DreamWeek 2021: Esperanza Center to Present Development Without Displacement Panel
January 18, 2021 - San Antonio
Bayou City insight. On January 23, Houston-based CBA organizer Uyiosa Elegon will be a guest speaker at Development without Displacement: Honoring and Respecting Community Voice for Community Benefit, a panel discussion being hosted by the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Photo: Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.
By Jade Esteban Estrada, Staff Writer | San Antonio Sentinel
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- In association with DreamWeek 2021, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center will host a panel discussion entitled "Development without Displacement: Honoring and Respecting Community Voice for Community Benefit" on Saturday, January 23 via Facebook Live
- This free event will focus on community organizing efforts for proposed Community Benefit Agreements both in San Antonio and Houston
In association with DreamWeek 2021, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center will host a panel discussion titled Development without Displacement: Honoring and Respecting Community Voice for Community Benefit at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 23, 2021 via Facebook Live. This free discussion will largely focus on community organizing efforts for proposed Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) in both San Antonio and Houston.
A CBA is a legally binding, enforceable agreement signed by community groups and a real estate developer that requires the developer to provide specific mitigations to the local community, such as ensuring educational opportunities, living-wage jobs, food security, affordable housing, or preserving historic and cultural areas.
The panel will feature representatives of San Antonio’s Mi Barrio No Se Vende Coalition and the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development without Displacement (HCEDD), a collective of southeast Houston residents that are aiming to develop, secure, enforce and sustain a CBA with Rice Management Company as it develops the South Main Innovation District on the edge of the historic Third Ward. Guest speakers will include Houston-based CBA organizers Uyiosa Elegon (pictured) and Mary Claire Neal of Rice University.
HCEDD’s goal is to secure a CBA with Rice University as it expands development adjacent to the Third Ward. Meanwhile, three hours west, the Mi Barrio No Se Vende Coalition is organizing to seek a CBA with the University of Texas at San Antonio to benefit the nearby historic West Side community in their continuing downtown expansion.
“We have seen that in low-income communities of color across the country, development projects can accelerate gentrification and displacement of neighborhoods and residents,” wrote a spokesperson for the Esperanza in a press release.
The Esperanza Center, a nationally recognized nonprofit arts organization, focuses much of their work on the intersections of cultural arts and social change. Their ongoing cultural programming champions the lives and experience of women, people of color, LGBTQ, immigrant, and working-class communities.
The event will stream via the Esperanza’s Facebook page, and tickets are available through Eventbrite.
Jade Esteban Estrada is a staff writer for the San Antonio Sentinel, where he covers public health and other citywide issues. jade@sasentinel.com | Twitter: @getjaded