It is not easy selling serious books—especially ones that are focused on policy issues, targeted to an African American audience, and have little money for traditional marketing efforts.  But in a stunning departure from conventional publishing industry wisdom, The Covenant with Black America has appeared on bestseller lists across the country, reaching number one on the New York Times, Washington Post, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution lists, as well as on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com top-seller rankings. 

One of the essays in the book was written by PolicyLink founder and CEO Angela Glover Blackwell, who also collaborated with editor Tavis Smiley on developing and planning the book’s content.  She writes about ensuring broad access to affordable housing.  Other authors and essays include Former Surgeon General David M. Satcher, on securing the right to healthcare and well-being; National Urban League President Mark Morial, on accessing good jobs, wealth, and economic prosperity; and Robert Bullard, Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center, on assuring environmental justice for all.  Other issues discussed are education, civil rights, the justice system, community centered policing, closing the digital divide, and the needs of African Americans in rural areas.  The book is introduced by Tavis Smiley, includes a statement of purpose by Marian Wright Edelman, and concludes with a call to action from Cornel West. Each of the book’s ten sections is a covenant focusing on a particular issue area and describing what individuals can do, what some communities are doing, and what leaders and elected officials ought to do to advance equity and opportunity for African Americans.    

The idea for The Covenant with Black America grew out of a 2005 conversation during the State of the Black Union, the annual symposium hosted by Tavis Smiley that features prominent African Americans discussing issues related to the black community.  Angela Glover Blackwell, a guest on the program, offered to assist the effort by supplying information, data, and policy analysis and helping identify and reach out to essay authors.  Some 2,000 black people made small contributions to support the book (their names are listed in the back), which was published by Third World Press.  The Covenant with Black America was released at the 2006 State of the Black Union and immediately began attracting a huge audience. Appearances by Tavis Smiley in several cities helped spread the word about the covenant, and the sale of over 300,000 copies demonstrates the hunger among African Americans for strategies to achieve economic and social equity.  

To learn more about The Covenant with Black America, view upcoming book tour dates, and get involved with its action agenda, visit http://www.covenantwithblackamerica.com

To read Angela Glover Blackwell’s essay and link to the PolicyLink publications that are most closely aligned with the covenants, click here.

Creating a strong, vibrant neighborhood requires economic investment, job opportunities, quality affordable housing, arts and culture, good schools—and healthy residents who are not only sustained by a stable, supportive community, but also nourished literally with fresh, nutritious foods.  Yet far too many low-income urban and rural communities suffer from a lack of access to healthy food.  As a result of sprawl, neighborhood disinvestment, and inadequate public transportation, residents are often isolated from full-service supermarkets, and forced to rely on convenience stores, corner markets, and fast food outlets where fresh produce is minimal and food options are overwhelmingly high in fat, calories, or sugar.  

In December 2005, PolicyLink released Healthy Food, Healthy Communities:  Improving Access and Opportunities Through Food Retailing, a comprehensive report outlining the history and health consequences of underserved communities’ “grocery gap,” and offering strategies to expand food access in low-income communities and communities of color.  The report details policy recommendations and success stories for three key strategies:  attracting and developing new grocery stores in disinvested neighborhoods; improving existing small stores; and starting and sustaining farmers’ markets.  In the next phase of its work to expand fresh food retailing in low-income areas, PolicyLink is joining the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, and other public health and community development advocates to lobby for passage of California Senate Bill 1329, The Access to Healthy, Affordable Food Act (sponsored by Senator Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose). 

Inspired by a successful and innovative Pennsylvania program—The Fresh Food Financing Initiative, which has leveraged an $80 million financing pool and, to date, funded seven projects that have created 833 new jobs and approximately 240,000 square feet of new food retail—SB 1329 creates a statewide food retail development program targeted to underserved urban and rural areas of California.  Grocery stores, independent grocers, corner stores, farmers’ markets, and other healthy food retailers would be eligible for planning grants, direct loans, and loan guarantees (including planning grants to cover costs associated with pre-development activities, feasibility studies, and business plans; and loans for land and building acquisition, construction, machinery and equipment purchases, and working capital.)  SB 1329 recently passed its Senate committee vote; advocates are optimistic about the bill’s broad appeal and will continue working to build public will and legislative support for bringing fresh, affordable food to disinvested communities across California. 

To learn more, visit the Healthy Food Retailing tool in the Equitable Development Toolkit, or contact Rebecca Flournoy at 510-663-2333 or rebecca@policylink.org. 

It takes the world’s premier distance runners just over two hours to finish the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon—but how far can the region’s residents travel on a two-hour Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) bus ride? 

On April 18th, one day after the 110th annual Boston Marathon, Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE), challenged the MBTA with a different kind of race.  Teams made up of everyday riders from Roxbury, Dorchester, and the city of Chelsea—communities primarily served by bus rather than rail lines—boarded MBTA buses for the first Boston Bus Marathon.

In an effort to raise awareness for transit injustice, the teams spent their day tracking the time and mileage it took just to get to work, school, or to a grocery store.  After traveling an average of 20 miles in two hours and seven minutes (the winning men’s time in the Boston Marathon), bus marathoners and more than 100 supporters gathered on the steps of the State House to alert the legislature about the results of their efforts. State Representative Gloria Fox (D-Boston) gave a rousing speech in support of improved MBTA service. 

ACE, an environmental justice organization that also formed the T Riders Union to advocate for equity in regional public transportation, challenged the MBTA to run their buses on schedule, and provide first-class service to lower-income communities and communities of color. In addition, the organization is calling on gubernatorial candidates to pledge new investment of transit resources to neighborhoods with inadequate service.  

For more information about the Bus Marathon, please visit: http://www.ace-ej.org/tru/busmarathon.

Over 1.5 million California schoolchildren—predominantly in low-income communities and communities of color—attend severely overcrowded schools, according to research by PolicyLink and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.  Lunchrooms, libraries, and an assortment of other spaces are used as classrooms and attempts are made to alleviate overcrowding by reorganizing or shortening school years, busing children to other neighborhoods, and using portable classrooms.  Children who attend overcrowded schools are less able to learn, feel socially inferior and alienated, and risk greater exposure to health and safety hazards.  The California Department of Education counted one million students in critically overcrowded schools in 2002—a number that rises alarmingly when temporary fixes (many of which will continue indefinitely without meaningful policy action to relieve crowding) are taken into account.  The PolicyLink/MALDEF report Ending School Overcrowding in California:  Building Quality Schools for All Children, highlights the massive scale of school overcrowding in the state and offers strategies for directing school construction resources to the communities in most dire need. 

The report’s release established PolicyLink as one of the “go-to” experts on school infrastructure policy in the state. Ending School Overcrowding in California was covered by the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, San Diego Union-Tribune, La Opinion, Fresno Bee, and KCRA television. Three members of the State Assembly, and representatives from UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education & Access (IDEA) and Californians for Justice joined PolicyLink at the press conference announcing the report.

In partnership with MALDEF, UCLA IDEA, and Advancement Project, PolicyLink is building considerable public and political will for school construction financing, having appeared at numerous hearings and conferences of school districts, school reform coalitions, and civic organizations.  The legislature just approved a bond measure for the November 2006 ballot that includes some of the construction financing badly needed for California’s overcrowded schools. PolicyLink will continue to work with education advocates and policymakers to campaign for voter passage of these critical infrastructure funds.  

To download a free copy of Ending School Overcrowding in California in PDF format, visit http://www.policylink.org/Research/SchoolOvercrowding/.  For more information on PolicyLink efforts to ensure equitable school construction financing, contact Richard Raya at richard@policylink.org.

Hurricane Katrina left residents of New Orleans’ most damaged neighborhoods traumatized and scattered across the state and country—but fiercely determined to return home and rebuild their beloved communities.  With a long and trusted history of serving and organizing low-income Louisiana residents, ACORN is leading the charge to revive the Lower Ninth Ward, Gentilly, Hollygrove/Upper Carlton, and New Orleans East sections of the city through grassroots, “boots on the ground” cleanup and advocacy work.  Immediately after the hurricane, the situation in these neighborhoods appeared grim:  homes had sustained massive damage from flooding, and residents were frustrated with a disorganized government relief effort, as well as anxious about planners’ speculation over whether the city’s most vulnerable areas should be rebuilt at all.  Besides struggling with uncertainty about the future, the homeowners—many of them low-income people of color—were at risk of being victimized further by exorbitant cleanup and rehabilitation charges. 

Wielding signs proclaiming “We’re Back!,” ACORN leaders and members mobilized to provide reasonably-priced cleanup services to low-income homeowners in the city, assembling a crew of 35 workers led by an experienced general contractor, and 10 reliable subcontractors, with almost all workers coming from New Orleans.  ACORN is on track to reach its goal of cleaning 1,000 houses, having signed agreements with nearly 1,500 homeowners and completed cleanup of over 800 homes, at an average cost of $2500 per home (for materials and labor).  As ACORN crews salvage belongings and clean, gut, and sanitize houses, owners can begin to address rehab needs. 

Combining hands-on work with policy advocacy and organizing, ACORN plans to establish a Ninth Ward Renovation Pilot project to acquire properties from homeowners not returning to New Orleans (in addition to foreclosed and abandoned properties), rehabilitate homes that have already been cleaned, assist homeowners in obtaining financing or grants for rehab costs, and initiate rehab or new infill construction on 250 homes.  ACORN also hopes to secure tax credits from the state to develop affordable multifamily rental proposals, and establish a revolving loan fund.  With their tireless work to engage and empower displaced New Orleans residents to reclaim their neighborhoods, ACORN showing residents, housing advocates, and local officials—and indeed, the entire nation—the very real promise of house-by-house, block-by-block renewal in the Gulf Coast. 

To learn more about ACORN’s cleanup and advocacy work, visit http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=9703.

PolicyLink is working on the ground in Louisiana to advance equitable rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. To read about our policy, advocacy, and capacity building efforts, visit http://www.policylink.org/Communities/Louisiana/.