Steven Rogers wrote a famous letter to his white friends in 2021. Now he’s reclaimed a property in Evanston where Black families had been pushed out.
Evanston resident Steven Rogers penned the 2021 book “A Letter to My White Friends and Colleagues: What You Can Do Right Now to Help the Black Community.” Released on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s killing, it offered practical guidance on how to improve Black and white racial relations, including white people sharing generational wealth that’s been denied to the Black community by governmental policies such as slavery, segregation and redlining. He also asked that Black people use their money to support Black-owned ventures in an effort to help their own. Now Rogers, an Englewood native, is doing just that as the new owner of Evanston’s Second Church of Christ, Scientist. Rogers purchased the property at 2715 Hurd Ave. in December 2022 after learning about the history of the land on which the church’s parking lot sat.
Steven Rogers works to support Evanston Black community on historically Black-owned lands
In 1929, white property developers forced seven Black families to leave their land in Evanston just as the Great Depression started. Steven Rogers — an Evanston resident, entrepreneur and former Northwestern professor — said learning about that displacement and subsequent loss of Black wealth broke his heart. So when he saw previous attempts to develop the land at 2715 Hurd Ave. falling through, Rogers decided to act. He acquired the land in December, placing the land back under Black ownership.
The History of the Black and White Wealth Gap: What Boards Can do Today to Make a Difference
Our March Expert Series will feature a fireside chat with Steven Rogers, retired Harvard Business School Professor and Author of A Letter to my White Friends and Colleagues.
The need to donate to historically Black colleges and universities
As we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Black History Month, I ask that you carve out a meaningful portion of your 2023 grantmaking and charitable dollars and donate to at least one of the 101 HBCUs in the country.
Memorial planned to mark forced relocation of Black families from Evanston’s northwest side
Steven Rogers was outraged when he learned what happened to a number of Black families who were forced to relocate from northwest Evanston to the Fifth Ward in the late 1920s. So he decided to do something about it. On Dec. 28 he completed the $1 million acquisition of the property where they lived.
Reckoning: Family Businesses Confront Race, Racism, and Inclusion. Steven Rogers’ Advice to White Business Owners
The board director suggests ways that white people can use their financial resources to help the Black community.
Watch: ‘The Path Forward' – Fearless Conversations About Improving Race Relations
How can you be an ally? Steven S. Rogers, author and retired Harvard Business School professor, gives concrete recommendations in this episode of "The Path Forward."
Time to Act: How White People Can Help the Black Population
Steven Rogers’ formula for helping the Black community is crystal clear: whites should donate to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, patronize Black businesses, deposit money in Black-owned banks and support reparations.
“A Letter to My White Friends and Colleagues” – a manual on being a better ally to Black communities
In his book, Rogers’ explains how white people can actively help bridge the racial wealth gap.
Black Author Writes New Novel About Racial Wealth Gap
Retired Harvard Business school professor, Steven S. Rogers, discusses his new book, “A Letter to my White Friends and Colleagues: What you can do right now to help the black community.”
Former Harvard Business Prof. from Englewood Suggests How White Americans Can Help Fix Racial Wealth Disparity
Steven Rogers, of Evanston, sets forth in straightforward language his case for eliminating the wealth disparity between Black and white Americans in “A Letter To My White Friends And Colleagues: What You Can Do Right Now To Help The Black Community.”
An Interview with Steven S. Rogers on How White People Can Support the Black Community
TIE’s Editor in Chief Alexia Hudson-Ward conducted a compelling interview with retired Harvard Business School Professor Steven S. Rogers to discuss his new book, A Letter to My White Friends and Colleagues (2021). Their timely discussion last week (given President Biden’s June 1st speech announcing his plan to narrow the racial wealth gap) covered peer educational strategies, the systemic roots of the Black-white wealth gap, “Black Wall Street,” and what white people can do now to support the Black community.
ICON MAGAZINE
The times they are a-changin’ - just not fast enough, or fair enough for the Black community.
With his new book, retired Harvard Business School professor, Steven Rogers, aims to set the historical record straight.
Icon Magazine, page 12-13.
Retired Harvard Business Professor Pens New Book
Listen: if there’s anything Steven S. Rogers knows, it’s business. In his new book, A Letter To My White Friends and Colleagues: What You Can Do Right Now To Help The Black Community, the retired Harvard Business School professor shares words of advice with his white network.