The loss of place and belonging for longtime residents is affecting communities across the country. To help combat this growing trend, Smart Growth America hosted the Equity Forum: Upending Cultural Displacement, with a keynote address from Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. For more than 25 years, Jackson’s work has been focused on understanding and elevating arts, culture and design as critical elements of healthy communities. During the virtual event, a panel of speakers shared their unique stories and key strategies on preserving and protecting neighborhood culture during investment and neighborhood change to assist advocates, planners, developers, and elected officials in better understanding and mitigating the various forms of cultural displacement. The Equity Forum is a continuation of Smart Growth America’s year-round equity programming focused on advancing racial equity through smart growth, as well as how factors such as rapid development, gentrification, and rising housing costs affect community culture, cohesion, and belonging.

Watch the Keynote Presentation by Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), chair.

View the Panel Discussion with Jupiter Peraza, Director of Social Justice & Empowerment Initiatives at The Transgender District and Benny Starr, Hip-Hop Artist and Artist-In-Residence with the US Water Alliance moderated by Kristen Jeffers, Founder and Editor-In-Chief, The Black Urbanist.