AUSTIN, TX – The City of Austin Housing Department will host Black Land Matters, The Symposium on Friday, June 14, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Austin Energy Headquarters at 4815 Mueller Boulevard. For the second year in a row, event speakers and panelists will highlight the value of, and ways to promote, secure and preserve landownership among Black Americans. It will also explore how landownership encourages cultural sustainability and community and highlight available resources to help families protect their properties. Registration is free for attendees. Light refreshments will be served immediately following the event. Reserve a seat at www.SpeakUpAustin.org/BlackLandMatters. 

“We are thrilled to host this symposium for a second year in Austin. These conversations are important to have as we seek to reduce displacement of families by highlighting the challenges of Black land loss and sharing information on the tools and resources available to keep their homes,” explains Mandy DeMayo, Interim Director of the Housing Department. “These discussions can also help us identify where to focus potential resources for future programs and services.”  

The event will include conversations with local practitioners and national leaders sharing resources, highlighting successes and challenges all in an effort to prevent displacement specifically related to challenges with heirs’ property.  

Nefertitti Jackmon, Community Displacement Prevention Officer for City of Austin Housing Department says an intersectional approach to address these multi-fold pressures is needed to help families connect the dots. This, in turn, will help more households protect their assets and close the racial wealth gap.  

“This is not about rural properties only; heir’s property is a challenge that occurs in rural and urban settings,” Jackmon says. “This is a huge displacement pressure that households continue to face that we are only now beginning to discuss. For African American families it is irrespective of income.” 

Local experts will highlight current work that is taking place in Austin, while writer and author Natalie Baszile (Queen Sugar) will discuss the power of storytelling to elevate the challenge of land loss and Shirley Sherrod, co-founder and Vice President of New Communities will discuss the vision and hope that her team had when they founded the first community land trust in the nation in 1969. 

“We call this event Black Land Matters because there are so many matters between land, property, housing, safety, cultural sustainability and displacement,” shared Nefertitti Jackmon, Community Displacement Prevention Officer for City of Austin Housing Department. “We can’t address every issue all at once, but it is important to elevate discussions around land loss because it does not happen one way.” 

Discussion Topics for Black Land Matters, The Symposium 

Displacement Prevention – Taxes, Titles & Wills to Protect your Family Home. Putting plans in place before you die.

This discussion will explore the challenges families face in maintaining and protecting their land, through tax assistance, estate planning and other services. Moderated by David Gray, Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer, the panel will include Sherwynn Patton, Executive Director of Life Anew Restorative Justice; and Marilyn Poole Webb, Partner, Webb & Webb Attorneys at Law PLLC. 

The Power of Narrative to Elevate the Histories and Catapult the Current Challenges of Land Loss into the National Conversation

Jennifer Sanders (KXAN News) will lead a conversation with Natalie Baszile (Author, Writer of Queen Sugar) to explore the power of stories about the continued Black land loss in African American communities that have helped to elevate and place a contemporary focus on this ongoing issue. The discussion will also further iterate the myriad challenges that families face to maintain their properties and highlight the cultural benefits of land to create a space to celebrate and continue cultural traditions. 

Understanding the Historic Origins of Community Land Trusts and the Promises that Organizers Hoped to Achieve

Nefertitti Jackmon (City of Austin, Community Displacement Prevention Officer) will lead a conversation with Shirley Sherrod (Co-Founder and Vice President for Development of New Communities Inc.) to understand the influences that prompted Sherrod and other organizers of the Southwest Georgia Project to start New Communities, the first land trust in the U.S. The project began as an initiative of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to address welfare rights, school integration, voter education, voter rights, Black land loss and community organizing. 

Register online to attend Black Land Matters, The Symposium. For more information on resources for displacement prevention and other housing resources, visit www.austintexas.gov/housing.  

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About the City of Austin Housing Department 

The City of Austin Housing Department provides equitable and comprehensive housing solutions, community development, and displacement prevention services to enhance the quality of life of all Austinites. To access affordable housing and community resources, visit www.austintexas.gov/housing.