The State of Black America: African Americans Still Struggle
March 27, 2009 - Posted by Jessica Paquette
The National Urban League (NUL) recently released its annual report, "The State of Black America 2009: Message to the President," which examines the issues central to Black America in this year.
The report includes an Equality Index, which is a ratio that shows how well African Americans are doing compared to Whites in the areas of economics, health, education, social justice and civic engagement.
According to the index, African Americans are still twice as likely as Whites to be unemployed, three times more likely to live in poverty and more than six times as likely to be incarcerated.
This report also contains essays by noted figures like Sen. Christopher Dodd, D. Conn., and Rep. Barbara Lee, D. Calif., about how issues like high foreclosure rates, unemployment, and health care are affecting African Americans.
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Van Jones Discusses Environmental Concerns in Low-Income and Minority Neighborhoods on Oprah Radio
March 11, 2009 - Posted by Isha Mehmood
 Van Jones speaking at the 2008 Dream Reborn Conference in Memphis, Tenn. In this interview on Oprah Radio, civil rights and environmental advocate Van Jones addresses the environmental injustices that occur in low-income and minority communities, including access to healthy and affordable food, clean air, and clean water.
Jones, founder of Green For All, is a strong advocate for creating 'green jobs' as a way to revitalize communities and lift individuals out of poverty. Yesterday, President Obama appointed him to serve as special advisor for green jobs, enterprise and innovation.
LCCR will honor Jones at its annual Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award Dinner on May 7.
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Report: More Than a Million Children Experience Homelessness Each Year
March 10, 2009 - Posted by Katie Kohn
The National Center on Family Homelessness released a report today that found that 1.5 million children in the U.S. experienced homelessness at least once in a given year.
The report, which analyzes data from 2005 and 2006, also examines the impact of homelessness on children's education and health. Typically, homeless children lead extremely difficult lives because they do not have access to privacy or health care and often attend school infrequently.
The report recommends that local, state and federal governments take action in order to prevent and end child homelessness. For example, the report suggests that the federal government set aside a third of housing program funding specifically for homeless families and families who are at risk of homelessness. In addition, state interagency councils on homelessness handling homelessness should make family homelessness a priority.
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Economic Recovery Will Help Millions of Struggling Americans and Ease States' Financial Strain
February 20, 2009 - Posted by Antoine Morris
The recently enacted economic recovery plan will provide some much needed relief to millions of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet during the recession, particularly unemployed people.
The plan extends unemployment benefits up to an additional 33 weeks for workers who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits, and increases weekly unemployment checks by $25 through the end of 2009. In addition, food stamp benefits will be increased by 13.6% starting in April.
Economists say increasing funding for both unemployment benefits and food stamps will have an immediate stimulative effect on the economy since those receiving the aid will likely spend it quickly.
In addition, 46 states are facing huge budget deficits over the next three years and have been struggling to continue providing welfare and health care assistance to low-income and unemployed people. Under the plan, states will get nearly $5 billion so they can continue to help low-income families through the federal welfare assistance program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Currently, about 4 million people receive assistance through the program. Another $87 billion will go to states to help them continue to provide health care assistance through Medicaid.
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Civil Rights at the Oscars - Trouble the Water
February 19, 2009 - Posted by Jessica Paquette
Movies and music can be powerful reflections of our times, past and present, and tell stories that inform and empower millions of people in ways other media cannot. This week, we highlight four Oscar-nominated films that have found compelling ways to tell stories about civil and human rights. The Oscars will be shown on TV this Sunday, February 22.
"Trouble the Water," a documentary that tells the story of the devastation Hurricane Katrina caused through the eyes of a couple from New Orleans' 9th ward, has been nominated for an Oscar in the Documentary Feature category.
The documentary, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, uses footage filmed by Kimberly Roberts, an aspiring rapper known as Black Kold Madina, and her husband during the hurricane and chronicles their lives in the aftermath of the storm. The Roberts were unable to leave the city and captured the storm as it hit one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city.
By combining the Roberts' footage with archival news footage, the documentary draws attention to the disproportionate impact the hurricane had on New Orleans' poorer residents and the inability of the federal and state governments to respond effectively to the crisis.
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Civil Rights at the Oscars - Slumdog Millionaire
February 18, 2009 - Posted by Isha Mehmood
 Movies and music can be powerful reflections of our times, past and present, and tell stories that inform and empower millions of people in ways other media cannot. This week, we highlight four Oscar-nominated films that have found compelling ways to tell stories about civil and human rights. The Oscars will be shown on TV this Sunday, February 22.
A film about a young orphan from the slums of Mumbai, India, has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and two of the three nominations for Best Song.
"Slumdog Millionaire," a British film directed by Danny Boyle, is a classic rags-to-riches story about a "chai walla" (tea server) who competes for love and money on "Kaun Banega Crorepati," India's version of the television game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
The film follows his life growing up and exposes a dark side of Mumbai, one of India's most developed cities. The film has been commended for bringing a voice to the slums and touching on issues of poverty, income distribution, corrupt law enforcement officials, prostitution, and religious discrimination. In addition, many of the young actors in the film were recruited from the slums of India.
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Healthy Food Advocates Push for Better Standards in Reauthorization of Federal Child Nutrition Programs
February 13, 2009 - Posted by Katie Kohn
With the number of overweight children between the ages of six and 11 having more than doubled in the past 20 years, healthy food advocates are urging Congress to make sure that federal child nutrition programs are updated to meet the challenges of providing healthy meals to the nation's children.
In 2004, President Bush signed a law that reauthorized and updated all federal programs that determine which foods can be served to children by schools and child care providers. The programs expire later this year and have to be reauthorized by Congress.
In December, a group of national organizations released "Statement of Principles for Child Nutrition Reauthorization" that they say should guide Congress in reauthorizing the child nutrition programs. The principles include:
- Increasing access to the child nutrition programs, particularly for underserved and low-income children;
- Enhancing nutrition quality to address rising child obesity rates and related health problems; and
- Updating and simplifying child nutrition programs to improve efficiency.
The child nutrition programs are administered through the Department of Agriculture. Listen to a radio interview with Tom Vilsack, recently confirmed as the secretary of agriculture, where he discusses the new priorities of the department.
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Welfare Aid to Families Dwindles as Recession Gets Worse
February 9, 2009 - Posted by Maggie Owner
As the economic recession deepens and more people are laid off of work, welfare assistance for families is failing to pick up the slack.
Last year, 18 states reduced the number of families that receive assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, according to a New York Times analysis of state figures. TANF is a federal program that provides temporary cash assistance to struggling families with dependent children. In order to receive aid, parents must work, perform community service, or attend job training a minimum of 30 hours a week.
In addition, unemployment rates in many of these states have increased at the same time the states are making cuts to their aid. For instance, Michigan cut the number of families it helps by more than 13 percent in 2008, even though the state's unemployment rate increased from 7.5 percent to 9.3 percent.
Since every state gets a fixed amount of TANF money based on the state's previous welfare spending, regardless of the number of people who currently need assistance, it is likely that the program will be unable to meet the needs of struggling families in the current recession.
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House Passes Stimulus Package to Aid Distressed Americans
January 28, 2009 - Posted by Katie Kohn
Tonight, by a vote of 244-188, the House of Representatives passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (PDF), a bill that lawmakers hope will help stimulate the struggling economy.
LCCR urged support for the bill in a January 27 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, noting that leading economists agree that a combination of spending initiatives and tax relief programs targeting low- and moderate-income people will help the economy recover from the current crisis.
Key provisions of the bill highlighted in the LCCR letter included measures that will help those most in need, including low-income people and seniors who will receive a one-time boost in their Supplemental Security Income benefits, unemployed people, low-income families with children, and people whose food stamps aren't enough to provide food for their families.
In addition, the bill places needed income in the hands of low-income families by making more families eligible for the Child Tax Credit and making the amounts larger for many of these families.
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Half in Ten Poll Shows Broad Support for Poverty Reduction
January 28, 2009 - Posted by Corrine Yu
A national poll conducted for Half in Ten after the November 2008 election shows strong support for the fundamental goal of the Half in Ten campaign – cutting poverty in the United States in half within 10 years.
The poll also shows a strong consensus across ideological, age, and race divides that "the negative consequences of poverty" affect everyone rather than "mostly those living in poor neighborhoods." A full 52 percent of respondents said that either they or someone in their immediate family was poor, up from 36 percent who answered that way in a 2001 poll from Pew Research Center.
These numbers show that solving the problem of poverty is a vital part of economic recovery and a matter of core importance to the nation – and not just about solving economic problems for low-income Americans.
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