Land, Wealth, and Community Control

A Co-Learning Workshop on Race and Community Economies

Last Tuesday, an event co-sponsored by the Tufts Practical Visionaries Workshop, the Center for Economic Democracy and the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative convened nearly 70 people from local Boston communities, Tufts, and MIT for a chance to converse over breakfast and coffee, a tour of the Dudley Neighbors Inc. Community Land Trust and the Dudley Greenhouse.

Tour of Dudley Neighbors Inc.

Tour of Dudley Neighbors Inc.

The Dudley Greenhouse

The Dudley Greenhouse

The event was meant to bring together both academics and community practitioners in order to foster a better understanding of building community power, especially regarding land. Much of the day was spent learning about the community land trust model, something that DSNI has been practicing successfully for the last 30 years. In Roxbury and Dorchester, DSNI and Dudley Neighbors Inc. have provided affordable housing, open space, and urban agriculture opportunities for local residents and other nonprofits by leasing the land and overlying buildings, while owning the land in a long-term trust to preserve its affordability.

Lunch was provided by Roxbury’s own Haley House Bakery Cafe, after which was held a panel on the history of struggles for community control over land in Boston. Panelists included Diane Dujon, Chuck Turner, Suzanne Lee, Bob Haas, and Che Madyun.

Community Control over Land Panelists

Community Control over Land Panelists

The final events included educational workshops on community land trusts, run by Tufts Practical Visionaries Workshop participants Penn Loh and myself, as well as Harry Smith, director of Dudley Neighbors Inc. Following that was a workshop on community finance strategies, facilitated by Aaron Tanaka and Jennifer Ly, of the Center for Community Economics.

The day was informative for all participants, and gave a much needed opportunity to for academics and urban planning students to come together with community partners to build solidarity in meeting shared goals. This combination of theory and practice can be seen in DSNI’s work with community land trusts and collaboration with Tufts UEP through the Practical Visionaries Workshop.