The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies will launch a campaign to bring more African Americans into the national debate over climate change, using a $500,000 grant from the Bipartisan Policy Center to begin the initiative.

The agreement between the nation’s premier African American think tank and the organization led by four former U.S. Majority Leaders was announced on Friday at a forum on climate change organized by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. The forum was a highlight of the Congressional black Caucus Foundation’s 37th annual legislative conference.

“It is time, I think, for our community to recognize that the urgent problems with the planet are going to disproportionately affect us,” Obama told more than 1,000 who crowded into a Washington Convention Center meeting room for the forum.
One challenge will be dispelling the idea that blacks don’t care about environmental issues.

“The assumption is that African Americans have more important things to think about . . . given the struggles we face . . . environmental concerns are low on the list.” Obama added.

This grant will allow the Joint Center to build on the work it is already conducting in the environmental, health, education, and governance arenas by hiring a senior research associate to oversee the project. The Joint Center also will form a distinguished national advisory committee to provide policy direction and point the way to opportunities to build a broader coalition.   

“The nation’s leaders are formulating policies for a transition to a new energy economy. Those policies will have varying impacts on different socioeconomic and racial groups, and African Americans need to have a seat at the table in their formulation and implementation,” said Ralph Everett, president and CEO of the Joint Center.
The grant was formally awarded by Texas state Sen. Rodney Ellis on behalf of the BPC.
(See press release.)

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A commission established by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is calling for new approaches in the struggle to reduce infant mortality since traditional techniques haven’t succeeded in closing a stubborn gap in the number of infant deaths suffered by black and white families.

The commission’s reports were released formally at a forum co-sponsored by the Black Women’s Agenda and the Joint Center as part of the Congressional Black Caucus’ 37th annual legislative weekend. Infant mortality was cited during the forum as an example of the kinds of inequalities in health status that persist in this country.

The higher infant mortality rate among African Americans is “a new civil rights issue” and requires a revised set of approaches and remedies, according to the commission sponsored by the Health Policy Institute (HPI) of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

The reports are the result of work by the Courage to Love: Infant Mortality Commission. It pointed to data showing that African Americans suffer infant deaths at more than double the rate of the white population in the U.S – with 13.5 deaths per 1,000 births for blacks and 5.7 deaths per 1,000 births for whites.

The Commission, which is comprised of medical professionals and academics, said that to address what it called an “infant mortality crisis” in the African American community, more emphasis must be placed on the socioeconomic surroundings of black women, as well as expectant mothers’ relationships with their babies, their babies’ fathers and the communities where they live.

“The Commission determined that we need a new direction if we are going to better understand and address the infant mortality crisis in the black community,” said Ralph Everett, President and CEO of the Joint Center. “These recommendations reflect the need to address social determinants of health. African American women must be viewed as members of families, communities and larger social, economic and environmental systems that affect their psychological and physical health.”

“The Commission’s work is poised to become the foundation for new approaches to addressing the infant mortality problem, and saving lives,” said Gina Wood, deputy director of the Joint Center HPI.  “Our experts call for a series of changes in policy, practice and research to achieve greater empowerment, equity and social justice for black women, children, families, and their communities.”

The commission’s reports are available on the Joint Center’s web site.(www.jointcenter.org)

(See press release.)

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On Sept. 25, 1957, Ernie Green and eight other African American students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. The Little Rock Nine, escorted by 1,200 federal troops who had been sent to shield them from the wrath of local segregationists, wrote one of the most memorable chapters in the history of the civil rights movement with their courageous walk into a hostile school. Their struggle enshrined the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawing segregation as law. Green reflects on how far the nation has come:

“(W.E.B.) DuBois referred to race in the 20th century as America’s biggest problem. And going into the 21st century, I think it’s still a problem. My hope is that things like this 50th anniversary recognition of our having gone to Central highlight the importance of the discussion. . .

“I hope that whoever the new president is starts the conversation so that it is seen as an advantage and a strengthening of the country – where we go and how we improve things – rather than a discussion of the history of divisiveness. I would hope that with a change in federal policy, a change in administration, that it becomes a higher priority. We’ve had all of this divisiveness about affirmative action and whether somebody else is taking something out of somebody’s pocket. The benefit to the country is that if everybody’s pockets are full, you have more to work with. Hopefully, we can continue to redefine the issue in this way, as I think President Clinton tried to do.”

Excerpted from “Then and Now: The Impact of the Little Rock Nine”, FOCUS magazine, September-October 2007.

For information about the Little Rock Nine Foundation, go to www.littlerock9.com.

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