BRINKER’s Post

In honor of Black History Month, we want to acknowledge the contributions of our black and brown construction inventors and workers, without whom construction as we know it today would be very different! People like John P. Thompson, who was the inventor of the automatic brick making machine and revolutionized the way masonry products were used in construction. If you're interested in learning more about black history in construction, check out the article below. Happy Black History month to all! https://lnkd.in/gVXp3pKu

UPDATE: This webinar is moving to June. I'll share details when they become available. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please join APA Kentucky's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as our panelists discuss Systematic Displacement in Black Communities. - Understanding Systematic Displacement: Historical examples of systematic displacement and their long term effects - Equitable Change in Planning Processes: Recommendations for ensuring equity in decision-making and community engagement, and the prioritization of the well-being and preservation of historically marginalized communities. - Historically Black Neighborhoods Ordinance: Discussion of ordinances aimed at protecting historically black neighborhoods and cultural heritage. - Planning and Zoning Laws: Strategies to ensure planning and zoning laws do not disproportionately affect black communities, and for promoting affordable housing, preventing gentrification, and preserving community assets. Please use the link below to join the webinar: https://lnkd.in/eCENeC_f Passcode: 770105

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day when approximately 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to deliver the news that more than 250,000 enslaved Black people were free by executive decree. This is a day for celebration and reflection on our nation’s history, but it’s also a day that we can recommit ourselves to promoting equality. Hoffman is committed to creating a more diverse construction industry because we believe social equity and inclusion make us better builders. Ensuring a diverse workforce is a core component of every Hoffman project – regardless of contract requirements. We have long-standing relationships with programs and organizations that promote diversity and inclusion in the construction trades. We actively engage the subcontracting community to help optimize opportunities for minorities on our projects. We also take a skill building approach to increasing diverse participation in our industry. While it’s good to help a firm get work on a project, we think it’s even better to help them gain the skills that will allow them to grow and prosper over the long-term. We have outreach specialists who provide technical support and mentorship to minority-owned firms. We make sure everyone has a chance to work on our job sites and that firms grow in scope and capacity from experience. Today we celebrate and honor this important day in history, and we reaffirm our company’s commitment to supporting equity and inclusion in the construction industry. 

Living Room Legacies: Home, Land, Stories, and Their Shaping of Identity in Black America - 11/16, 2p-5p Join NCBAE for this immersive journey that explores the deep-rooted connections between our homes, stories, and culture as sacred spaces. Through conversations, storytelling, and reflection, it uncovers how Black American families have used their physical spaces to create legacies, express themselves, and preserve/create cultural identity. It offers a powerful platform for participants to share and celebrate the memories that have shaped their personal and collective identities, honoring home as a nostalgic vessel for both history and healing. Home as a space for creative expression. Home as a space for dignity. Homes as a space for gathering & connecting. Land as a space for legacy. Land as a space for wealth. Land as a space for planting, building, and playing. Stories passed down. Stories for remembering. Stories for the soul. #NCBAE #art #entertainment #family #home #house #decor #friends #community #land #property #gathering #gettogethers #property #holidays #nostalgia #memories #ancestors #heirlooms #hearth #building #ownership

An all-Black town called Willard, Virginia was destroyed to build Dulles Airport. And there’s more. The town was named after the Willard family, which I wrote about in the reparations chapter of my new book, Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race? Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race? 25 Arguments That Won't Go Away https://lnkd.in/deSVQjVr By Keith Boykin $30.00 DESCRIPTION Fight back against misinformation and ignorance as New York Times bestselling author Keith Boykin debunks 25 of the most common claims used to refute America’s racist past and present. The most toxic racial arguments share one of five traits. They try to erase Black history, prioritize white victimhood, deny Black oppression, promote myths of Black inferiority, or rebrand racism as something else entirely. They’re all designed to distract society from racial justice, but now we have the tools to debunk them. With a mixture of personal experience, reportage, and extensive research, Keith Boykin takes a wrecking ball to twenty-five of the most widespread deceptions about race, such as: • The Civil War was about states’ rights, not slavery • Affirmative action is reverse discrimination • Critical Race Theory is indoctrinating children to hate one another and shows us how to refute lies, myths, and misinformation with history, knowledge, and truth.

If you're in the geospatial community, what have you learned so far this February about Black History? Maps and geospatial data generally have been and continue to be great tools to help marginalized groups fight for equitable allocation and distribution of resources. Sometimes, that has looked like countermapping (the University of Tennessee has a great post here: https://lnkd.in/gHuir7x4). Other examples include highlighting the effects of gerrymandering and the placement of political boundaries with the goal of disempowering specific voting communities. Another hot topic is applying GIS to developing equity indexes (The City of Tacoma has an informative Story Map about their efforts: https://lnkd.in/gvwBb_gh) and shifting approaches and procedures in ways that help ensure that equity considerations are central to decision-making in government and that all citizens have a seat at the table. #equity #equityindex #blackhistorymonth #gerrymandering #countermapping

Black History is a constant happening. An everyday occurrence, and when history we made, we celebrate it. Why? Because to not celebrate our history is to accept the place we stand in it. As we continue to celebrate and honor those history makers, let us not only embrace the lessons of our past but also acknowledge the imperative need to learn from history, empower the present, and sculpt a future where equity and justice are intrinsic to every individual's existence. This is something we strive for at Urban League of Philadelphia beyond programming and community efforts. So Today we would like to highlight Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis who became the first Black Lt. Governor in the state of #pennsylvania in January of 2023. He also became the youngest person to serve in his position in the United States. Since then, Davis has vowed to sow hope and opportunity for the ignored, forgotten and to further advance the cause of social and economic justice for all, “especially Black and brown young people.” Whether it be advocating for after school programs, supporting minority-owned businesses, seeking to end gun violence, or speaking out for those unhoused, unprotected, and un-alived; Davis has been sure to keep his promise. Urban League works tirelessly each day to serve Greater Philadelphia, it is because of community partners and leaders like Lt. Gov Davis in the fight toward equity who help us get the job done and make history. Let's continue doing both. #MakingBlackHistory #afterschoolprograms #UrbanLeagueImpact #MovingForwardTogether #ShapeTheFuture #LegacyOfHope #endgunviolence #urbanleaguephila Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro

As we say at Ford, be curious! As we celebrate Black History Month, everyone knows Detroit has a rich heritage of Black prosperity being the home to the auto industry. Did you know that years ago, segregation forced Blacks to certain parts of the city (Paradise Valley the Black business district, and Black Bottom, called this by the early French settlers, due to the rich black farming soil)? Both communities were downtown close to the Detroit River, generational wealth was created and these neighborhoods thrived. The national highway system I-375, displaced these types of neighborhoods in Detroit and other cities, erasing Black generational wealth for so many. Though still in the planning stages to help right some past wrongs, let's look at what the city and the state are doing to acknowledge this and work to drive inclusion in this new downtown development district being built where these neighborhoods once were. Go Positively Speaking Up, Go Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Go Always Deliver, Go Outpace the Competition, Go, Ford, Go Engineering, Go EV Revolution, Go Customer Experience, Go Design and Software Teams, Go UAW, Go Strategy Team, Go Auto, Go All Industries! #innovationliveshere #aheadofthecurve #diversityandinclusion #careabouteachother #opportunities #strategy #manufacturing #EVs #Blueovalcity #professionalism #deliver #innovationneversleeps #changingthegame #relentleespursuitofperfection #newageautomotivehistory

I’m currently in DC for the annual legislative conference of the Congressional Black Caucus. I attended an afternoon session related to public transportation. Everyone knows that I think transportation and housing are related, but anyway…. One of the panelists said that when we hear rural we think white and when we hear urban we think black. Is that true?? Hmmm…. Let me just put this out there as a thought for the future… are we at a point in time when HUD should not be Housing and Urban Development? Should it just be Housing Development? Or Housing and Community Development? Or Housing as Infrastructure Development? Should we move past the focus on “urban” development? So that we move past the focus on race and instead focus on housing as part of our overall economic development?? Just a thought…….. (edit: let’s just call it the Department of Housing, same as Department of Transportation, Department of Education, Department of Labor, etc.)

Talib Graves-Manns & Carmen Cauthen, mindful of Dr. Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, #Habit_2, #Begin_With_The_End_In_Mind. How would you like to see community move from reactive to proactive? Here's a good conversation compliments of GARY JONES, MBA. #Iron_Sharpens_Iron @ #Get_With_The_Program, #BuyFixUpReBuildTheBlock. Your thoughts? https://lnkd.in/eWdPfqX9