America has a long and troubled history of segregated public spaces. When Amy Cooper called the police on Christian Cooper (no relation) in Central Park last year, the incident underscored a familiar script that continues America’s legacy of enslavement. Some whites perceive African Americans who venture into public spaces as dangerous and disruptive intruders. All it took was a white woman to spout a racist dog whistle and the park, a public space, was made unsafe for a Black man.

The 2021 Tea Talk Series, as a way to rethink our assumptions about race and place, explores how African Americans navigate various “white spaces”, spaces where Blacks and People of Color are marginalized, typically absent, and unexpected. Through shared stories and dialogue this series will present ideas and offer opportunities for understanding and reconciliation.

The winter Tea Talk series, presented by the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire (BHTNH) and sponsored in part by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities, is a series of participatory lectures related to New Hampshire’s Black history and African American culture.

These events are free and open to the public.

All talks are Sunday afternoons from 2:00 – 4:00 PM.

Registration for each talk is required.

Black Heritage Trail of NH: 2021 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks
Claiming Our Place: Blacks in “White Spaces”
Sundays February 7 – March 14, 2PM-4PM

• Feb. 7 – Racism, Land & the American Farming Landscape
• Feb. 14 – Writing While Black: The Afrofuturistic Writer
• Feb. 21 – Race & Care of the Soul
• Feb. 28 – It Happened in NH: Black History in the Granite State
• Mar. 7 -The Power of Place: Martha’s Vineyard and the Growth of the Black Elite
• Mar. 14 – On Shaky Ground: Students of Color in Predominantly White Institutions