Preserving Black Exodus: The Story of Black Westward Expansion and the Hope of a Black Utopia

Join the Center for Law, Equity and Race (CLEAR), for a symposium led by Caleb Gayle, CLEAR Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Journalism and Africana Studies at Northeastern University.

April 22, 2024 | 3:00 - 5:00 PM EST | 204 Knowles

As much as is written about the Black experience in America, less has been preserved or amplified about Black Utopia building throughout the Old West. At one time, Oklahoma alone had 50 Black towns, while Kansas was advertised by Black builders, like Edward McCabe and Benjamin Pap Singleton, as a “Promised Land for Black People.”

Today, these towns must reach into their histories to reserve their memories. Join us to hear from leaders from and of these towns what legal, political, and cultural roadblocks standing in the way of these towns' preservation. Even more, we will examine the tools they have used to preserve these towns and this history.

Speakers:

Ashley Adams
Associate Adjunct Professor of Public Policy and Elinor Kilgore Snyder Endowed Professor, Northeastern University, Mills College 

Karen Ekuban
CEO, Cartek Properties, LLC 

Senator Kevin Matthews
(D-OK) Chair of the Oklahoma Senate Democratic (Minority) Caucus