AKRON, OHIO — Leah and Richard Rothstein, authors of “Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law,” will be giving a talk on Friday, May 10 at 7 pm in the Akron Main Library Auditorium. “Just Action,” published last year, is meant as “a blueprint for concerned citizens and community leaders” to address ongoing issues caused by housing segregation. This authors’ talk event will be the culmination of multiple events that will raise awareness of housing inequities in our community.
In preparation of the main event, Fair Housing Contact Service (FHCS), in collaboration with the Akron-Summit County Public Library, and other community organizations, will recognize April as Fair Housing Month through a Community Reads book discussion about “Just Action” on April 10 at 6pm at the Highland Square library branch location. This discussion will allow attendees to discuss points of the book that inspire and challenge them, as well as share with others who are just learning about the book, all prior to the authors’ talk. If you cannot make the book discussion prior to the events, please join on May 14 at 1:30pm the Ellet Branch for a follow-up Community Reads book discussion. You can also find the discussion guide at https://www.akronlibrary.org/just-action for you to host your own book discussion!
Richard Rothstein’s best-selling and award-winning book, “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” (2017), is the prelude to “Just Action,” outlining the origins of housing segregation. FHCS has been addressing housing issues around the Akron area for 59 years and recognizes the Rothsteins’ works as pivotal for moving toward housing equity.
“The housing concerns around eviction, poor conditions, affordability, and continued segregation have a direct connection to the actions of our past. Identifying a way forward to housing equity is rooted in understanding out past so we do not repeat it. We celebrate Fair Housing Month as a way to remember the past and act for our future,” said FHCS Executive Director, Tammy Skipper.
In addition to the Community Reads event and the authors’ talk, a housing legal clinic and a special screening of “Doubled Up,” a documentary exploring homelessness affecting Akron Public Schools students, will be hosted on May 8 and May 9 respectively. Both programs will be at the Main Library and are free and open to the public.
The Just Action series has been planned in coordination with the following presenting sponsors: East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, Fair Housing Contact Service, Living Water Association of the United Church of Christ (Ohio NorthEast), and the Akron-Summit County Public Library. The Just Action series offers facilitated discussions of a local issue: housing inequality.
###
The Akron-Summit County Public Library provides resources for learning and leisure, information services, meeting spaces, and programs for all ages that support, improve, and enrich individual, family, and community life. The Library's official service area includes the City of Akron and all of Summit County except for Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Peninsula, Stow-Munroe Falls, and Twinsburg, which are served by independent libraries.
