. Most of them are young, African American men living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. Mass incarceration devastates the communities where it has removed a generation of residents, with long-term impacts for generations.
Dr. Todd Clear, professor at Rutgers University's School of Criminal Justice, presented to the Purpose Built Communities annual conference in Orlando in 2018 about how over-incarceration impoverishes communities, hurts our country, and ultimately fails to achieve its original goal - to deter criminal behavior and lower the overall crime rate. Listen
Personal Relationship with Race
Institutional racism does not just impact people who are old enough to vote and have a job. It's a lifelong reality from birth to death, and it's taught, reinforced and perpetuated when our students are in America's classrooms.
Dr. Beverly Tatum, president emerita of Spelman College and bestselling author, talked with the Purpose Built Communities' Michelle Matthews in Omaha in 2017 about how people of different ages discuss race - starting as students in the classroom - and how a deeper understanding and a servant approach to the discussion can help break down the barriers of segregation. Listen
Racism Exacts a Cost
Two weeks before the 2016 election, there was an immediacy and urgency when Dr. David Williams, professor of public health, African and African American studies, and sociology at Harvard University, shared his research on the clear connection between race, socioeconomic status and health at the Purpose Built Communities annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama. His work is even more relevant now in the face of public attacks from our leaders and those emboldened by racist rhetoric on communities of color and immigrants in our country. Listen
Season 2 Trailer
Too many communities are failing in America. Millions of people are trapped in poverty, fighting for their American Dream. And racism is at the core of why poverty is concentrated in some neighborhoods and not others, why the American Dream can be out of reach for so many of us. We must attack the underlying discrimination baked into our system throughout America's history to help communities become places where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Listen
Season 1 Trailer
Why does it seem as if poverty is segregated to certain neighborhoods? What’s the secret to addressing the root of intergenerational poverty? How can we bring in new investment while preserving the history and culture of a place? Join us to explore these questions and more. Listen
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Rev. Jeffrey Brown, Co-Founder, RECAP
In response to deaths from gang violence and the belief that faith-based organizations such as the church should respond, Rebuilding Every Community Around Peace (RECAP) was formed. RECAP is a partnership that leverages the expertise developed by Rev. Jeffrey Brown’s over 20 years of experience of gang mediation and intervention, and police/community relations in the US and around the world. Watch
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Florentine Films – David McMahon discusses films of social consequence
Florentine Films has produced some of the most acclaimed documentary films ever made, including Ken Burns’ “The Civil War” and “The Dust Bowl.” David McMahon, producer of “The Central Park Five” and “Jackie Robinson” shared clips from these films and discussed their social and cultural significance in American life. Watch
