February Fair Housing Series

View the compelling four-part documentary The Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation for free during the February Fair Housing Series taking place Wednesday evenings in February.

The documentary series explores the extensive system of racially segregated housing in Chicago during the 1950s. It details how, after courts ruled that restrictive covenants based on race could not be enforced, hundreds of homes owned by black families in white neighborhoods were firebombed, and how effects of the segregation persist today.

The Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation series is hosted by the City of Fort Wayne’s Metropolitan Human Relations Commission and Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services in partnership with the Fort Wayne Urban League. The screenings take place on February 4, 11, 18 and 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the downtown Allen County Public Library Theater.

“The Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation documentary is powerful look at the housing segregation, redlining and violence many Black families endured when trying to buy homes in white Chicago neighborhoods,” said Nikki Quintana, executive director of the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission. “This February Fair Housing Series invites our community to learn from the past and engage in meaningful dialogue around fair housing, homeownership disparities, and the legacy of segregation.”

Each week’s episode will be followed by an opportunity for reflection and discussion, and the final session will feature a panel of community leaders connecting the documentary’s lessons to the challenges and opportunities facing Fort Wayne today. Panelists include Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker, Linda Golden of the Realtist Association of Northeast Indiana, Tamesha Fikes of MidWest America Federal Credit Union and Melissa McKown of Habitat for Humanity.

MidWest America Federal Credit Union is sponsoring this February Fair Housing Series.

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Host or Publisher The City of Fort Wayne Metropolitan Human Relations Commission & Office of Housing & Neighborhood Services