Blog
By Katrina Gamble, Director of Civic Engagement and Politics
In this country being Black and poor means living in constant struggle. The commodification and dehumanization of Black bodies is rooted in the history of this country—from the blood-stained red clay of Southern slavery to wealth built from cheap cotton and textile manufacturing in the North.
Ten years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and flooded the city of New Orleans the consequences of a long history of institutionalized racism were on full display. More than 1,800 lives were lost and tens of thousands of people were displaced.
As the flood waters rose and we saw grandmothers, mothers with babies, and, indeed, whole families left abandoned on their rooftops or out in the sweltering Gulf Coast heat – it shocked the country. Perhaps, because many had been lulled into the belief that the civil rights movement and the growing Black middle-class meant we’d somehow escaped the murderous grasp of racism and white supremacy in the United States.
But there it was exposed – a wound that never quite healed. Black people in a beloved city were abandoned and made a public spectacle for the world to see. To make matters worse, when Black people went looking for protection and shelter, they were called refugees in their own country. And instead of being rescued, they were met with a militarized occupation.
When you think of natural disasters you think of something unpredictable, but mitigated by some semblance of comfort that emergency evacuation plans, government regulations, and investments in infrastructure are supposed to provide.
Most of us did not know that the levees would break and that New Orleans and other cities across the Gulf Coast would be submerged. But for those of us who have grown up Black and poor in America, living precariously close to disaster is a daily lived experience. So, as Katrina barreled down on New Orleans ten years ago, we certainly could have predicted the impact on the poor Black communities of New Orleans.
In a city where forty percent of Black families lived below the poverty line, and wherenearly 60 percent of those families did not have access to a car, the impact of a storm like Hurricane Katrina was dismayingly predictable for the thousands of Black families living in poverty or at the edge poverty.
Speculators and corporate profiteers stood waiting to take advantage of this moment resulting in both the economic and the physical displacement of many Black residents. From corporate take-over of the school district to destruction of public housing the tradition of profiting off of black trauma continues in New Orleans. Katrina Truth, a website developed by Advancement Project and Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, describes the racial divide in the post-Katrina recovery. Gentrification spurred the removal of public housing down to 2,006 units compared to 12,270 prior to Katrina. Today, nearly 40 percent of residents spend more than half of their income on housing.
As we reflect on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we should focus less on the recovery and more on how we create strong and healthy communities grounded by the voices of the most vulnerable. If we could dream of the communities we want for ourselves and our families what would it look like? My dream would include equitable public community schools responsive to parents, students, and teachers -- not one where Black and brown children are put funneled into the school-to-prison pipeline. My dream would mean safe and quality housing for all rather than families displaced and pushed out of their communities by gentrification spurred on by corporate greed. It would mean all families being able to live with dignity and economic security rather than one where nearly 40 percent of children live in poverty. It would mean full employment, fair wages, and fair scheduling for working families rather than the continued exploitation of Black labor.
While these dreams are not yet realized, we continue to resist. And, in doing so, we stand with Gulf Coast Rising and others in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast who continue to fight for equitable and sustainable communities.
As you stand in resistance, what is your dream for your community?
On April 22, CPD and leaders from our partner organizations from around the country met with Senator Elizabeth Warren.
We met with Senator Warren because we urgently need more champions among our elected officials to stand with black and brown people on the full range of issues impacting our communities. We also met with the Senator to thank her for her courage and leadership in standing up to big banks and holding corporations accountable around the housing and economic crisis.
Our partners from Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin shared with Senator Warren how their organizations represent communities where immigrant families continue to be separated because of our broken immigration system, where young black and brown people face daily harassment and violence at the hands of police officers, and where the continuous closing of public schools in low-income neighborhoods strips children of opportunities for success.
We shared with the Senator the ways in which she can stand as a champion on these issues through pushing for a reduction in citizenship fees, fighting for community-centered reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and supporting federal legislation that would divest from increased militarization of local law enforcement and instead invest in our families. We also shared with the Senator ideas on how she could work to restore community wealth and curb gentrification.
Senator Warren was incredibly responsive to the concerns we raised and we look forward to continuing to work with her and other champions who will fight for issues that work to fully strengthen our communities and families.
On April 15, over 60,000 workers and allies took part in demonstrations in 200 cities across the country to demand a raise in the minimum wage to $15. The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and two dozen of our partners across 26 states lifted up the voices of working families struggling to make ends meet in a broken economy.
This most recent day of action was the largest to date of the now two-year long “Fight For $15” campaign, highlighting the growing moment this movement of workers, students, racial and climate justice advocates, unions, and small business owners is gaining.
In Chicago, Fight For $15 organizers worked with the Black Youth Project 100, a racial justice organization, to draw connections between the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for a higher minimum wage and union rights. In New York City, community members participated in a die-in outside a Manhattan McDonald’s and spoke about the link between racial violence and the economic violence caused by poverty wages.
In Oakland, CA, former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich met with striking workers as they walked off the job at a McDonalds. And across the country, striking Fight for $15 workers were joined by student groups, childcare organizers, home care attendants, nurses, adjunct faculty, construction workers and others who have joined the movement for economic justice under the Fight For $15 banner.
As workers and their allies push the fight for livable wages into the national dialogue and are able to draw support from an ever-widening base, the movement for fair wages is sure to have a huge impact as presidential elections draw near.
The recently released Department of Justice investigation of the Ferguson Police Department and the Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing Interim Report were the direct results of bold and sustained organizing efforts nationwide. The expressions of anger and anguish from communities too long impacted by abusive criminal justice and policing practices forced the federal government to respond. The publication of the DOJ Investigation reiterated what we already know—policing and criminal justice practices in Ferguson are racially discriminatory and result in the systemic targeting, harassment and imprisonment of black people. The Presidential Task Force’s far-reaching recommendations make clear that the problem is not unique to Ferguson and that there is much work to be done nationwide to ensure that our criminal justice system does not continue to inflict violence upon the communities it purports to protect.
The Department of Justice’s Investigationexposed rampant racism and unearthed policing practices motivated by profiteering not safety. The investigation restates many of the findings published earlier this year by our partner, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), in their report “Transforming St. Louis County’s Racist Municipal Courts.” The findings suggest systemic discrimination and brutality—from the streets to the court houses. These practices of discrimination and profiteering are not unique to Ferguson. Nationwide unchecked aggressive and discriminatory police departments are incentivized to serve as conveyor belts to jails and prisons. Black and brown people in our country are three times more likely to be searched during a traffic stop than white motorists, twice as likely to be arrested and almost four times as likely to experience use of force during encounters with the police. Over 1.68 million black men are under correctional control in the US, not counting jails. That's over three times as many black men as were enslaved in 1850. And black women are three times more likely than white women to be incarcerated. It is clear that Ferguson is not an anomaly.
The DOJ Investigation and Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing Interim Report are important articulations of the scope and severity of discriminatory and exploitative criminal justice policies. We support the work of our partners from St. Louis, to Wisconsin, to Minneapolis to New York who continue their fight to curb police brutality and re-make the criminal justice system through sustained and creative organizing. We know that change will only come with continued pressure, action and organizing.
A few weeks ago, CPD staff traveled to Selma, Alabama for the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and wrote this reflection on the anniversary and the current movement moment:
Fifty years ago civil rights leaders and activists organized in Selma as part of a decades-long movement for civil and voting rights. The movement was a manifestation of the power of people when organized. It was born of years of concentrated community organizing, canvasing, action, and education—much of it executed by youth and elevated by elders. It grew in the churches, schools and streets of Montgomery, Greensboro and Birmingham. The summer before Bloody Sunday the same forces rocked electoral politics with their show of democratic determination at Freedom Summer. Months after Bloody Sunday they saw their work translate into legislation with the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act. It was a movement made by the people and built on the premise of self-determination. The demand that black humanity be recognized—not violated. Bloody Sunday was not simply a march for the ballot box. It was a sustained movement, which sought freedom for black people and the end of economic exploitation, sub-par education, inadequate housing, unyielding state violence and capricious state power.
In reflecting on this important anniversary, we understand that we still face many challenges. There is an attempt to dismantle many of the rights won with the civil rights movement through a sustained and aggressive attack on voting rights all across the country. We also continue to fight against and suffer through state-sanctioned violence targeted at black and brown communities. The day before we arrived in Selma we learned that another unarmed black person, Tony Robinson, was killed by law enforcement in Madison, WI and on our last day in Selma we heard of the police killing of Anthony Hill in Dekalb County, GA.
While we celebrate the heroes and leaders from Selma and take lessons from their work, we remain focused on building infrastructure and power in our communities to sustain the burgeoning Movement for Black Lives. At CPD that means moving innovative and transformative voting reforms such as automatic voter registration and restoration of rights for formerly incarcerated individuals. It means investing resources and support to strengthen the infrastructure and capacity of black-led organizations rooted in black communities. It means developing policy tools and solutions that reflect the demands and voices of those organizing for criminal justice reform on the frontlines. It means supporting the growth of wrap-around community schools across the country, which holistically address the educational, physical and emotional needs of our children and prepare them for success as opposed to educational banishment and incarceration.
We look back for lessons from the past but we remain present and focused in the current movement, as we build a foundation with our partners and allies across the country for the struggles ahead.
-- Marbre Stahly-Butts & Katrina Gamble
On March 12, joined by three members of Congress on the steps of New York City Hall, CPD, core partner organizations Make the Road New York (MRNY) and New York Communities for Change (NYCC), and other key progressive partners launched a major new national initiative on climate change.
Building a new cohort of climate leadership among elected officials, the campaign – TakeSides.org – is driven by CPD partner organizations and allies deeply rooted in the low-income communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. These organizations, many of which have not historically been engaged in the climate movement, are helping to bring critical new voices and capacities to the movement, reframing climate from an abstract environmental issue to one of deeply personal economic, social, and racial justice impacts.
“It is clearer than ever that our climate system is being disrupted by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resulting from human activity” says Zoilo Blas, a member of MRNY. “The worst part of this catastrophe is that those of us who are burdened the most are those who contribute to climate change the least. That’s why Latino and immigrant New Yorkers are calling for climate justice now!”
Attended by over 100 members of MRNY, NYCC, and other allies, the TakeSides.org launch heralded a new moment in CPD and its partners’ climate organizing and in the broader work to force climate action at the scale and rate truly needed to address the crisis we face.
On March 11, CPD, National People’s Action, USAction, and our state partners helped coordinate We Rise, a national day of action with one simple message: our cities and states belong to us, not big corporations and the wealthy. With nearly 30 events across 16 states, thousands of workers, families and supporters demanded that elected officials put people and the planet before profit.
Each local event focused on specific steps legislators could take to reverse inequality, repair democracy, and protect the environment.
In Wisconsin, our partner Wisconsin Jobs Now held powerful actions where hundreds of demonstrators called for justice following the killing of unarmed 19-year-old Tony Robinson. They also protested against a budget that devotes more money to prisons than schools.
In Illinois, nearly 2,500 people joined Action Now to demand that the Governor and state legislators raise revenue from corporations and the wealthy, instead of imposing more than $6 billion in cuts to those who can least afford it.
And in Albany, New York Communities for Change, Make the Road New York, and VOCAL-NY were joined by more than 1,000 people standing up for public education.
Other actions took place in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania (seven different events), and West Virginia. While each event lifted up local and state solutions, they all focused on the message that statehouses and cities belong to all of us, not just big corporations and the wealthy. Thanks to all of our partners who ensured We Rise had a strong impact, including National People’s Action, USAction, Wisconsin Jobs Now, Action Now, New York Communities for Change, Make the Road New York, VOCAL-NY, LUCHA, Sunflower Community Action, Rise Up Georgia, Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, TakeAction Minnesota, New Jersey Communities United, and Common Good Ohio.
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
AtlantaAtlanta Black StarThe Actions of the Federal Reserve Bank Have Created an Economy That Hurts Workers And Has Devastated The Black CommunityThe 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.CharlotteThe News & ObserverWhen it comes to jobs, fed up with the FedWhen 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.DallasDallas Morning NewsCoalition calls for Fed focus on full employment, higher wagesA 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 NewsMembers of Dallas Coalition for Federal Reserve change tell their storiesA 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 CityKansas City StarKansas City social justice group says too many are left behind in today’s economic growthWhen 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 RadioKansas 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.MinneapolisWCOB Minneapolis (CBS Affiliate)Rally Aims To Highlight Racial Employment Disparities In Metro AreaA 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 NewsReport: In MN, jobless rate for blacks is nearly 4 times higher than whitesMinnesota 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 JournalReport says Minnesota's job boom has skipped minoritiesMinnesota'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 UptakeFed Should “Freeze Interest Rates, Involve Citizens” Says Neighborhoods Organizing For ChangeNot 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 CityNew York ObserverMinority Groups Rally Outside Fed Against Interest Rate HikeMinority 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.PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia InquirerSnowy protest at Philly FedTen 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 FranciscoSan Francisco ExaminerReport: 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. LouisSt. Louis Post-DistpatchDon't raise rates, protesters tell St. Louis FedAbout 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 AmericanActivists 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 RadioProtest 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. LouisDowntown 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.
Two years ago, in response to inspirational mobilization by thousands of workers in New York City’s service industry, CPD partnered with United New York to hold a one-day symposium and release a report laying out policy prescriptions that would improve the quality of life for millions of working families in the city. Workers Rising: Organizing Service Jobs for Shared Prosperity highlighted the stories of courageous leaders in the car wash, airline, retail, and fast food industries whose efforts had changed the political discourse in the city.
On Feb. 11, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito gave voice to those workers and turned many of CPD’s policy prescriptions into the official agenda of the city government. In a wide-ranging and widely-praised State of the City Address, Speaker Mark-Viverito laid out a bold vision for raising the quality of service jobs in New York: “Promoting equality and fairness in our City also means facing up to one of the most important socioeconomic challenges of our time: income inequality.”
The Speaker announced her plan to pass legislation creating an Office of Labor that will enforce City laws such as paid sick days and other future workers’ rights laws, in addition to State labor laws once the Council is successful in gaining authority to do so. Furthermore, the Office will serve as a resource for workers and businesses, helping them understand their rights and responsibilities, and assisting businesses to comply with the law. The Office will also develop programs for worker education, safety, and protection. The proposal for a city Office of Labor was first put on the NYC political agenda with the Workers Rising publication and symposium. The Speaker also announced her intention to seek the authority to pass a city minimum wage and to enforce the State’s wage and hour laws. Alongside the 2013 passage (and 2014 expansion) of the paid sick days law, Speaker Mark-Viverito’s announcement means that nearly all of the policy prescriptions that CPD laid out in our early 2013 report are law, are on the way to becoming law, or are stated priorities for New York City’s Mayor and Council Speaker.
CPD recently submitted testimony to the presidents task force on 21st century policing in advance of the January 30th listening session on policy and oversight.
Policy and Oversight Listening Session Comment
Dear Co-Chairs Ramsey and Robinson, and members of the Task Force:
This comment is submitted on behalf of the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD). The Center for Popular Democracy is a national organization that works to create equity, opportunity and a dynamic democracy in partnership with high-impact base-building organizations, organizing alliances, and progressive unions. CPD provides organizational, capacity and policy support for our partners across the country. We have deep partnerships with strong, effective racial justice, economic justice and immigrants’ rights organizations, in close to thirty states, such as Make the Road New York, Communities United for Police Reform, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change in Minneapolis and others.
Most of our partner organizations are based in low-income communities of color. Because of the prevalence of police discrimination and mass criminalization in these communities we have been working on issues of criminalization and police accountability since our inception in 2012. CPD has been part of the campaign for police accountability in New York City, through our partner Communities United for Police Reform, Make the Road NY, and New York Communities for Change. We also have been working with the Organization for Black Struggle and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) in Ferguson to support their efforts to enact meaningful reform in the St. Louis area.
Based on our work across the country, and through collaborations with other national and local organizations, we have developed a series of best practices as well as federal and local recommendations. We believe if enacted these recommendations would not only increase transparency and accountability for local law enforcement but would also make communities safer. We write to share these recommendations with the Task Force.
The killing of Eric Garner, Mike Brown, John Crawford III and Ezell Ford in the span of four weeks this summer and the subsequent failure to hold any officers involved in those killings responsible resulted in nationwide protest and resistance. Community members in over two hundred cities across the country planned die-ins, walk-outs, acts of civil disobedience and protests demanding recognition, not only in rhetoric but in deed, that their lives matter. These killings, the vilification of the victims and the impunity reserved for the perpetrators, are not exceptional. They are reflective of an epidemic of state-sanctioned terror perpetuated against many black and brown communities through police violence and occupation, economic deprivation, incarceration, surveillance, and political isolation. According to woefully incomplete data by the Federal Bureau of Investigations a black person is killed on average of twice a week by law enforcement in this country.[i] This surpasses the estimated rates of lynching in the early decades of the 20th century.[ii]
The prevalence of state violence and the absence of accountability are indicative of the systematic devaluing and dehumanization of black and brown lives and the communities that cultivate them. In communities across the country the lack of transparency, accountability, and community input along with the surge of federal funds and federally supplied military equipment have created police cultures of impunity, violence and abuse. In many communities the police are seen as an occupying force and children as young as twelve are so demonized and dehumanized by the weight of racism and racial profiling, that they are viewed as targets to be shot on sight.[iii]
The recent spotlight on police violence and the resulting national unrest has made clear that it is time to re-think both the practices and purpose of policing. Communities must be part of a collaborative process to determine what makes them safe. In our experience, the “broken windows” or “zero tolerance” philosophies of policing, which encourage officers to aggressively enforce low level and often non-criminal offenses, creates an atmosphere of fear and mistrust between communities and law enforcement. It also feeds systems of economic exploitation, where municipalities fund themselves by further exploiting the most vulnerable and depressed communities through targeted policing.[iv] We believe that the outcries of countless communities, who have lived too long under the weight of mass incarceration and discriminatory policing, deserve more than cosmetic changes to policing practices. It is time for a fundamental shift in power that places the concerns and solutions of communities most affected by flawed policing practices at the center of policy-making. In addition to the recommendations below we believe key to such a shift is a divestment from militarized and punitive policing and an investment in communities, who desperately need more jobs, better schools and access to adequate housing, transportation and healthcare.
We submit to the Task Force both local and national recommendations. We recognize that policing is largely a local issue—in so far as many of the laws and regulations which control policing are implemented and monitored at the local level. However, throughout our history there have come times when local authorities’ dismal and systemic failures to protect the life, rights and dignity of their residents created a moral and constitutional imperative for federal action. We saw this in the years after the Civil War and throughout the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The systemic and unchecked brutality visited upon many black and brown communities by those deputized to protect and serve as well as the glaring hypocrisies of a system, which daily condemns countless black and brown people to prison for minor offenses and yet refuses to indict and allow for a public airing of facts when a police officer summarily executes unarmed black men, has created such a moment. The scope and severity of these issues require action by the federal government.
National Recommendations:
- A comprehensive review by the Department of Justice into systematic abuses by police departments and the development of specific use of force standards and accompanying recommendations for police training, community involvement and oversight strategies and standards for independent investigatory/disciplinary mechanisms for excessive use of force. These standards should include a Department of Justice review trigger when continued excessive use of force occurs.
- Strict limits on the transfer and use of military equipment to local law enforcement. The federal government should discontinue the supply of military weaponry and equipment to local law enforcement and immediately demilitarize local law enforcement, including eliminating the use of military technology and equipment.
- A comprehensive federal review and annual reporting of discriminatory policing. This should include a federal review of police departments’ data collection practices and the development of a new comprehensive data collection system that allows for annual reporting of discriminatory policing data, including data on the rates of stops, frisks, searches, summonses, arrests and use of force by race, age, gender and reports of complaints against officers and disciplinary actions taken or not (number, level, how many officers). These standards should include a DOJ review trigger when continued discrimination occurs.
- The development of a DOJ policy to withhold funds from local police departments engaged in discriminatory policing practices and conditioning of federal grant funds to local police departments on the adoption of recommended DOJ trainings, community involvement and oversight strategies, use of force standards and standards for independent investigatory/disciplinary mechanisms.
- The development and enactment of a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice by the Obama Administration. The National Plan of Action for Racial Justice should be a comprehensive plan that address persistent and ongoing forms of racial discrimination and disparities that exist in nearly every sphere of life including: criminal justice, employment, housing, education, health, land/property, voting, poverty and immigration. The Plan would set concrete targets for achieving racial equality and reducing racial disparities and create new tools for holding government accountable to meeting targets.
- Repurposing of Department of Justice (including COPS) funds to create grants that support and implement community oversight mechanisms and community based alternatives to punitive law enforcement and incarceration—including community boards/commissions, restorative justice practices, amnesty programs to clear open warrants, and know-your-rights-education conducted by community members.
- Requirement that all juvenile and criminal justice related legislation be accompanied by a racial/ethnic/gender/age impact statement detailing any projected disproportionate impact on communities of color.
Local Policy Recommendations:
- Enforceable bans against profiling based on race, religion, national origin, housing status, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity/expression, immigration status, disability status, age, language and occupation.
- The collection and publication of data on the rates of stops, frisks, searches, summonses, arrests and use of force aggregated by race/age/gender of officer(s) and individual, as well as annual report of complaints against officers for misconduct and use of force and disciplinary actions taken.
- The end of ‘War on Drugs’ tactics and practices, which result in disproportionate contact between police and communities of color. This includes the decriminalization of marijuana and a de-prioritizing by local law enforcement of drug possession (in the choice to summons, arrest and prosecute).
- The adoption of policies that mandate meaningful and binding community input in determining the purpose, priorities and practices of local law enforcement. This may include empowered civilian complaint review boards, community advisory boards, community budgeting bodies and/or civilian commissions.
- The development of amnesty programs to clear low level criminal offense and traffic warrants.
- The elimination of “broken windows”, “zero-tolerance” and other policing policies and practices, which encourage discriminatory targeting and overly aggressive police encounters for minor offenses.
- The limiting of police in schools, outside of clearly defined emergency situations, and an end to school-based arrests for any misdemeanors or for any offenses which would be legal if they were adults.
- The transfer of disciplinary authority from police departments to another entity, which has clear and enforceable community input, decision-making mechanisms, and investigatory (including subpoena) power for any incident of alleged misconduct against community members.
- Changes to internal departmental policies which measure officer’s performance by the number of stops, summonses or arrests and the adoption of community based and civil rights friendly evaluation metrics.
- Availability of federal and state grants to investment in communities most devastated by poverty and police abuse in order to support job programs, affordable and non-exclusionary housing, community schools, restorative justice programs and community education programs.
[i] There is currently no accurate or comprehensive data documenting the number of police related deaths. This is because current statistics are self-reported and are not verified. Additionally, there is no enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the limited national mandates in place are followed (see The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, 42 U.S.C. § 14141). See The Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports. Available: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_14_justifiable_homicide_by_weapon_law_enforcement_2008-2012.xls
[ii] Isabel Wilkerson, “Mike Brown’s shooting and Jim Crow lynchings have too much in common.” The Guardian. August 25, 2014. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/25/mike-brown-shooting-jim-crow-lynchings-in-common
[iii] Twelve year old Tamir Rice was killed by police within seconds of the police arriving at the Cleveland park where he was playing.
[iv] The funding of municipalities through summonses, fines and traffic tickets—disproportionately extracted from poor black and brown communities—is a disturbing phenomenon throughout the country. The dependence of municipalities on this source of revenue varies. In places like Ferguson, where there is not a steady source of municipal revenue, these funds sometimes make up over 30% of the cities funding. The practice amounts to a regressive tax, which uses the threat of incarceration and state violence. See Radley Balko, “How municipalities in St. Louis County, Mo., profit from poverty.” September 3, 2014. The Washington Post. Available http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/09/03/how-st-louis-county-missouri-profits-from-poverty/; Jonathan Blanks, “The NYPD’s work stoppage is costing the city lots of money.” January 7, 2014. Available: http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/07/the-nypds-work-stoppage-is-costing-the-city-lots-of-money-thats-great-for-new-yorkers/
