Women & Politics: Sharing our Platform for Racial Equity: Ep 2: Public Housing

For the next 6 weeks, Women & Politics is on a break and sharing our platform with Ebony Guy and her Racial Essays podcasts and interview series. You can find them at: https://richmondracialequityessays.com/podcast

In this podcast, urban planner and diversity, equity and inclusion consultant Ebony Walden talks with 15 Richmonders from all walks of life and sectors to explore their visions for an equitable Richmond, especially as it relates to racial equity, and the strategies that will help us get there. We hope this can be a model for discussion in other U.S. cities.

Today we listen to Episode 2: Patrice Shelton and Sherrell Thompson converse with Ebony about their personal and professional experiences with public housing and as community health workers. From their perspective, racial equity requires better access to health resources and affordable housing for low to moderate-income Richmonders.

Ebony Walden is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Ebony Walden Consulting (EWC), an urban strategy firm based in Richmond, Virginia. At EWC, she works with a wide range of organizations to design and facilitate meetings, training, strategic plans and community engagement processes that explore race, equity and the creation of more just and inclusive communities. Before founding EWC, Ebony worked in local government and for non-profit organizations dedicated to citywide and neighborhood level revitalization. Currently, Ebony is an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University where she teaches Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the City. Ebony’s work has been featured in The Hill, Richmond Times-Dispatchand The Nature of Cities. She holds a Masters in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Georgetown University. Inspired by The Just City Essays, Ebony Walden conceived the idea of an essay collection focused on Richmond (The Richmond Racial Equity Essays) in hopes of bringing together thought leadership and practice to advance racial equity in the region.

The Second half of the show brings back a discussion on housing with Stephanie Lynch, councilwoman of the 5th district; Rachelle Hunley, Manager of Bridging the Gap at VCU; and LaToya S. Gray, creator of Planned Destruction to talk about housing issues in Richmond. Discussion centers on the issues of homelessness in the city and the impact of red-lining and its contribution to the poverty and homelessness of the African-American community most specifically. Stephanie Lynch brings her experience in working within city government to attempt to make change, Rachelle and Carol bring their experience in working with victims of violence in our city and how violence and homelessness intersect, and LaToya describes her work on examining the history of land ownership, valuation and development in the City of Richmond and the maps used to destroy black communities.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Follow our show on our social media on twitter, facebook, and our blog – look for womenpoliticsva