Last week, the Fed Up campaign for a strong economy took a major step forward, with coalition partners in eight cities across the country calling on the Federal Reserve to reform its governance and build a full employment economy with rising wages for all communities.

On Tuesday, the campaign released a report documenting how African American families are being left behind in this economy. Then, on  Thursday – through snow, sleet, and rain – leaders from community-based organizations and labor partners around the country made their voices heard inside one of the most insulated and powerful institutions in the country. By the end of the day, the  San Francisco and St. Louis Fed presidents had agreed to meet with our coalitions and the other Federal Reserve banks were put on notice that our coalition has national breadth and local depth.

In partnership with the Economic Policy Institute, CPD released a report entitled Wall Street, Main Street, and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: Why African Americans Must Not Be Left Out of the Federal Reserve’s Full-Employment Mandate. The report provides detailed economic pictures of cities and states around the country, and lays out the stark fact that unemployment among Blacks is consistently more than double unemployment among whites, and that in many regions, the disparity is significantly greater.

Conservatives are calling on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in order to slow the economy down and prevent workers’ wages from rising. Such a move would be catastrophic for working families, particularly in communities of color that are still struggling.

The Wall Street Journal previewed our Thursday day of action, quoting EPI’s statement that “The Federal Reserve has the power–and responsibility–to foster stronger economic conditions that create opportunity for all communities.” Becky Moeller of the Texas AFL-CIO described the opacity with which the Texas Federal Reserve has conducted its presidential search as “a comedy of pass the buck.”

Thursday was the first time in decades that community leaders from around the country mobilized to demand a commitment to full employment and rising wages from the Fed. As the campaign deepens and grows, our goal is to ensure that the Fed does not ignore the voices of working families and communities of color when it sets macroeconomic policies that effect all of our lives.  Below are highlights from each of the campaign’s actions and a summary of press coverage.

In New York, despite the snow, members of Make the Road New York (MRNY) and New York Communities for Change (NYCC) and the New Economy Project trekked to the heart of Wall Street and rallied together in front of the New York Federal Reserve. Jean Andre-Sassine, a member of NYCC said, “This weather reminds me of the Fed, giving us the cold shoulder. But we won’t let them plow us under!” Alexis Iwanisziw of the New Economy Project pointed out that in NYC, Black unemployment is 11% and Latino unemployment rate of 8% is double white unemployment. Amador Rivas of MRNY said, “Every day I hear from other Make the Road New York members that they're in the same situation - working multiple part-time jobs, earning poverty wages, and struggling to support their families.” As the traders shuffled through the falling snow, they heard our chant, “Unemployment is too high, give transparency a try!”

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, while the rest of the city shut down due to snow, members of Action United Pennsylvania turned up at the Fed’s doorstep. Action United and labor partners at the AFL-CIO have tried to meet with the decision makers who appoint the next president in Philadelphia for months, but they’ve been shut out of the process. As Kendra Brooks told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “they gave us crumbs.” Earlier in the week, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve announced the appointment of Patrick Harker as its next President, even though there had been no public process and Harker is serving on the very Board that selected him. So Action United braved the storm and hand delivered an over-sized invitation to Harker, inviting him to visit the communities struggling the most in the economy.

And in Charlotte, Action NC found a break during a torrential downpour to deliver a message of their own at the Richmond Federal Reserve branch bank, sitting in the shadows of the Bank of America building. The coalition was pushed out of the large empty plaza in front of the bank and had to set up across the street, drawing parallels to the Fed’s lack of transparency: the Fed is so inaccessible, they won’t even let us stand on their sidewalk! As Action NC told the Charlotte Observer: “The Fed’s decisions are distant from communities that struggle the most in this economy and simply do not reflect the full diversity of the public it is supposed to represent.”

In Texas, Nathan Robinson, a member of Texas Organizing Project, told reporters on a conference call that even with 10 years of management experience, he still can’t find a job that pays a living wage, and Craig Berendzen, President of the Dallas Building Trades, spoke about how a raise in interest rates would be devastating for his members. The Dallas Morning News wrote a lengthy piece on how African Americans have been left out of the “Texas Miracle.” 

In St. Louis, the activists who woke up the rest of the world on issues of systemic racism set their sights on a new target: the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Reggie Rounds, a member of Missourians Organizing for Reform and Change, told CBS News about how he has upgraded his skills and earned a range of professional certifications but has still been shut out of the economy. Reggie is not alone, as the St. Louis American noted: “In St. Louis, the unemployment rates for the Black community remains triple the rate of white residents, 14.1 percent compared to 5.7 percent.”

On Troost Avenue, a major economic dividing line in Kansas City, standing between a fast food restaurant and a payday lender, Communities Creating Opportunity, Kansas People’s Action, Greater KC AFL-CIO, and a coalition of community, labor, and faith leaders called on the Federal Reserve to build a moral economy. Reverend Stan Runnels called on Federal President Esther George to look at the data in the report that speaks to real suffering in communities of color instead of worrying disproportionately about an imaginary inflation threat: “Right now, there is some opportunity for us to move in the direction of an improved economy,” he told KCUR Public Radio.

In Minneapolis, two dozen members gathered at the offices of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change with partners from ISAIAH and SEIU 26 to talk about the enormous racial inequities in Minnesota’s economy. “Blacks Nearly Four Times More Likely Than Whites to Be Unemployed in Minnesota,” read the stark headline from City Pages.

Racial disparity has become a major political topic in Minneapolis, as the Business Journal explained in its write up of the NOC press conference. CBS interviewed NOC Executive Director Anthony Newby, who highlighted the Fed’s potential role in remedying the situation.

And, finally, in San Francisco, a broad coalition of organizations sent representatives to a rally outside of the Fed’s downtown offices. The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) anchored the event and was joined by the San Francisco Labor Council, United Educators of San Francisco, United Service Workers West, the Community Reinvestment Coalition, Jobs with Justice, and the Mission Economic Development Agency. The San Francisco Examiner profiled Ebony Isler, an ACCE member who gets paid less for doing the same work than the white men she works with.

Across the country, men and women took Thursday’s day of action as an opportunity to make their voices heard and influence the debate going on among economic policy elites about whether our economy is healthy. As that debate heats up in the coming months, the Fed Up campaign will continue to call for genuine full employment, rising wages, and a Federal Reserve that is accountable and responsive to the public.

 

Collected Press Clips

Atlanta
Atlanta Black Star
The Actions of the Federal Reserve Bank Have Created an Economy That Hurts Workers And Has Devastated The Black Community
The actions of the Federal Reserve have typically been undertaken to benefit banks and the financial services sector collectively known as Wall Street, but a new report by the Center for Popular Democracy reveals that the Fed’s traditional policies substantially contribute to the dire economic conditions of African-Americans across the country.

Charlotte
The News & Observer
When it comes to jobs, fed up with the Fed
When the monthly jobs numbers come out Friday, many economists will say that the economy is healthy. Some will even say that wages are rising too fast and that steps need to be taken to slow economic growth. But out in the real world, working families and particularly communities of color are being left drastically behind in the recovery.

Dallas
Dallas Morning News
Coalition calls for Fed focus on full employment, higher wages
A coalition of community and labor groups in Texas is calling for the Federal Reserve to focus on full employment and higher wages for Blacks and others in poor neighborhoods who have been left behind in the economic recovery. The group also wants the board of the Fed’s regional bank in Dallas to keep that in mind as it searches for a replacement for Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher, who will retire March 19.

Biz Beat Blog – Dallas Morning News
Members of Dallas Coalition for Federal Reserve change tell their stories
A coalition of community and labor groups in Texas and nationwide is calling for the Federal Reserve to focus on full employment and higher wages for Blacks and others in poor neighborhoods who have been left out of the economic recovery.

Kansas City
Kansas City Star
Kansas City social justice group says too many are left behind in today’s economic growth
When Andrew Kling dug into an economic research project, he was shocked to find there were more payday loan shops in Missouri than there were Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Starbucks locations combined. “In a time when Wall Street is reporting record profits, many low-income people are feeling the pain,” said Kling, communication manager for Communities Creating Opportunity.

KCUR Public Radio
Kansas And Missouri Activists Gather On Troost To Stand For 'Moral Economy'
Community activists and faith leaders from Kansas and Missouri rallied at the intersection of 63rd Street and Troost Avenue Thursday, calling for a "moral economy." One issue that several speakers focused on was a recent comment by Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City president Esther George suggesting that interest rates may be increased to combat inflation. Rev. Stan Runnels of St. Paul's Episcopal Church believes that raising interest rates now would hurt low-wage earners and undo economic progress that has been slowly mounting in the last several years. "Right now, there is some opportunity for us to move in the direction of an improved economy," Runnels said. "We're concerned that if we begin dabbling with these other metrics, like worrying about inflation, we could scramble that up."

KSHB (NBC Affiliate)
Coalition calls for racial equality in Kansas City economy
“[The coalition] says a recent economic report shows twice as many African-Americans in Kansas and Missouri are unemployed than white residents and that wages are too low to support a family. "Our purpose here today is to call for a moral economy where wages actually provide hope for workers and their families,” Stan Runnels, a priest and CCO member, said. The group is asking policy makers for a change.

Minneapolis
WCOB Minneapolis (CBS Affiliate)
Rally Aims To Highlight Racial Employment Disparities In Metro Area
A report to be released on Thursday aims to highlight employment disparities in the Twin Cities. The groups Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Economic Policy Institute say they plan to hold a rally at the Neighborhoods Organizing for Change offices on Thursday afternoon to draw attention to the racial differences between wages and jobs available here. The groups say that, though the economy is adding jobs, the unemployment rate among Black residents in the Twin Cities metro area is nearly four times that of white residents.

Bring Me The News
Report: In MN, jobless rate for blacks is nearly 4 times higher than whites
Minnesota has the third-highest unemployment gap between white and Black people in the country – with the jobless rate among Blacks almost four times higher than among whites.
The figures come from a new study by the Center for Popular Democracy, which shows that the unemployment rate in Minnesota among Black resident is 3.7 times higher compared to white people.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
Report says Minnesota's job boom has skipped minorities
Minnesota's unemployment rate for Black job-seekers is four times the rate for whites, according to a new report that calls on the Federal Reserve to keep rates low until the job market recovers for minorities. WCCO has a story on the report, released by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Popular Democracy, and talks with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change Executive Director Anthony Newby.

The Uptake
Fed Should “Freeze Interest Rates, Involve Citizens” Says Neighborhoods Organizing For Change
Not everybody is benefiting equally from the economic recovery. A new report shows in Minnesota blacks are suffering disproportionally to whites when it comes to employment. Anthony Newby, Executive Director of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC), delivered a report of about the current economic state of people of color in Minnesota and specifically the current and possible role of the Federal Reserve Bank.

New York City
New York Observer
Minority Groups Rally Outside Fed Against Interest Rate Hike
Minority activist organizations demonstrated in the snow outside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, insisting that the institution keep interest rates low until stubbornly high unemployment rates in nonwhite communities drop further. Immigrant advocacy group Make the Road NY and neighborhood organizers New York Communities for Change joined other left-leaning groups outside the lower Manhattan headquarters of the New York Fed, a branch of the national system that controls the interest rates at which lending institutions may borrow money from the United States government. The Fed has left the rates near zero since the financial crisis of 2008 in order to encourage investment, but it has indicated it might raise them this summer amid an improving economy. The protesters, however, argued that Black and Hispanic communities in New York City are still languishing in an economic doldrums, with jobless rates sitting at 11.2 percent and 5.7 percent respectively.

Philadelphia
Philadelphia Inquirer
Snowy protest at Philly Fed
Ten cold protesters from a national group called Fed Up gathered at the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia in the storm this afternoon to urge the Fed to pay more attention to boosting employment and listening to groups representing wage workers and poor people. The group, which includes labor union and church groups as well as local affilates such as North Philadelphia-based Action United, says its national leaders met with Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen in Washington last year, but they have had a tough time getting Fed officials who oversee regional banks and regulatory teams, such as Charles Plosser, the free-market economist who retired in March (corrected) as the Philly Fed President, to take them seriously.

San Francisco
San Francisco Examiner
Report: Black unemployment in Bay Area more than three times the average
After 200 unanswered job applications, Ebony Eisler finally landed a $15 an hour position as a medical assistant in Mission Bay. But since she's a temp worker, she earns less than her co-workers, who make $20 to $25 per hour for the same work. Still, as a Black woman in San Francisco, she is fortunate. The unemployment rate for Black people in the Bay Area is 19 percent, according to 2013 U.S. Census Bureau data crunched by the Economic Policy Institute.

St. Louis
St. Louis Post-Distpatch
Don't raise rates, protesters tell St. Louis Fed
About a dozen chilly protesters gathered outside the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Thursday to complain that the Fed may soon make it harder to find work. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates later this year, a move intended to prevent inflation in years hence. The protesters complained that higher interest rates can also cut off the jobs recovery.

St. Louis American
Activists rally in front of Federal Reserve, calling for end to ‘economic racism’
African-American residents are sick and tired of hearing about an economic recovery that does not apply to them, said Derek Laney, an organizer for Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. In St. Louis, the unemployment rates for the Black community remains triple the rate of white residents, 14.1 percent compared to 5.7 percent for whites, he said. However, some economists claim that the economy is rapidly approaching full employment. “Is there only one set of the population that matters?” he said. “And if they are alright, we’re all alright? That’s something we can’t accept.”

St. Louis Public Radio
Protest calls for Fed to focus on employment. Would that help?
What recovery? That was the question being asked Thursday by a small group of activists outside the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. About a dozen protesters called on the Fed to focus on unemployment, especially among minorities, rather than on keeping inflation rates low. They said if the Federal Open Market Committee raises the interest rate this year, as anticipated, it would likely mean fewer jobs. "We’re calling on the Fed to do the right thing by most people, because the people they’re helping by changing the policy is a very small minority people and a very influential and affluent group of people," said Derek Laney of Missourians for Reform and Empowerment. The protest was one of several held at Federal Reserve Banks around the country to highlight a new report by the Center for Popular Democracy and the Economic Policy Institute.

KMOV St. Louis
Downtown protest held over racial disparity in employment (video)
White unemployment in the St. Louis area is 5.7 percent, African American unemployment is 14.1 percent. Organizers said they want the Fed to adopt policies focused on getting more people get back to work. “It’s not easy getting a job, when you are qualified even when you look the part,” one demonstrator said. Organizers said the story of one attendee demonstrates the problem. “When you do get the job, it’s something to get you buy, but it’s not a livable wage,” Ray Rounds said.

 

Atlanta

Atlanta Black Star

The Actions of the Federal Reserve Bank Have Created an Economy That Hurts Workers And Has Devastated The Black Community

The actions of the Federal Reserve have typically been undertaken to benefit banks and the financial services sector collectively known as Wall Street, but a new report by the Center for Popular Democracy reveals that the Fed’s traditional policies substantially contribute to the dire economic conditions of African-Americans across the country.

 

Charlotte

The News & Observer

When it comes to jobs, fed up with the Fed

When the monthly jobs numbers come out Friday, many economists will say that the economy is healthy. Some will even say that wages are rising too fast and that steps need to be taken to slow economic growth. But out in the real world, working families and particularly communities of color are being left drastically behind in the recovery.

 

Dallas

Dallas Morning News

Coalition calls for Fed focus on full employment, higher wages

A coalition of community and labor groups in Texas is calling for the Federal Reserve to focus on full employment and higher wages for Blacks and others in poor neighborhoods who have been left behind in the economic recovery. The group also wants the board of the Fed’s regional bank in Dallas to keep that in mind as it searches for a replacement for Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher, who will retire March 19.

 

Biz Beat Blog – Dallas Morning News

Members of Dallas Coalition for Federal Reserve change tell their stories

A coalition of community and labor groups in Texas and nationwide is calling for the Federal Reserve to focus on full employment and higher wages for Blacks and others in poor neighborhoods who have been left out of the economic recovery.

 

Kansas City

Kansas City Star

Kansas City social justice group says too many are left behind in today’s economic growth

When Andrew Kling dug into an economic research project, he was shocked to find there were more payday loan shops in Missouri than there were Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Starbucks locations combined. “In a time when Wall Street is reporting record profits, many low-income people are feeling the pain,” said Kling, communication manager for Communities Creating Opportunity.

 

KCUR Public Radio

Kansas And Missouri Activists Gather On Troost To Stand For 'Moral Economy'

Community activists and faith leaders from Kansas and Missouri rallied at the intersection of 63rd Street and Troost Avenue Thursday, calling for a "moral economy." One issue that several speakers focused on was a recent comment by Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City president Esther George suggesting that interest rates may be increased to combat inflation. Rev. Stan Runnels of St. Paul's Episcopal Church believes that raising interest rates now would hurt low-wage earners and undo economic progress that has been slowly mounting in the last several years. "Right now, there is some opportunity for us to move in the direction of an improved economy," Runnels said. "We're concerned that if we begin dabbling with these other metrics, like worrying about inflation, we could scramble that up." 

 

KSHB (NBC Affiliate)

Coalition calls for racial equality in Kansas City economy

“[The coalition] says a recent economic report shows twice as many African-Americans in Kansas and Missouri are unemployed than white residents and that wages are too low to support a family. "Our purpose here today is to call for a moral economy where wages actually provide hope for workers and their families,” Stan Runnels, a priest and CCO member, said. The group is asking policy makers for a change.

 

Minneapolis

WCOB Minneapolis (CBS Affiliate)

Rally Aims To Highlight Racial Employment Disparities In Metro Area

A report to be released on Thursday aims to highlight employment disparities in the Twin Cities. The groups Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Economic Policy Institute say they plan to hold a rally at the Neighborhoods Organizing for Change offices on Thursday afternoon to draw attention to the racial differences between wages and jobs available here. The groups say that, though the economy is adding jobs, the unemployment rate among Black residents in the Twin Cities metro area is nearly four times that of white residents.

 

Bring Me The News

Report: In MN, jobless rate for blacks is nearly 4 times higher than whites

Minnesota has the third-highest unemployment gap between white and Black people in the country – with the jobless rate among Blacks almost four times higher than among whites.

The figures come from a new study by the Center for Popular Democracy, which shows that the unemployment rate in Minnesota among Black resident is 3.7 times higher compared to white people.

 

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

Report says Minnesota's job boom has skipped minorities

Minnesota's unemployment rate for Black job-seekers is four times the rate for whites, according to a new report that calls on the Federal Reserve to keep rates low until the job market recovers for minorities. WCCO has a story on the report, released by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Popular Democracy, and talks with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change Executive Director Anthony Newby.

 

The Uptake

Fed Should “Freeze Interest Rates, Involve Citizens” Says Neighborhoods Organizing For Change

Not everybody is benefiting equally from the economic recovery. A new report shows in Minnesota blacks are suffering disproportionally to whites when it comes to employment. Anthony Newby, Executive Director of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC), delivered a report of about the current economic state of people of color in Minnesota and specifically the current and possible role of the Federal Reserve Bank.

 

New York City

New York Observer

Minority Groups Rally Outside Fed Against Interest Rate Hike

Minority activist organizations demonstrated in the snow outside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, insisting that the institution keep interest rates low until stubbornly high unemployment rates in nonwhite communities drop further. Immigrant advocacy group Make the Road NY and neighborhood organizers New York Communities for Change joined other left-leaning groups outside the lower Manhattan headquarters of the New York Fed, a branch of the national system that controls the interest rates at which lending institutions may borrow money from the United States government. The Fed has left the rates near zero since the financial crisis of 2008 in order to encourage investment, but it has indicated it might raise them this summer amid an improving economy. The protesters, however, argued that Black and Hispanic communities in New York City are still languishing in an economic doldrums, with jobless rates sitting at 11.2 percent and 5.7 percent respectively.

 

Philadelphia

Philadelphia Inquirer

Snowy protest at Philly Fed

Ten cold protesters from a national group called Fed Up gathered at the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia in the storm this afternoon to urge the Fed to pay more attention to boosting employment and listening to groups representing wage workers and poor people. The group, which includes labor union and church groups as well as local affilates such as North Philadelphia-based Action United, says its national leaders met with Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen in Washington last year, but they have had a tough time getting Fed officials who oversee regional banks and regulatory teams, such as Charles Plosser, the free-market economist who retired in March (corrected) as the Philly Fed President, to take them seriously.

 

San Francisco

San Francisco Examiner

Report: Black unemployment in Bay Area more than three times the average

After 200 unanswered job applications, Ebony Eisler finally landed a $15 an hour position as a medical assistant in Mission Bay. But since she's a temp worker, she earns less than her co-workers, who make $20 to $25 per hour for the same work. Still, as a Black woman in San Francisco, she is fortunate. The unemployment rate for Black people in the Bay Area is 19 percent, according to 2013 U.S. Census Bureau data crunched by the Economic Policy Institute.

 

St. Louis

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Don't raise rates, protesters tell St. Louis Fed

About a dozen chilly protesters gathered outside the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Thursday to complain that the Fed may soon make it harder to find work. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates later this year, a move intended to prevent inflation in years hence. The protesters complained that higher interest rates can also cut off the jobs recovery.

 

St. Louis American

Activists rally in front of Federal Reserve, calling for end to ‘economic racism’

African-American residents are sick and tired of hearing about an economic recovery that does not apply to them, said Derek Laney, an organizer for Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. In St. Louis, the unemployment rates for the Black community remains triple the rate of white residents, 14.1 percent compared to 5.7 percent for whites, he said. However, some economists claim that the economy is rapidly approaching full employment. “Is there only one set of the population that matters?” he said. “And if they are alright, we’re all alright? That’s something we can’t accept.”

 

St. Louis Public Radio

Protest calls for Fed to focus on employment. Would that help?

What recovery? That was the question being asked Thursday by a small group of activists outside the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. About a dozen protesters called on the Fed to focus on unemployment, especially among minorities, rather than on keeping inflation rates low. They said if the Federal Open Market Committee raises the interest rate this year, as anticipated, it would likely mean fewer jobs. "We’re calling on the Fed to do the right thing by most people, because the people they’re helping by changing the policy is a very small minority people and a very influential and affluent group of people," said Derek Laney of Missourians for Reform and Empowerment. The protest was one of several held at Federal Reserve Banks around the country to highlight a new report by the Center for Popular Democracy and the Economic Policy Institute.

 

KMOV St. Louis

Downtown protest held over racial disparity in employment (video)

White unemployment in the St. Louis area is 5.7 percent, African American unemployment is 14.1 percent. Organizers said they want the Fed to adopt policies focused on getting more people get back to work. “It’s not easy getting a job, when you are qualified even when you look the part,” one demonstrator said. Organizers said the story of one attendee demonstrates the problem. “When you do get the job, it’s something to get you buy, but it’s not a livable wage,” Ray Rounds said.