The Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University launched the Invisible Houston Revisited website for its Policy Summit to be held on its Houston campus November 7, 2013. The one-day Summit focuses on various forms of inequality in the nation's fourth-largest city over the past three decades since research on the original Invisible Houston: The Black Experience in Boom and Bust book.
Clearly, Houston has undergone a dramatic demographic transition over from the 1980s to the present, making it one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country. Using an equity lens, the Summit seeks to shed light on a number of questions: Is there an "Invisible Houston" today? What is the state of inequality (racial/ethnic, economic, environmental, health, housing, political, etc.) in Houston? To what extent has Houston closed the racial/ethnic divide and well-being gap over the past three decades? How has access to opportunity trended during Houston's boom-and-bust cycles? Now that Houston has regained its "boom-town" status, the question remains, how is this new prosperity distributed? How are benefits and costs distributed as Houston embarks on becoming a "greener," more livable and sustainable city? What bold policy changes are needed to address current and emerging challenges facing Houston's racially/ethnically diverse population? In addition to asking questions, the Summit participants are charged with exploring strategies and solutions going forward.
The Summit is free and open to the public. To register for the Summit, click HERE.