Black America in the Era of Trump

Date: 

Thursday, June 8, 2017, 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Location: 

Public Contract Office, 1725 I Street NW, Suite 100, Washington DC

Join the Ash Center and the HKS DC Alumni Council for a discussion with leading minds in policy, politics, and academia to debate the opportunities and challenges for Black Americans in today's America.

Tickets are $19 and include drinks reception with hors d'oeuvres. HKS alumni and their guests are welcome. The event is the next installment of the Ash Center's Race and American Politics Series. Note that this event will be held in Washington DC. 

Ashley Bell was elected a Democrat County Commissioner in Georgia and President of the College Democrats of America before switching to the Republican Party. Following his role as National Director of African American Engagement for the RNC during the Presidential election, Ashley is now a Special Assistant at the U.S Department of State. He is the founder of 20/20 Leaders of America, a national black and bi-partisan coalition of elected officials, and was also a 21st Century Leadership Fellow at HKS.​

Darren Sands is a political reporter for BuzzFeed News, based in New York. Darren has written for Black Enterprise, The Village Voice, Newsday, and The Boston Globe.

Heather Foster is a Vice President on the PreK-12 Education team at Widmeyer Communications. Over the course of her career, Foster has developed an expertise communicating public policy to civic, nonprofit, business and community leaders. Notably, Heather was a founding partner and director of strategic partnerships of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, the nonprofit inspired by President Obama’s Taskforce for Boys and Young Men of Color. She was an advisor to President Obama in the White House Office of Public Engagement.

The moderator, Professor Leah Wright Rigueur joined HKS as an Assistant Professor of Public Policy in 2015. As a dynamic, exciting addition to the faculty, Leah's research interests include 20th Century United States political and social history and modern African American history, with a focus on race, civil rights, political ideology, the American two-party system and the presidency.