This Community Conversation will discuss Alaska’s Black elders and seniors – those that did their part to fight against racial inequality. But the fight for fairness and dignity continues.

Many of today’s black elders risked their lives and courageously led the movement to fight racial inequality and bestow upon us the many freedoms we enjoy today. The 1950s and 1960s were turbulent moments in U.S. history—a time when racial segregation and discrimination were at the epicenter of our contemporary civil rights movement.

African Americans have a long history in the United States.  Many have been here for generations, while others are recent immigrants who come from various parts of the world, including the West Indies, Africa and the Caribbean. According to the Administration on Aging, the Black or African American older population was 3.2 million, or 8.3% of the older population, in 2008 and is projected to grow to over 9.9 million, or 11%, by 2050.

While many black elders were champions for change during the Civil Rights Movement, today they remain impacted by a lingering inequality. Join us to hear from Alaska’s Black elders.