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In Tampa, Black leaders seek to change mindsets and find solutions

An event focused on building healthy futures through community engagement and collaboration.
 
The Refinery: a Social Exchange, was held on Friday June 3, 2022 at Hotel Haya in Ybor City, and brought around 200 people together for conversations about advancing the quality of life for Black people across Tampa Bay.
The Refinery: a Social Exchange, was held on Friday June 3, 2022 at Hotel Haya in Ybor City, and brought around 200 people together for conversations about advancing the quality of life for Black people across Tampa Bay. [ LAUREN PEACE | Times ]
Published June 4, 2022

About 200 people gathered on Friday night at Hotel Haya in Ybor City to discuss the state of Black communities across Tampa Bay.

The five-hour event, called The Refinery: A Social Exchange, opened with a networking and a cocktail hour where attendees chatted to the backtrack of jazzy live saxophone.

But the meat and potatoes of the evening were served during a series of panel discussions, bringing experts together to talk through topics including wealth and empowerment, civic engagement, health and wellness and LGBTQ+ issues.

People gather and network before panel discussion begin on June 3, 2022 at Hotel Haya in Ybor City. [ Lauren Peace ]

A common thread emphasized across all discussions was the need to build social capital — or relationships with personal or professional benefits that help communities grow.

“You can’t get anything done by yourself,” said keynote speaker and retired businessman Roland Daniels during his opening address. “You’ve got to have allies, you’ve got to have a team, you’ve got to have like-minded people.”

That, said event organizer Gary Hartfield, is what the Refinery is all about. Hartfield said the idea for the event was born out of the pandemic and rise of social justice issues, which put great strain on communities and disproportionately affected Black people.

“I felt that it was important that we find a way to unburden our pain and find ways to collaboratively move forward and inspire change in our community with tangible solutions,” Hartfield said.

Panel discussions addressed topics including wealth and empowerment, civic engagement, health, and LGBTQ+ issues. [ Lauren Peace ]

Part of the solution, Hartfield said, is having Black people — and allies — invest back in their own community by spending money at Black-owned businesses, forming professional partnerships, and sharing information around financial health and literacy with neighbors to cultivate a culture that builds generational wealth.

One panelist, a pastor, used the example of “broke funerals” — or funerals in which the children of the deceased are left with the cost of the burial, and end up spending their own money, rather than inheriting it from their loved ones.

“I see friends and they transition and they go up,” said pastor Jomo Cousins. “Our families transition and they go down.”

He said steps like educating older community members about the value of life insurance plans, and conversations with younger community members about saving early and not spending money on luxury goods, could make a big difference. He used the example of cars — a huge expense that only depreciates. He encouraged people to have conversations with their children, and neighbors, about driving until the wheels fall off.

The five-hour event focused on community building and conversation. [ Lauren Peace ]

These simple actions have big ramifications, Cousins said — things that may not be obvious to a young person if they do not have an example to look to that reinforces the need to save.

Among the 15 panelists to take stage on Friday evening were local pastors, entrepreneurs, representatives of nonprofit boards and health care workers. Florida House Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa, was part of a panel on civic empowerment, and state Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, was in attendance.

Hartfield said more events like this one will be planned in the future.