Tag African American

Brave Voices Brave Choices, with the brown woven image in corner

Films for Change & Racial Equity Report

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The Shared Legacy movie poster is all in grey scale, with a photo of a Black family shown on top and a Jewish family in the middle, with an African proverb separating them: If the lion does not tell his story, the hunter will.

Thursday, January 12
5 pm: film
7 pm: discussion
HCLS Miller Branch

Registration required.

Shared Legacies depicts inspirational African American and Jewish collaboration in the 60s Civil Rights era, shows that connection changing, and calls for it to be renewed in light of “divisive seeds of hate taking root anew in the American landscape.”

After viewing, participants and panelists from the African American and Jewish communities ask:

  • Can the legacy continue? How can our communities move forward with a shared agenda to promote racial equity in Howard County, as well as fight for an inclusive economy, education, and healthcare for all, and the equitable dispensation of justice?
  • Is there a joint role in the era of mass-incarceration and the post-January 6th America?
  • Can we move from friction (like that surrounding Ye and Kyrie Irving) to relationship and shared action?

The discussion will be informed by the local report recently released by HCLS: Inequity Within: Issues of Inequity Across Communities.

Films for Change is a series of documentaries about racial equity, each followed by panels featuring local leaders and organizations. Sponsored by the Horizon Foundation.  

In partnership with the African American Community Roundtable, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Howard County, The Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission, and the Howard County NAACP.

Inequity Within Report

Over the last two years, Howard County Library System engaged more than 600 people in racial equity training. Using national data about disparities across education, health, housing, and legal systems, the trainers found that racial inequity looks the same across systems, socioeconomic difference does not explain racial inequity, and systems contribute significantly to disparities.
Howard County Library System’s new Inequities Within: Issue of Inequity Across Communities report examines the racial equity landscape in Howard County and across the state of Maryland. The data show disparities across education, healthcare, housing, economic, and legal systems for every racial group.

Page 10 of the Inequity Within report, showing bar graphs, titled "Jurisdictional Comparison of Socioeconomic Indicators".

In Howard County, for example:

  • Black residents are three times more likely to be denied a home loan than non-Hispanic white residents.
  • Hispanic students are 5.4 times more likely than white students to skip school because they felt unsafe.
  • Asian residents in the county are 1.8 times more likely to face poverty than non-Hispanic white residents.

As one of the wealthiest, healthiest, and most diverse communities in the state and the US, the belief that racial inequity does not exist here can be a hindrance to addressing those disparities.

We invite you to read the report, educate yourself, and join with us and others in this work.

For opportunities to learn more and discuss with community members, check here for classes and events.

Funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Maryland State Library Agency

Cover of Michael Twitty's new book shows him in formal vest and tie, sitting at a table covered in braided bread, reading a book.

Author Works with Michael Twitty

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Portrait of Michael W. Twitty, wearing a zip-up hoodie and touching his beard.

Thursday, Aug 11 from 7 – 8 pm at Miller Branch.

Please register to attend. Limited seats.
Register at bit.ly/twittyhcls

In partnership with the Howard County Jewish Federation and Baltimore Jewish Council

In his new book KosherSoul, Michael Twitty, author of the acclaimed The Cooking Gene (read a review), explores the cultural crossroads of Jewish and African diaspora cuisine and issues of memory, identity, and food.

Twitty examines the creation of African/Jewish global food as a conversation of migrations, a dialogue of diasporas, and the rich background for people who participate in it. At the same time, he shares recipes for Southern culinary touchstones like apple barbecue sauce, watermelon and feta salad, and collard green lasagna, while blending the traditions of his mixed identity into new creations such as Louisiana style latkes and kush. KosherSoul is more than a cookbook, it’s an exploration of selfhood when born at a crossroads of race.

The question is not just who makes the food and who it belongs to, but how food makes the people, reflects the journey, and validates the existence of these marginalized identities. Twitty aims to move beyond the idea of Jews of Color as outliers, but as significant and meaningful cultural creators in both Black and Jewish civilizations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A highly sought-after speaker and consultant, Twitty has appeared on programs with Andrew Zimmern, Henry Louis Gates, Padma Lakshmi, and most recently on Michelle Obama’s Waffles and Mochi.

He is a TED Fellow and was just named as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. His first MasterClass course, “Tracing Your Roots Through Food,” is now available. Over the past year he has partnered with Atlas Obscura to teach multiple online seminars and was the first guest on a new web series for their food division. Michael will also be a Consulting Producer on a new food competition program coming soon from OWN. He lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.