PROUD's 2024 Oak Park Conference

PROUD – People Reaching Out for Unity and Diversity – invites you to join in the conversation about Ferguson’s experiences over the past thirty years and evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what should be done next.  The conference is called “Thirty Years After Oak Park: Ferguson Then and Now.” In October 1994, the City of Ferguson hosted its first Oak Park Exchange Congress at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley.  The conference considered ideas for stabilizing the city as it was going through demographic changes.  Several programs, including the Ferguson Neighborhood Improvement Program, came out of that conference. PROUD - People Reaching Out for Unity and Diversity - a volunteer not-for-profit organization, was established as a direct result of the conference.  PROUD’s purpose is to continue the goals presented at the Oak Park Conference by working to improve relationships among members of the Ferguson community. After being inactive for several years, PROUD restarted in 2017 to address increased tensions and trauma after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown and the resulting protests. Our current mission is to sponsor opportunities that will encourage Ferguson and area residents to work together to build a community of harmony and equity within a diverse group of people. We will host a variety of gatherings that can help bridge perceived boundaries and encourage greater understanding of one another.  We will return to Florissant Valley on October 18 and 19, for a two-day conference to consider the ways that Ferguson has changed over the past thirty years. Join us for the Friday afternoon session on “Building Relationships,” the Saturday morning session on “Appreciating Diversity,” the Saturday afternoon session on “Strengthening Community,” or for the whole conference.  There will also be a reception on Friday evening to honor the city officials who organized Ferguson’s original Oak Park Conference as well as PROUD’s charter members. The primary goal of this event is to reactivate community efforts to better understand and appreciate one another, and to further the goals of community cohesion, neighborliness, and racial equity and justice in Ferguson and the North County area. The conference will consist of speaker and panel presentations followed by discussion opportunities for all attendees.  Please see our web site (www.proud-ferguson .org) to order event tickets and for further information about the conference.

Event Links

Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/2683107-0

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2683107-2

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