This week, the 9th annual Village Building Convergence starts in Portland. Coming together under the them "Powered by the People," Portlanders will work on projects ranging from water catchment systems and intersection painting to native plant gardening and cob benches. But with record job and home loss rocking the metropolitan area, is the convergence still relevant? Even in good times, how much community voice does the convergence really create?

Thursday May 21: The current recession is not an equal opportunity crisis. People of color are experiencing job loss, foreclosures and lack of healthcare at alarmingly higher rates than white Americans. These disparities are not a coincidence but rather the result of structural barriers that have been taking a toll on people of color long before the subprime meltdown.

Seth Wessler, an analyst with Applied Research Center, believes the same structural causes of racial disparity are also at the root of an economic crisis affecting all Americans. In his recently released Race and Recession: How Inequity Rigged the Economy and How to Change the Rules, Wessler presents the numbers as well as the personal stories that reveal the root causes of racial inequity and proposes the path to an inclusive recovery. This Thursday, Jo Ann and Dave will talk with Wessler about his findings and recommendations.

The conversation doesn't end when the program does. You can join in additional discussion of the week's issue on our blog at kboo.fm/voicesfromtheedge (click on the "blog" tab). You'll find additional information, important links, comments from other listeners and commentary from Jo Ann and Dave. Have a question for our guests, but can't call in during the program? Post your questions on line to become a part of the Voices discussion.

Host Ed Goldberg speaks with Portland author Peter Rock about his novel, "My Abandonment," which is based on the true story of a father and daughter living in Forest Park. Peter Rock is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Reed College in Portland. He has been with Reed College since 2001. He is the author of the novels The Unsettling, The Bewildered, The Ambidextrist, This is the Place, and Carnival Wolves. Rock attended Deep Springs College, received a BA in English from Yale University, and held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. He has taught fiction at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Deep Springs College, and in the MFA program at San Francisco State University. His stories and freelance writing have both appeared widely. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.