Arc of Justice

The first community land trust was born in Albany, GA, during the Civil Rights Movement to provide economic security to tenant farmers and sharecroppers who were being forced off the land when they registered to vote. At 6,000 acres, New Communities, Inc. was the largest tract of land in the US owned by Black Americans at the time.

Over a half-century later, Aya Community Land Trust is coming to life on the site of an abandoned Rite Aid in Hilltop, Tacoma, where gentrification is driving out residents with ties to the historically Black neighborhood. Learn about the origins of this community development model in the short film Arc of Justice and hear how Hilltop residents are working to create affordable housing in a demonstration of community power and cultural conservation.