2024 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks

The Great Depression of the 1930s worsened the already bleak situation of African Americans:  Jim Crow in the South forced many Black people to migrate elsewhere only to face intense discrimination in jobs, housing, education, finance, and the courts.

In 1933 during the worst moments of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced programs designed to provide jobs and revive the economy. His New Deal tried to protect the destitute and put America back to work. But Black Americans, often left out, had to continue to seek justice in the courts and in the streets.

Responding to these efforts, in 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson tried again. His Great Society envisioned an America without poverty or discrimination where all could enjoy education, housing, and job opportunities. But the Great Society led to a white backlash that still plays out today.

Looking at the social and civic environment in New Hampshire, this season’s Elinor William Hooker Tea Talk series will explore how these federal programs geared toward building a more just society played out in New Hampshire. We will ask what impact these programs had on our state and what happens when changing demographics encounter programs designed during the New Deal and Great Society? Is it time for “A New Deal for a Greater Society?” 

The winter tea talk series presented by BHTNH is a series of participatory panel-led conversations about how New Hampshire’s past helps us envision a more equitable future.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2024 (2:00 PM)

Tea Talk #2 | Homesick: Attaining the American Dream

The median income of a New Hampshire household is not enough to rent a median priced apartment in places like Portsmouth and Manchester. The data is far worse for a single person earning the New Hampshire median income. A single person would need at least two roommates to afford a median priced, apartment. Burdened by high rents, households strain to cover other necessary expenses, such as food, health care, clothing, and transportation.

Households paying more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing, including rent or mortgage and utilities expenses, are considered cost-burdened by these expenses. They may also struggle to participate more fully in the economy compared to more financially secure households.

Panelist will discuss how the disparities in housing access reinforce the structural and longstanding systemic barriers to success and opportunity especially for Granite Staters of underrepresented groups. They will also explore how policies that support public investment to reduce housing costs can boost the economy.

Presenters:
Elissa Margolin, Director, Housing Action, NH
Zachery Palmer, Strafford Economic Development Corporation
Wildolfo Arvelo, Executive Director, Cross Roads House

Moderator:
Anthony Poore, President and CEO, NH Center for Justice and Equity

Watch Video:

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2024 (2:00 PM)

Tea Talk #3 | A Question of Access and Quality: Health Care in New Hampshire

Franklin D. Roosevelt included “The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health” as one of the fundamental rights of Americans. In subsequent decades Medicare and Medicaid were enacted as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 expanded health care insurance to more Americans. This panel explores the realities of New Hampshire’s health care today and the further strains the Covid 19 pandemic put on the system. Panelists will also examine inequalities that persist for people of color both as health care providers and as patients.

Presenters:
Bobbie D. Bagley, Chief Public Health Official - City of Nashua
Dr. Marie Ramas, Regional Medical Director, Aledade Inc
Nicole Sublette, Nicole Sublette Counseling Services

Moderator:
Josephine Porter, Chief Strategy Officer for NH Center for Justice and Equity

Watch Video:

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2024 (2:00 PM)

Tea Talk #4 | Close to the Edge: Policing and Criminal Justice in New Hampshire

Social programs of the Great Society were aimed at utilizing relief and social programs to prevent crime. The Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965 changed the emphasis from creating jobs as a tool to prevent crime to funneling federal funds to support increased policing. This legislation laid the foundation for high incarceration rates for African Americans and people of color. This trend was further intensified by the establishment of mandatory sentencing laws in the 1980s. This panel will discuss these laws as they pertain to New Hampshire’s criminal justice system. We will explore such questions: Why doesn’t New Hampshire collect data that shows whether racial profiling is an issue here? What does implicit bias training look like in New Hampshire and is it adequate? And what are the key issues that New Hampshire’s law enforcement officials say impair their ability to serve the public?

Presenters:
John Scippa, Director, New Hampshire Police Standards and Training
Detective Rochelle Jones , Community Outreach Coordinator, Portsmouth Police Department
Hon. David Ruoff, Presiding Justice, Rockingham County Superior Court

Moderator:
Julian Jefferson, Clinical Assistant Professor, Franklin Pierce College of Law, University of NH

Watch Video:

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2024 (2:00 PM)

Tea Talk #5 | Equity and Adequacy: Public Education in New Hampshire

Roosevelt’s New Deal led to experimentation with federal education programs. But it was not until 1965, with the passage of the Johnson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act, that federal funding for education was directed toward increasing the resources in poor communities. Project Head Start and funding for education in school districts whose student body consisted of a majority of low-income students were key elements of Great Society programs. Here in New Hampshire public education is tied to property taxes. Since the Claremont decision that required the state to fund an “adequate education” for all students, lawmakers have struggled to comply with the ruling. Panelists will discuss the history and future of the Claremont decision, and especially what constitutes an “adequate education.”

Presenters:
Dr. Darrell Hucks, Professor, Keene State University 
Christine Downing, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Cornish, Grantham, and Plainfield, NH School Districts. 
Jerold White, Assistant Principal, Manchester High School West 

Moderator: 
Nathan Harrison, Ph.D. student, Education Leadership & Policy Program, University of NH 

Watch Video:

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024 (2:00 PM)

Tea Talk #6 | Envisioning the Future

On the eve of the passage of Great Society civil rights legislation in the mid 1960s, Martin Luther King addressed a vast audience of marchers from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In his speech he referred to “the promissory note” owed to all Americans, guaranteeing that all would share the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, 60 years later, we ask if that debt has been paid.  What constitutes a just society and how can we achieve that dream?    Knowing that history and where we are now, our young panel of forward thinkers looks out six more decades to envision a better future.  What should a New Deal for a Greater Society look like?

Presenters:
Nate Giffard, Data Director, America Votes
Hon. Jonah Wheeler, NH State Representative, Hillsborough County District 33, Peterborough, NH. 
Grace Kindeke, Program Coordinator at American Friends Service Committee

Moderator :
Hon. Linda Gaithright, NH State Representative, Hillsborough County District 10, Nashua, NH. 

Watch Video:

2024 Tea Talks Resources