In 1994 the Urban League of Greater Hartford produced the landmark book The State of Black Hartford which, for the first time, provided comprehensive information on the history and issues affecting African and Caribbean-Americans in Hartford. The Urban League has now completed its latest edition of this work, 2016 State of Black Hartford, thanks to a $36,000 grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
The “State of Black Hartford 2016” will provide insight into areas such as assessing social health, the black church, black and brown men of Hartford, the Hartford Promise Zone, the criminal justice system, and education. The new book will include issue briefs, opinion contributions and traditional manuscripts.
“The first “State of Black Hartford” was published 22 years ago and provided vision and a voice in greater Hartford, said Adrienne Cochrane, Urban League of Great Hartford’s president and CEO. “The State of Black Hartford 2016 takes a more scholarly approach to addressing the challenges that African Americans face at both the national and local levels through a series of briefs and chapters. The “State of Black Hartford 2016” is neither exhaustive nor conclusive, it is a beginning and not the end, and we invite additional conversation and debate.”