Program Guest Speaker July 25th Report

On July 25th, the BUF BLM Action Ministry team welcomed Shovia Muchirawehondo as our guest speaker.  Originally from Georgia, Shovia earned her Master’s from Western and recently organized the BIPOC celebration at the Depot in June.

Shovia provided our audience of 13 with an unvarnished perspective on racism in Bellingham, emphasizing that if Bellingham wanted to end racism, the solution needed to start with White on White conversations as racism is a White problem.

Shovia highlighted two economic concerns: one is that the current system of “affordable” housing is racist as it relegates most housing to less desirable land, and in desirable neighborhoods, it is not really affordable for Blacks who have been discriminated against when it comes to intergenerational wealth-building.  The second concern is lack of affirmative hiring of Blacks in professional positions and how White hiring managers still hire White candidates. The issue extends to lack of support for Black entrepreneurs, who are not given the tools to navigate government programs and banking.

The conversation switched to the fragmentation of Bellingham’s Black community and the need for a BIPOC community center. The group discussed how such a space would work and where, with Local Group Studio as an example.