America is experiencing an unprecedented civics lesson, and history has consistently demonstrated that avoidance will never heal our nation’s wounds. As I travel through Black communities, I hear a familiar, urgent refrain: people are tired, overwhelmed, and unsure where to direct their righteous rage. The assaults on our dignity come daily– from the dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to attacks on Black history in schools, from economic exploitation to healthcare inequities that reportedly shorten our lives by 12 years, according to the Buffalo Center for Health Equity.
But I am here to tell you this. We are not broken and we are not behind. We are being blocked from maximizing our full potential.
This is why I’ve joined with a coalition of brilliant Black scholars, activists, and community leaders to launch the State of the People Black Paper Policy Project – a nationwide initiative to translate complex policy challenges into accessible knowledge that our communities can use to defend democracy and build power.
The State of the People began as 24-hours of counter-programming created by us and for us, centering these truths and our voices. From that event, State of the People has become a national campaign, blossoming in part into one of the most ambitious Black policy papers in recent memory. Over the past several months, more than 100 Black experts have poured thousands of hours into developing more than 20 comprehensive policy papers covering the full spectrum of issues affecting our communities. It also birthed the State of the People POWER Tour, a bold 12-city initiative centering Black voices, power building, and collective strategy. Released throughout the tour, these policy papers aren’t just analyses for discussion– they’re tools for action. They are both a critique and a roadmap, an assessment of where we are, and a blueprint for where we can go.
These Papers tackle topics from healthcare and economics to education at all levels, from housing and entrepreneurship to digital equity and disability justice. They address housing, reproductive justice, immigration, aging, transportation infrastructure, tax policy, gun safety, gender justice, and national security. They examine Black farmers and land ownership, HBCU excellence, and the transformative power of early care and education.
Each Paper connects the intimate realities of our daily lives to the policies that shape them. That knot in your stomach when a police car appears in your rearview mirror? That’s not just personal anxiety– it’s the product of policy and funding choices about public safety. The struggle to afford quality childcare? That’s not a failure of personal budgeting– it’s the result of deliberate decisions about family support systems. The obstacles Black entrepreneurs face securing capital? They aren’t instances of random bad luck– they’re the predictable outcomes of banking and lending policies.
As bell hooks reminds us, democracies must be defended with each generation, and education is its midwife. The Black Papers honor this wisdom by speaking directly to our communities in language free of jargon, written plainly in words our people have always understood. They connect the dots between our communities’ strengths and the policy changes needed to remove structural barriers to Black success.
I still remember teaching kindergarten in New York, looking into the eyes of brilliant Black children whose genius was already being systematically overlooked and undervalued. I carried those memories with me through my work at the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, and now with the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). Those children – now teenagers – deserve an economy where Black brilliance is not just celebrated, but compensated. They deserve communities where their lives aren’t cut short by policy-driven health inequities. They deserve the full promise of democracy.
The Black Papers continue a proud tradition of truth-telling, from the 1968 Kerner Commission to the 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana. But we move beyond diagnosis to prescription– beyond naming what’s wrong to envisioning what could be right.
These Papers aren’t written for academics or policy wonks. They’re for the grandmother in Detroit worried about prescription costs, the entrepreneur in Durham struggling to access capital, the teacher in Jackson fighting for fair school funding, and the young activist in New Orleans organizing for environmental justice.
Consider the Education Papers– they don’t just bemoan achievement gaps but offer concrete solutions for teacher pipelines, addressing the Black male college enrollment crisis, and expanding early childhood education. The Economics Papers aren’t abstract theories but practical visions for wealth-building, tax reform, and entrepreneurship. The Healthcare Paper translates the staggering 12-year life expectancy gap into actionable demands for equity.
What makes these Black Papers revolutionary is the sheer breadth of expertise poured into them. Economists, educators, activists, legal scholars, healthcare professionals, and community organizers have worked collaboratively for months, through countless revisions, Zoom calls, and late-night editing sessions. The result is nothing less than a comprehensive Black policy agenda– by us, for us.
Even in these challenging times, I urge you to resist capitulating or abandoning the practices that enable us to thrive in community. When I think about how we’ve survived centuries of exploitation and violence, I’m reminded that our ancestors found joy and built power even in the darkest moments. They organized, educated the next generation, created mutual aid networks, and demanded better from America’s institutions.
The Black Papers offer a way forward through collective action. We call on you to:
Join us on the State of the People Power Tour
Whether in person or virtually, join us as we bring these critical conversations directly to communities. Visit stateoftheppl.com to learn when we’ll be in a city near you.
Share these Papers in your communities
Host reading circles, discuss them in church groups and classrooms, use them as organizing tools. We’ve even developed a special Congregation Action Guide as a resource toolkit for faith leaders.
Teach the babies what’s happening and why
Young people are not just beneficiaries of our struggle; they are essential leaders within it. Engage them in age-appropriate conversations about these issues.
Find your role in this movement
Whether you’re a healthcare provider, educator, artist, entrepreneur, or concerned community member, there’s a place for your talents in defending democracy.
Guard and celebrate your joy
As I’ve often written, finding moments of celebration and connection is not a luxury but a necessity in this work. Our capacity to experience joy is in itself an act of resistance.
In a moment where distraction is the strategy of choice for those seeking to roll back our rights, the Black Papers offer focused, actionable knowledge. They are written with righteous rage– but also with vision. Our labor built this nation. Our ideas move culture. Our businesses keep neighborhoods alive. Our data trains the next generation of technology.
It’s time to own our power, not just on Election Day, but every day. These Papers remind us that the policies that shape our lives so intimately are not beyond our reach– they are ours to challenge, ours to change, ours to create.