“Equality Matters In The Hamptons” To Feature Kofi Appenteng

Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center (BHCCRC) is commemorating Black History Month by presenting its Thinking Forward Lecture Series: Equality Matters in the Hamptons.

“The Center’s Thinking Forward Lecture Series has four main segments: Equality Matters in the Hamptons; Straight Talk. Real People; Well, Well, Well; and The Politics of it All,” Debra McEneaney, Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center Marketing and Development, explained. “It was started to educate and inspire our community of color and the community as a whole, to bring us closer together with shared understanding.”

Equality Matters in the Hamptons, which “talks around race, to open eyes and minds to all perspectives in our community,” will take place on Saturday, February 1 at 5:30 p.m. The 2020 iteration will feature a conversation with Kofi Appenteng, President of the Africa-America Institute, moderated by Ken Miller. The evening will cover topics such as “the need to include knowledge about the role of Africa in the world and the achievements of Afro-descendants in the core of our educational curriculum.”

Appenteng, who was born in Ghana, West Africa, studied in England, where he finished his primary and secondary education. He attended college at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

His career launched as a corporate lawyer, and in 1994, he became the first Black African to make partner at a major New York City law firm. Appenteng has 30 years of domestic and international expertise as a corporate lawyer, investment banker and board director. He served as board chair of the Ford Foundation. The Carnegie Corporation commemorated his work in business and philanthropy in 2013 by naming him “Great American Immigrant.”

“We have had in the past few years: Misty Copeland, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Sherrilyn Ifill, Pedro Noguera to name a few,” McEneaney noted. “We have screened Killer Bees, White Like Me and Girl Rising. We partnered with the Hayground for a screening of Just Mercy in January. Well, Well, Well, a screening of Death by Delivery and panel discussion, will take place on February 29.”

Miller, a writer, financier, and political activist, is a long-time advisory board member of BHCCRC. He was active in the civil rights movement in his youth.

“With the Parrish Art Museum, moderated by Lynn Sherr, we will have Susan Taylor, former head of Essence. We are still waiting confirmation for our July speaker,” added McEneaney.

The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreation Center was established “out of tragedy in 1949 when a migrant camp fire killed two children of seasonal farm workers.” The not-for-profit serves the East End community, with a focus on the lower income African-American and growing Latino community. Its mission is to “deliver the highest quality educational and recreational programs to local children, youth and their families.”

There is no fee to attend the Thinking Forward Lecture Series, but RSVPing in advance is requested. The evening will also include refreshments.

Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center is located at 551 Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton. For more information, visit www.bhccrc.org. To RSVP, email [email protected] or call 631-537-0616.