The Hosts
Hubert Morgan
It was 1982 in the basement of a west side church, the then candidate Harold Washington was running for Mayor. Mesmerized by his oratory and wearing that Harold Washington political pin, I was beaming with civic pride. I mustered the courage to ask the larger-than-life political candidate “Why do our communities struggle so much economically and socially?” He first asked, “Where do you live? You have to live in your community to affect the change you’re looking for.” As a young planner working at Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, I decided to live in the heart of my community. I bought a home on the Southeast side 32-years ago, while he was Mayor. I still live there. My younger son is renovating the house next door and lives there. That’s my commitment to my community. I live in the community to help strengthen it by example.
Mr. Morgan is recognized throughout the Chicago and northwest Indiana regions for managing the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) national award winning 2040 Regional Framework Plan. Concentrating on civic democracy, his passion is public participation. Mr. Morgan specializes in reaching out to all demographics, especially those that have been historically underrepresented or disenfranchised in traditional planning processes. Mr. Morgan’s primary objective is to ensure that everyone affected is involved throughout the planning process. To this end, he designs strategies that help communities develop their positions and articulates their concerns in the planning process.
Read Hubert's full bio here.
Dr. Kirk E. Harris
I grew-up during the height of the Civil Rights period. In 1967, the social unrest in Newark, New Jersey took place and is forever etched in my memory. I was in elementary school then. School was out and the summer was hot, literally and figuratively, as the emotions of the most racially oppressed segments of our nation boiled over. The decade of the 1960’s provided witness to the dramatic internal struggle for social and economic justice in America, bringing in sharp contrast America’s claims to being the most democratic nation in the world.
“#BlackLivesMatter”, the continued racial injustice put on public display in the George Floyd murder, and the grossly racialized impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on vulnerable communities of color have stimulated a domestic and international discourse that seeks to challenge racial injustice and economic inequality by organizing against it in the present day. I have had to grapple with issues of economic vulnerability and racial disadvantage very early in my own life experience as a kid growing-up in the inner city and I continue to grapple with these issues as an adult. My commitment as an academic and as a practicing urban planner focused on social planning is to respond to the demand for change. At the core of planning practice is the idea of advancing a democratic commitment that lessens the paradox that is America.
Dr. Harris is the first tenured African American faculty member in the Department of Urban Planning in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Additionally, Dr. Harris has over two decades of experience as an executive in the non-profit sector and is the Founder/President and CEO of Parent and Community Technology and Law Center, a not-for-profit organization focused on community building and family strengthening through systems and policy change initiatives.
Read Kirk's full bio here.