Facing Race: A National Conference in St. Louis, MO — November 20-22, 2024

Jamila Loud


Presentations from Facing Race 2016

Achieving Racial Equity Initiative: Changing the Landscape in California

California is experiencing growing demographic shifts across the state – higher concentrations of communities of color, where alarmingly, disparities and civil rights inequities are starting to settle in. Diverse regions showing little progress in opportunities for communities of color. Frequent news headlines include: achievement gaps widening for the state’s Black and Latino students; a dramatic disparity in the percentage of Black men incarcerated; the city of Lancaster and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in the Antelope Valley settling a federal lawsuit that uncovered racial housing discrimination, and; Modesto losing a lawsuit that aimed to change its political system to encourage the majority-Latino city to convert to elections that would enable more Latinos to successfully run for office. In partnership with USC’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, PICO, and California Calls, Advancement Project’s Achieving Racial Equity Initiative addresses two questions: What is the current state of racial disparity in California? What does a racially equitable California look like? Looking at political participation, health, safety, economic opportunity, and education, we will develop: a framework laying out a vision of racial equity for California; an index ranking all counties on their progress; policy reports assessing existing policy implementation efforts connected to issues within the framework, and; collaborative advocacy supporting community-led campaigns. Using our framework as a starting point, we will discuss how this tool translates to similar racial equity efforts across the country and identify strategies for how to leverage complementary initiatives to elevate the national discussion.

Speakers: Megan McClaire, Jamila Loud, Pamela Stephens, Dondy Marie Moreland