A Few BIG IDEAS: How President Obama Can Promote Social and Racial Justice

My fraternity brother, friend, and colleague, Dr. Lester Kenyatta Spence, put together this excellent list of BIG IDEAS for President-elect Obama and anyone else interested in promoting an agenda aimed at social and racial justice.

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40 Big Ideas for Obama (and everyone else)

October 17, 2008 By: The Good Doctor Category: afrofuturism

A while back I noted the powerful black party discipline that attended Obama. Rather than take the opportunity to talk about ideas, about what we would actually want from an Obama presidency, we talked more about getting him over that electoral hump. To the point of cutting off dissent in some limited cases.

What I’d like to do is begin a conversation about what comes next. And as a first step I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. Folks talk about the first 30 days of a presidency? I’m going to up the ante. My motto next year is “40 is the new 40.” So in that spirit I’m going to present 40 ideas for Obama. Some of these ideas are ones Obama is already promoting. Some of these ideas are technically not within the federal government’s purview. Some of them are unworkable.

So what.

We’ve got to stop believing that the one thing government does well is punish black and poor men and women.

In no particular order:

1. Free college tuition.

2. Low interest loans to businesses/homes for energy improvements.

3. Promote micro-loans.

4. Universal preschool.

5. Green public transit.

6. Fund vertical gardens.

7. Fund the Algebra Project.

8. Promote wellness.

9. Create green-collar jobs.

10. Explore Free Government.

11. Release non-violent offenders.

12. Rebuild New Orleans.

13. Rebuild New Orleans.

14. Support the Millenium Project.

15. Make Election Day a Federal Holiday.

16. Change how the census counts prisoners.

17. Restore their right to vote while you’re at it.

18. Bring back the Bicycle.

19. Build a bridge to somewhere.

20. Support parental leave.

21. End the War on Drugs.

22. End private financing of political campaigns. (pdf)

23. Increase funding for the arts.

24. Restore the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department.

25. Reduce government secrecy.

26. Put Greenhouses in every classroom.

27. Give working class families individual development accounts.

28. Expand Horizons.

29. Put first things first.

30. End the Media Monopoly.

31. Fix our bridges and roads.

32. Bring scientists back into government.

33. Promote a living wage.

34. Expand Americorps.

35. Stop trying youth as adults. (pdf)

36. Give 47 million Americans the ability to get sick.

37. Rebuild New Orleans.

38. Promote zero-pollution cars.

39. End corporate welfare.

40. Rebuild New Orleans.

What did I miss?

The Power and Potential of the Black Vote

The Barack Obama victory, without a doubt, is testimonial to the power of the black vote. According to exit polls, 95 percent of Blacks voted for the President-elect.

Now, of course, black people alone did not (and could not have) make Barack Obama the next president of the United States of America.

Nonetheless, the Black vote was a key in this election. A number of states saw record-breaking levels of registration and turn-out by Black people. In states such as Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, the Black vote gave the President-elect the votes he needed to secure his historic victory.

Yet, more than 40 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the expansion of the criminal justice system - particularly the War on Drugs – continues to marginalize the political voice and limit the potential clout of the black community.

Felon disenfranchisement laws have disproportionately impacted the ability of black people to fully realize the potential of the ballot box.

Nationally, about 5.3 million Americans have lost the right to vote because of laws that prohibit voting by people with felony convictions.

Roughly 13 percent of Black men are unable to vote, a rate seven times the national average.

In states that strip citizens convicted of a felony of their right to vote, as many as 40% of black men may be permanently disenfranchised.

And, according to the Sentencing Project, a non-partisan research and advocacy organization, “Given current rates of incarceration, three in ten of the next generation of black men can expect to be disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime.”

A new report by The 2009 Criminal Justice Transition Coalition, “Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Next Administration and Congress,” contains a comprehensive set of policy recommendations to reform the criminal justice system at every stage.

Among the group’s recommendations are:

* Extend federal voting rights to people released from prison;

* Eliminate the crack cocaine sentencing disparity;

* Expand alternatives to incarceration;

* Fund prisoner reentry trough the Second Chance Act;

* Analyze and reduce unwarranted racial and ethnic disparity in the federal judicial system.

The policy report will be delivered to President-elect Barack Obama and key legislative leaders on Capital Hill.

Let’s all hope that an Obama administration will make reforming the criminal justice system a key component of its civil rights agenda.