“People say if your schools are better, your community would be better,” says Cooper Reed. “I say, if your community is better, schools would be better.”
“If we elders are the foundation,” asks Jacque, “what are we helping the next generation build on it?”
“One of my dreams is that we listen to the children,” says Jacque. “They are dreaming their own future. They don’t need us to dream it for them.”
Cooper Reed agrees. She is inspired by young people. “They are so caring, so not egotistical, so smart. It’s their turn, and they’re using their gifts.”
0:55
Urban Consulate Presents: Black Future City wants to know what a thriving community might look like through the imaginations of Black visionaries and changemakers. The objective is to center Black voices in visioning a more vibrant, equitable and vivacious city life, says Naimah Bilal, program host and co-host of Urban Consulate Cincinnati.
Urban Consulate is a network of salons across the country that host conversations about civic issues and social life. In Cincinnati, the salons (in non-COVID times) are held at the Mercantile Library.
Topics during
Black Future City will broadly cover a spectrum of equity issues. Part of the discussion will be framed by the question What does a vibrant city look like? Bilal says. And further, How can we apply a universal design principle to city building? That is, the principle that centers the needs of those who are oft forgotten and often the most vulnerable.