On Saturday, October 31, the main hall at 1256 Penn Avenue North in Minneapolis will fill on a first come, first served basis, and the man at the front of it will be Dr. Cornel West. The fifth Black Men’s Legacy Summit runs from 10 AM to 3 PM, doors at 9:30, and West will deliver the keynote, titled State of the Nation. Admission is free. The room is not large, and the organizers say so plainly: arrive early.
The summit is presented by the 9000 Equities Initiative, part of Build Wealth MN, and its subject is in the name. Legacy, here, is not an abstraction. The day is built around what Black men build, protect and hand over: houses, health, families and standing in civic life. This year’s theme is Legacy Under Fire, Stand Your Ground, a title that assumes the inheritance needs defending as well as growing.
Six conversations, one through line
Freddie Bell, a Twin Cities broadcaster, is master of ceremonies. The panels pair the generations on purpose. Presiding Bishop Richard D. Howell and Apostle Larry Cook lead a session on Black fathers and their sons. A younger panel, Demitri McGee, James Cooper, Joseph Sutton, Brayshaun Gibson and Jeremiah Allison, takes the next slot under the heading Next In Line, Our Turn to Build. Warren McLean leads the Collective Kitchen session on shared resources. Eric White, Henry Rucker and Ryan Nestingen take economic opportunity. Leonard Searcy and Anthony Taylor take health, under the heading Health is Wealth. Don Samuels, State Senator Bobby Joe Champion and Alfred Babington-Johnson close the panel slate with politics and legacy.
West follows, with a fireside conversation afterward led by Adair Mosley. The credentials need little dressing: West holds the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary, is Professor Emeritus at Princeton, and in 1980 became the first Black man to earn a philosophy PhD from Princeton. His books include Race Matters, Democracy Matters and Black Prophetic Fire.
The number behind the room
The initiative presenting the summit has set itself a target with a number in its name. According to the organization, 9000 Equities is working with partners toward financing 9,000 new Black homeowners over five to seven years, with the stated objective of reducing Minnesota’s homeownership gap by 15 percent. The gap is wide. A March 2025 report from the Minnesota State Demographic Center found that Black homeownership in Minnesota is less than half the statewide rate of 72 percent. That is the arithmetic the summit’s talk about generational wealth has to answer, the same arithmetic behind the wealth building coverage in our recent reporting on corporate HBCU investment.
A light lunch is served while supplies last, and registration through Eventbrite is requested, with walk-ups admitted if space allows. Full program details are at Build Wealth MN. Five years in, the summit still asks its one question in the present tense: what legacy are we building, and who is it for?
The Social Register’s event directory tracks the season’s galas, benefits, and society evenings. Plan your next evening there.
