EquityBlog

Today the U.S. Census released new data showing that Whites now make up less than half of births in the United States, with Hispanics, blacks, Asians and those of mixed race representing a majority for the first time in the country’s history (at 50.4 percent). The following is a statement from PolicyLink Founder and CEO Angela Glover Blackwell in response to this news:

“Today’s news from the U.S. Census that whites now account for less than half of U.S. births underscores what PolicyLink has been saying for some time: the face of America is changing and the nation’s fate hinges on how we react to and invest in those changes. At a time when other countries are beginning to see their youth populations dwindle, the U.S. is experiencing a boom not seen since post-World War II. We must recognize this as a tremendous opportunity to develop a national policy agenda that leads with equity and makes it possible for this growing youth population to fully participate and prosper in our nation’s economic revival.

“It is a shocking and unacceptable fact that today 45 percent of Black middle-class children are expected to end up poor by the time they reach adulthood. According to the Brookings Institution, a mere 13 percent of Latinos and 18 percent of African Americans have a college degree, compared with 31 percent of whites. Such statistics, when viewed within the context of these rapidly changing demographics, reinforce the urgency for making targeted investments that will prepare today’s youth of color and help them to reach their full potential. This means supporting quality early childhood education programs so that young children are well-equipped to perform and succeed in the classroom. And investing in our community colleges so that young workers get the training and skills critical to compete in the global economy.

“The only way to achieve true, sustainable economic recovery is by influencing public policy and making equity the superior growth model for our future. Today’s developments represent a prime opportunity to do just that. Let’s start now.”

Check out these maps below for a visual of this changing face of America. What do you think these rapid changes mean for America’s future? Share with us in the comments.

The face of the nation is changing, and North Carolina is at the cutting edge of this national transformation. Since 1990, the state’s communities of color grew by ten percentage points. 35 percent of North Carolinians now identify as black, Latino, Asian, Native American, mixed race, or other non-white racial group. By 2040, that share is projected to grow by another 11 percentage points to equal 46 percent of the population.

These dynamics made Raleigh, North Carolina, a perfect place to hold a roundtable discussion with community leaders about demographic change and state’s future prosperity. This was the fourth in a series of roundtables that PolicyLink is convening in partnership with the Progress 2050 project at the Center for American Progress.

Toward 2050 in North Carolina: A Roundtable Report on the Changing Face of the Tar Heel State  summarizes our discussion, highlighting several key themes:

• For the state to prosper, all of its diverse communities must prosper
• Quality education and economic inclusion are critical to the leverage the opportunity of diversity in North Carolina
• Multiracial and multi-generational coalitions are essential to making positive change happen

We hope you enjoy reading the report! Please take a look at other reports in our America’s Tomorrow series for more information about why equity is the superior growth model for the future.

L to R: Mitchell Silver, President, American Planning Association; Bertha Lewis, President and Founder, The Black Institute; Allen Fernandez-Smith, President and CEO, Urban Habitat (Photo courtesy of Urban Habitat)

The following post is a reflection by Urban Habitat Social Equity Caucus Coordinator Frank López  on the organization’s annual “State of the Region” conference, which was held last week in Oakland.

We got together and made it happen. On April 26, Urban Habitat hosted 120 Bay Area leaders for the annual State of the Region Conference at The California Endowment’s Oakland Conference Center. On a day that threatened rain but eventually brought the sun, social justice advocates came together to talk about equity, how to problem-solve, act, and organize.

Urban Habitat President and CEO, Allen Fernandez Smith kicked off the event by celebrating the victories and achievements of the more than 80 organizations in attendance, while outlining the important work being done in the region and all that still needs to be done moving forward.

Panel sessions explored the challenges in more depth, ranging across the board, from local and regional planning issues that affect low-income communities and people of color to the changing geography of race and class, the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, and regional agency reform. Workshops were offered to help social justice advocates build capacity to develop the tools they need to win regional campaigns, fund regional advocacy work, and build stronger inside-outside relationships with progressive decision makers.

Keynote speakers Mitchell J. Silver, president of the American Planning Association, and Bertha Lewis, president and founder of The Black Institute, delivered exhilarating and passionate¬ calls to action as they spoke about the changing demographic in the United States and how to ensure that low-income people and people of color have the infrastructure and policies in place to support their success.

As an organization, Urban Habitat is committed to building on the work and conversations that were started, nurtured, and further nourished at the 2012 State of the Region Conference. We ask and encourage you as social justice advocates and allies to please continue the dialogue, idea-sharing, and any thoughts about the conference here on PolicyLink’s Equity Blog or on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/urbanhabitat.org

Follow Urban Habitat on Twitter @Urban_Habitat

On Friday, April 13, I attended the third California State Assembly Hearing on the Status of Boys and Men of Color (BMoC)—this one in Fresno—and as always it felt great to be a part of work that so directly relates to my experience and that will also affect the future of my nephew. The hearing in Fresno was part of a series of local hearings, Oakland (January 20), Los Angeles (March 2), and Coachella Valley that have been convened to discuss challenges facing men and boys of color and highlight promising programs and practices that are working to overcome those challenges. As usual there was a positive vibe, impassioned testimony, and wonderful examples of people who are doing inspiring work on behalf of boys and men of color.  I worked the registration table for most of the event so I had a chance to see and interact with a lot of the people who came to be a part of the hearing.  Many of the folks in the room were there not as presenters but because they care about the futures of their sons, brothers, and fathers.

I will always remember the Fresno hearing for two things: hoodies and a flash mob.  It sounds a little silly at first but in different ways they both symbolized the core reason for this work and the balancing act that boys and men of color deal with everyday.  The flash mob was about life and a bright future with endless possibilities.  The music, movement, and even the clothing that the youth wore represented the infinite aspirations that can only be achieved through equity for those most affected by racism and class inequalities. On the other hand, the hoodies represented the very real dangers that many boys and men of color face every day. They represented the legacy of centuries of racial and economic oppression that have succeeded in devaluing the lives of young men and boys of color and, in the eyes of many, making them the focus of fear.  I really appreciated how the planning committee in Fresno placed both of these symbols front and center at the hearing because it illustrated clearly why this work is of the highest importance.  This is life and death.

I was proud to be a part of an event that was unafraid of ruffling feathers and bucking protocol for the sake of serving and engaging our youth in a real and authentic way, dealing with difficult and controversial issues directly and without apologies.  So often, in formal events like a hearing, we get locked into the strict rules and procedures and lose some of the real human emotion.  It was great to see both the joy and hope of the youth we are working with, as well as the raw emotion and outrage that comes with a case like Trayvon Martin’s.  In order for this all to work we need the engagement of youth and we also need to be agile enough to respond to the events that are happening to them on a daily basis.  Bravo to Fresno for being brave enough to wear hoodies for Trayvon, and dance for a brighter future for boys and men of color.

Also, I encourage everyone to check out this blog post from Harvesting Health on the Fresno hearing, including great video of the flash mob!

Sustainable Communities needs your help!

This Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development will vote on funding for the Sustainable Communities Initiative in the FY 2013 budget. Through this program, investments in affordable housing and good jobs near transit are being planned in 142 cities and regions across the country—with equity advocates planning for their communities’ futures. Maybe you live in one of these places.

However, Congress isn’t so sure that these investments are necessary. Last year, they voted to zero out funding for the Sustainable Communities program in the FY 2012 budget. This year, we have to make sure Congress knows how important these investments are to increasing access to opportunity for communities that have been left behind.

Call, tweet, and write on your Senators’ wall and tell them that every community should be a Sustainable Community.

Tell your Senators to support Sustainable Communities by:

• Fully funding the Sustainable Communities program at $100 million for the FY 2013 budget
• Building healthy communities and strong regions with good jobs, housing, and transportation
• Bringing private, public, and nonprofit sectors together to rebuild our economies

Please call key Senators (in this order) before the looming vote as soon as Tuesday and tell them to fully fund the Sustainable Communities program.

• If your own Senator is on this list, call her or him first.
• Call the Chair, Senator Murray
• Call the Ranking member, Senator Collins
• Post this call to action to Facebook and Twitter so as many constituents as possible are calling their Senators
• Call as many other Senators on the list as possible
• Watch the hearing here, and keep the conversation going online!

Please let us know who you called and how they responded by e-mailing us here!

Set your DVR’s!

Last night PolicyLink Founder and CEO Angela Glover Blackwell appeared as a guest on Bill Moyers PBS series, Moyers & Company. Angela sat down for more than an hour talking with Bill about the issues she has spent most of her adult life advocating – practical ways to fulfill America’s promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all. Now, with our middle class struggling, poverty rising, and inequality growing, Angela shares her reasons for hope in the face of these hard realities. Here’s a quick preview:

You can watch the entire episode here on Bill Moyers.com. And please continue the discussion with us below in the comments section.

The Golden State’s tremendous diversity will be the key to its future economic success—if its leaders take action to increase fairness and opportunity. Equity is not only a moral imperative—it is also an economic one.

These are the key messages of the new report California’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model, authored by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE). The report was released at a legislative briefing earlier this month hosted by PolicyLink and the California Legislative Tri-Caucus, and was attended by legislative staff and nearly 40 advocates from all parts of the state.

Below is a reflection on the report from Urban Habitat President & CEO Allen Fernandez Smith:

Urban Habitat fully supports PolicyLink and PERE’s core finding in the California Report that to create a prosperous California, we must address current systemic inequities, avoid creating new ones, and serve residents of all races and incomes equally.

At Urban Habitat, we situate our work at the intersections of education, advocacy, research, and coalition building to advance environmental, economic, and social justice in the Bay Area region for low-income people and communities of color.  We believe that equitable growth is critical to securing a prosperous California and that the state’s demographic diversity is an economic asset.

Recent data show that low‐income people and communities of color are fragmented across regions. This fragmentation constrains these communities’ ability to establish the networks, political solidarity, and information infrastructure needed to influence the regional agencies that oversee important issues, such as transportation justice, economic development, affordable housing, and the environment.

In order for Californians to live up to their highest potential, we must change the way these regional agencies have historically made decisions. To do so, we need people to think locally and act regionally.

Urban Habitat is very proud to lead two strategic initiatives in the Bay Area to address these issues: Our Social Equity Caucus unites leaders across sectors to create a unified regional social justice community; and our Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute trains the next generation of leaders in the Bay Area region.

By lifting up new and under-represented voices to become strong advocates, and by uniting these leaders with social justice organizations working to advance equity, we can build the powerful movement needed to win a prosperous California.

Earlier this month, we shared with you the new PolicyLink/PERE report California’s Tomorrow, which looks at how demographic and economic trends in California have converged in ways that make equity central to the future of California’s economy.

Today, we’re releasing two new papers that summarize roundtable conversation conversations we had with local leaders in Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley to discuss demographic change and new policy ideas that reflect a changing, increasingly diverse United States. These conversations, titled “Toward 2050 in California” are a part of a series of roundtables that Progress 2050 and PolicyLink are hosting around the country.

We hope that you find these to be useful resources in your own work, and we encourage you to keep the conversation going here on Equity Blog. What do you think are the next steps for creating a stronger Golden State? Tell us below in the comments section, we want to hear from you.

P.S. – We would like to thank the Center for American Progress and the Partnership for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) for partnering with us on the reports.

The Golden State’s tremendous diversity will be the key to its future economic success—if its leaders take action to increase fairness and opportunity. Equity is not only a moral imperative—it is also an economic one.

These are the key messages of the new report California’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model, authored by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE). The report was released this week at a legislative briefing hosted by PolicyLink and the California Legislative Tri-Caucus, and was attended by legislative staff and nearly 40 advocates from all parts of the state.

Below is a reflection on the report from Kendra Bridges of Sacramento’s Coalition on Regional Equity (CORE):

On Monday, members of the Sacramento region’s Coalition on Regional Equity attended a briefing in California’s State Capitol Building that discussed the future of California, and proposed an exciting and timely new way to think about and plan for our future. This opportunity to hear from thought leaders and our elected leadership from the Latino Legislative Caucus, Legislative Black Caucus and Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus gave us a view into how California can best climb out of the economic hole dug by the recession, into a future of equity and prosperity for all.

Simply put, we heard that Equity is the Superior Growth Model, and will help California move forward.

In order for California to emerge from this recession into a productive future, a shift in thinking and investment must occur. We can no longer defer maintenance of our educational system, defer funding for workforce training, or fail to invest in our communities. In order for all Californians to prosper tomorrow, equity must be a priority today.

Our state has undergone a demographic shift, and people of color are the new majority. The educational attainment necessary for the jobs of tomorrow is not yet a reality for many people of color. Many neighborhoods where people of color live suffer from lack of investment, poor infrastructure, and unhealthy conditions. Accordingly, investment in opportunity for our children and in our existing neighborhoods will help ensure that all Californians are able to stand up to the challenge of the new economy.

We know that providing the tools necessary to help the next generation succeed will help us all emerge from the economic downturn and create new prosperity in our state. We look to our elected and community leaders to make positive change happen. There are a few important ways the leaders in our state can ensure that we all prosper:

• Invest in our schools. Tomorrow’s workforce needs the necessary education and skills to meet the demands of the rebuilt economy.
• Invest in our communities. Our public spaces need to be safe and accessible, and our communities need resources such as jobs, services, and places to be physically active. Healthy communities produce a productive workforce!

Promoting equity in opportunity will help California grow and prosper. We look forward to helping our elected leaders make equity a priority in California.

 

The Golden State’s tremendous diversity will be the key to its future economic success—if its leaders take action to increase fairness and opportunity. Equity is not only a moral imperative—it is also an economic one.

These are the key messages of the new report California’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model, authored by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE). The report was released this week at a legislative briefing hosted by PolicyLink and the California Legislative Tri-Caucus, and was attended by legislative staff and nearly 40 advocates from all parts of the state.

Below is a reflection on the report from Shamus Roller, Executive Director of Housing California:

PolicyLink and PERE have articulated what many of us know in our gut, that widening inequality is not just bad for the people at the bottom of the economic spectrum but also bad for California’s economic competitiveness.  Both of my parents graduated from state universities a time when California truly invested in its young people.  Effective economic development is not about the government picking winners and losers in the market but by providing the physical infrastructure and human infrastructure to support business.

Physical infrastructure for the future includes transit, internet access and affordable homes.  Human infrastructure includes real investment in education including higher education and support of parents with young children.  We’ve been coasting on the investments of the past and now it’s time rebuild.