2015 WALKING TOURS - September 12 and 19
The best way to get to know any city is by walking its streets and meeting its people.
The Swearer Center for Public Service has organized a menu of tours on the first two weekends of the
academic year to introduce you to neighborhoods, community organizations, culture, politics and history of
Providence. Many tours will emphasize the relationship between Brown and the community of Providence,
showing the myriad ways in which the two have, and indeed still do, influence one another.
Please sign up for a specific tour by letter, since space is limited.
Each tour will last approximately 90 minutes.
Important information:
 Space is limited so you may not get your first choice. However, every effort will be made to fit you into
your desired tour.
 Walk-ins will be accepted; though people with a reservation will have priority.
 Note the meeting place for your tour. All tours will begin and end at this location.
 Please arrive 10 minutes before departure time. Tours will run approximately 90 minutes.
 Please bring your Brown ID – some tours will include bus riding as well as walking.
 In case of rain, call 863-3638 for status of the tours.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
TOUR #A – 10:00 AM - Local Food and Food Justice
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Thea Upham, Farm Fresh RI
Learn about growing a local food system that values the environment, health and quality of life of RI
farmers and eaters. Thea is the Program Director for Community Access at Farm Fresh. She firmly
believes that the decisions we make about what we eat and where it comes from can have great
impacts on the health and welfare of our local community.
TOUR #B – 1:00 PM - Behind the Walls and Beyond the Walls: Incarceration and
Reentry in RI
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by John Prince
John Prince is an organizer with DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality) working on the Beyond
the Walls Campaign. This campaign unites people in prison with their family, friends, community
members and former inmates on the outside. The goal is to work for systemic changes in the criminal
justice system. DARE works to build a powerful multi-ethnic and multi- racial base of members who
can work together for solutions to community wide problems.
TOUR #C – 1:30PM- Working to End Homelessness in RI
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Barbara Kalil and John Freitas and student leaders of HOPE
John and Barbara are homeless advocates and founders and leaders of RI Homeless Advocacy Project
and Nighttime Outreach. They work closely with RI Coalition for the Homeless and the Swearer
Community Program, HOPE (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere).
TOUR #D – 2:00 PM - Fox Point, the Cape Verdean Community and Urban Renewal
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Claire Andrade Watkins
Claire Andrade Watkins was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a professor in the
Visual and Media Arts department at Emerson College. She is the director and producer of the
documentary "Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican," which blends her personal history of growing up in a
close-knit Cape-Verdean community with the 200-year history of Cape Verdeans in America.
Co-sponsored with BCSC
TOUR #E – 2:30PM - One Square Mile: Latino Community in Central Falls
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Natalia Asalgado and Kenia Alfaro
Central Falls, RI with an area of only 1.29 square miles is the smallest and most densely populated city
in the smallest state, and the 25th most densely populated incorporated place in the United States. In
recent decades, a large number of Hispanic immigrants have found a home in Central Falls and are
actively shaping its economy and social fabric. Natalie and Kenia are Brown students who had iProv
internships this summer in Central Falls. This tour will introduce you to the culture and community
organizations that are shaping this city.
Tour #F - 3:00 PM - Promoting Equitable Access to Health Resources in RI
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Rachel Bishop, Health Leads
The medical literature offers substantial evidence demonstrating that poverty negatively impacts
health outcomes. Children who experience “food insecurity” are 30% more likely to be hospitalized by
age three. Poor housing conditions, including overcrowding, have been shown to have a direct
relationship to poor mental health, developmental delay, heart disease and other medical issues. This
tour, led by Rachel Bishop, Program manager of Health Leads RI will explore some of these dynamics
in RI and talk about the role of Health Leads in advocating for a different kind of health care system.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
Tour #G – 11:00 AM - African Americans on College Hill
Meet at Brown Center for Students of Color, 68 Brown St.
Led by Ray Rickman
Explore Providence’s oldest neighborhood and the African Americans who lived their varied lives
there. Many left an indelible mark not only on the state but the world, including opera diva Sissieretta
Jones, landscape artist Edward M. Bannister and Harlem Renaissance author Rudolph Fisher. Ray
Rickman is a former State Representative from College Hill in Providence and served as Deputy
Secretary of State from 2000 to 2002. Ray is also a rare book dealer, is considered a leader in the
promotion of African American history.
Co-sponsored with BCSC
Tour #H - 12:00 PM - Youth Voice in Providence
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Zack Mezera’13 and members of Providence Student Union
Zack Mezera is co-founder and director of the Providence Student Union, which builds student power
to ensure young people have a fair say in improving their education. Since 2010, hundreds of students
have used PSU to win campaigns for increased access to transportation, blocking negative changes to
state graduation requirements, prevention of school closings, increased school infrastructure funding,
and more.
Tour #I – 12:30 PM - Ending Homelessness in RI
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by John Freitas, Barbara Kalil and leaders of HOPE
John and Barbara are homeless advocates and founders and leaders of RI Homeless Advocacy Project
and Nighttime Outreach. They work closely with RI Coalition for the Homeless and the Brown student
organization, HOPE (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere).
Tour #J – 1:00 - Finding Nature in Providence
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Scott Turner
Scott Turner is Director of Web Communications at Brown, and he also writes a weekly nature
commentary for the Providence Journal. He is a former land manager, park ranger and science writer.
Tour #K - 1:30 - Working the Boats: The Cape Verdean Community and Fox Point
Meet at Swearer Center, 25 George Street
Led by Claire Andrade Watkins
This tour will look at the history, kinship and craft of Local 1329, of the International Longshoremen’s
Association that provided a livelihood for generations of men from Fox Point who “Worked the Boats”
in the Port of Providence. Claire Andrade Watkins was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island,
and is a professor in the Visual and Media Arts department at Emerson College.
Co-sponsored with BCSC