In Conversation with Dr. annalise fonza

In Rebuilding Black Communities, With Love, Dr. Annalise Fonza summarizes what she has learned about the rebuilding of former black ghettos and predominantly black neighborhoods and communities in urban cities. It is both, a proposal and a love letter that builds on about twenty years of experience as an urban planning scholar and educator. With this brief epub she reflects on the motivations and familial legacy of Ollie Gates in Kansas City, Missouri. Gates is the owner of Gates Bar-B-Q, a world-renowned business. It is also a book that Dr. Fonza has dedicated to the memory of John Lee Johnson, who was a major catalytic force in redeveloping the North End of Champaign-Urbana, or an area where black residents of Champaign-Urbana were "allowed" to live. The North End is/was also spatially situated right across the street from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Dr. Fonza learned, first-hand, about community and economic development from Mr. Johnson as a graduate student at UIUC, and at a time when she was an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. If the development of former black ghettos, or predominantly black communities and neighborhoods is something that interests you, then this book is definitely worth the read.

Join me as I interview Dr. Fonza on Black Freethinkers