A coalition of Vineyard groups is hosting a discussion this weekend around the challenges faced by the Black workforce. 

On the first day of Black History Month, the Island’s Black History Month Collaborative event will have experts on hand to talk about people’s experience with race in the workforce and how to support young workers.

The event will be held at the Edgartown library at 11 a.m. on Saturday. 

Lorna Andrade, who coordinates the annual event, said she decided to focus on the Black workforce in the wake of the national election. 

“We thought we would give the history of labor unions and how they started…We knew that we would be in trouble when we got Trump in as the president. Not necessarily Black and brown people, because diversity is for everybody,” she said, pointing to people with disabilities as an example of other marginalized communities.

The event will include a pre-recorded discussion featuring Spencer Overton, the president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Ramona Schindelheim from the publication the WorkingNation. The conversation will go into Black labor history and related figures such as Bayard Rustin.

Afterwards, there will be a question and answer session hosted by Dr. Andrade and other members of the Black History Month Collaborative.

“How would you assist younger working brown and Black people today and the obstacles they encounter today?,” Dr. Andrade said. “These are the questions I want people in the audience to answer.”