Money flows and asset ownership may not be the first things that come to mind when you think about Rhode Island’s history, but they have had major, long-term implications for our communities — making some people and places more prosperous and resilient and others less so.
On May 5, 2026, Local Return hosted an important presentation on wealth in Rhode Island featuring conversationalists Taino Palermo, Seth Rockman, Lorén Spears, and Keith Stokes.
The four discussed questions like: How was wealth generated locally? Who benefited from this wealth generation, and who was hurt by it? What is the interplay between wealth, the economy, and culture in Rhode Island? What choices are we making today that will shape lives and opportunities for future generations? This event was made possible with the generous support of the Rhode Island Semiquincentennial Commission (RI250).
This page is an accompaniment to the conversation. Below, we recap some of the themes of the event and provide prompts and resources for those who would like to dig deeper. We encourage you to make your way through this and see if there are pieces you could work through with your family or with your company or organization. We all have a role to play in eliminating the wealth disparities in our communities.
Inequality exists in every single Rhode Island community, and it is stubbornly consistent. Across systems (education, economic, healthcare, criminal justice, etc.), we see enormous disparities of outcomes based on race and zip code.
Consider five indicators (household income, poverty, and employment rate at age 35, fraction of residents in the top 20% of the national income distribution for children born that year,, and job growth rate in the tract) across three pairs of closely-located census tracts in Rhode Island. Also note how racial diversity varies across these pairs.
| Census tract | Median household income (2012–2016) |
Poverty rate (2012–2016) |
Employment rate at age 35 (2015) |
Fraction in top 20% based on household income (2014–2015) |
Job growth rate (2004–2013) |
% population identifies other than white (2010) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 (Olneyville, Providence) | $25k | 45% | 75% | 6% | 0.1% | 81% |
| 34 (East Side, Providence) | $140k | 4% | 82% | 30% | 3.6% | 10% |
| 405 (North End, Newport) | $31k | 17% | 76% | 4.9% | -0.9% | 42% |
| 406 (Newport) | $87k | 8.4% | 72% | 24% | -16% | 10% |
| 180 (Woonsocket) | $17k | 38% | 75% | 3.8% | -3.7% | 28% |
| 128.03 (North Smithfield) | $91k | 1.6% | 74% | 18% | 4.8% | 4.4% |
This is not accidental. Opportunity is baked into neighborhoods, and it’s shaped by actions and trends that started more than three hundred years ago.
The Rhode Island we live in today has undoubtedly been shaped by generational impacts of financial wealth. Themes that surfaced during the conversation include:
An important but often overlooked part of financial literacy is understanding our personal money stories. What did we learn—consciously or unconsciously—about money, and from whom? What does money mean to us? How do we feel about it? In what ways does money contribute to our identity as individuals, families, or organizations?
Some examples of money narratives include:
Even when we don’t know they’re there, money stories will show up frequently in our lives and relationships. Without understanding these hidden assumptions and beliefs, it may be difficult to engage in deeper work.
Does your family or organization have a common understanding of ideas like:
These are not simple ideas; they involve moral judgment, and they illuminate the human need to prioritize and accept tradeoffs. Engaging around these kinds of questions outside of any particular financial decision can help us clarify what is most important and for what we wish to be held accountable.
Real change starts with informed action—discover meaningful ways to help expand opportunity and build stronger, more equitable communities.
• Learn more. Check out the resources provided below.
• Take small actions.
• Get involved in policy change.
Resources on Rhode Island’s economic history:
A Matter of Truth: The Struggle for African Heritage & Indigenous People Equal Rights in Providence, Rhode Island (1620-2020)
©2021 Rhode Island Black HEritage Society & 1696 Heritage Group
https://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Matter-of-Truth2.pdf
A Matter of Truth: The Struggle for African Heritage & Indigenous People Equal Rights in Providence, Rhode Island (1620-2020)
©2021 Rhode Island Black HEritage Society & 1696 Heritage Group
https://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Matter-of-Truth2.pdf
Brown University’s Slavery and Justice Report
https://slaveryandjusticereport.brown.edu/
EnCompass: A Digital Sourcebook of Rhode Island History
Produced by the Rhode Island Historical Society with web support from Providence College’s Phillips Memorial Library Digital Projects
https://encompass.rihs.org/
Mosaic Podcast
Produced by The Public’s Radio
https://explore.thepublicsradio.org/mosaic-podcast/listen/
Museum of Work and Culture
https://www.rihs.org/locations/museum-of-work-culture/
Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery
Seth Rockman
The University of Chicago Press
Nuestras Raices
An oral history project that listens and shares the stories of Latino communities across Rhode Island
http://www.nuestrasraicesri.net/
For over 20 years, Dr. Taino J. Palermo has worked to affect change in policy and practice in the areas of nonprofit management, community and economic development, and education reform. Dr. Palermo is a founding faculty member of College Unbound and served as the Director for both the Community Development and Healthy Communities degree programs at Roger Williams University’s University College in Providence, Rhode Island where he founded the state’s first and only graduate program in Community Development. In 2022, Dr. Palermo completed his law degree at Roger Williams University School of Law where he co-founded the American Indian Law Student Association, and most recently, co-founded the Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights, the only pro bono legal services and policy center on the east coast. Dr. Palermo also teaches Federal Indian Law and Tribal Courts & Governments courses at Roger Williams University School of Law and is an attorney at Barton Gilman LLP practicing education law.
Lorén M. Spears, enrolled Narragansett Tribal Nation citizen and Executive Director of Tomaquag Museum, holds a master’s in education and received a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa in 2017, from the University of Rhode Island and Doctor of Education, Honoris Causa from Roger Williams University in 2021. She is an author, artist and shares her cultural knowledge with the public through museum programs. She has contributed to a variety of publications such as Dawnland Voices, An Anthology of Indigenous Writing of New England; Through Our Eyes: An Indigenous View of Mashapaug Pond; From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution; and Repair: Sustainable Design Futures. Spears co-edited a new edition of A Key into the Language of America by Roger Williams; and recently co-authored “As We Have Always Done: Decolonizing the Tomaquag Museum’s Collections Management Policy” published in the Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archive Professionals. Under her leadership Tomaquag Museum received the Institute of Museums and Library Service’s National Medal in 2016 and she has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
Keith W. Stokes is the Rhode Island Historian Laureate. Throughout his four decades of public service in Rhode Island, Keith W. Stokes has remained dedicated to building a community that welcomes everyone who calls the Ocean State home. He has served in various roles, including as an elected official in his cherished hometown of Newport and as a gubernatorial appointee focused on economic development. Additionally, he has contributed to the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island, leading business development efforts. Stokes has consistently sought to intertwine public funding with private development to nurture a strong, beloved community.
Keith is presently Rhode Island Historian Laureate and Director of the State of Rhode Island Division of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. He earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and completed his graduate studies in public policy at the University of Chicago. His education is enriched by the stories of his ancestors, who have shared long-held narratives from a time before the American Revolution, providing him with a unique perspective on the present. He is a 9th-generation Rhode Islander who calls Newport home with his beloved wife, Theresa. He is the father of four children and an extended clan of Pit Bull dogs that he rescues and nurtures.
Seth Rockman is a historian of the United States focusing on the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War. His research unfolds at the intersection of slavery studies, labor history, material culture studies, and the history of capitalism.
Rockman is the George L. Littlefield Professor of American History at Brown University. He sits on the faculty advisory board of the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and leads their Slavery and Finance research cluster. Rockman’s newest book, Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery, was published by University of Chicago Press in Fall 2024 and named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. The book won the 2025 Philip Taft Labor History Book Award, earned distinction as a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Prize, and appears on the longlist for the Cundill Prize.
