OUR ORIGIN STORY
As a result of a 2010 White House Briefing for African American Leadership and President Obama’s “Call to Action”, Board Members of the Black Caucus Foundation of Michigan returned from Washington and organized the Michigan African American Thought Leaders State Action Council. Since its inception, “The Council” has helped vertically communicate, advocate, debate and implement policy relevant to the White House’s agenda, the quality of life needs of Michigan’s African American Community. From creating the “buzz” around demand driven workforce training, proposing responsible alternatives to race-based contracting, advocating for inner-city adolescent access to skilled trades, and Career Technical Education; to creation of school-based behavioral health interventions to reduce suspensions, expulsions and violence impacting children of color; “The Council” through the Black Caucus Foundation has helped successfully advance important policy initiatives in a “non-partisan manner” on the local, state and national stages. Fundamental to the success of this effort has been the premise that sound socio-economic policy that creates ladders of opportunity grounded in entrepreneurship and access to quality health, education and overall community life quality of African Americans can be drafted in a manner representative of good public policy and best practice adoption for ALL communities and populations across America.
After 2010, during the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus, the State Action Council annually convenes in the nation’s capital with members of congress, White House staff and representatives of federal agencies as part of a systemic accountability framework to discuss, develop, collaborate on, evaluate and develop action plans around policy initiatives affecting the elevation of life quality of African Americans. The outputs of that meeting are communicated to the President, members of Congress, State and Local executive leadership and used as a reference tool in the development of federal and state “Action Agendas”.
Black Caucus Foundation of Michigan Co-Founder and Chairman, KB Stallworth organized the first Michigan African American Thought Leaders State Action Council 2012 and authored “The African American Commerce Initiative” as a framework for “the councils” direct service focus, and to serve African American focused policy and advocacy organizations as an adaptable guide and tool for local economic development, inclusion and equity strategies. After the successful launch of several phases of “the Initiative”, a National Council of African American Thought Leaders convened in 2022 to expand, replicate and evolve “the Initiative” for adaptable use in cities across America.
The electricity of the prospects of an Obama candidacy for President ignited and unleashed the American people’s confidence in an ability to radically change the nation from one of division at home and viewed with disdain in portions of the world, to a country unified in its compassion for fairness and life quality at home and abroad. This shared optimism of the less affluent and more affluent, the younger, and the well-educated, resulted in an overwhelming victory that according to Pew Research resulted in candidate Obama winning 66% of voters under age 30, 60% of voters earning less than $50,000 per year, and 52% of voters earning more than $200,000 per year. Importantly, an estimated 93% of all African American voters cast their ballot for Barack Obama. When he “called” the African American community answered, before the election, and when he requested “local innovation” after assuming the presidency. For those attending the Black Stakeholders Leadership Meeting at the White House, that “call” was not just a routine civil engagement ask, but “a responsibility” being bestowed on those the President believed his team could work with, that understood his conundrum, and would be willing with or without much local public-private support to attempt with him assistance from his team to forge discussions, narratives and polices that would result movement in the direction of advanced life quality for the African American. An unforgettable moment for a generation that accepted a premise “Yes We Can”; and it is with that passion committed “solutionaries” from around the country meet in Washington to support the Congressional Black Caucus and assemble to identify ways to help America achieve its ideals through advancing the life quality of African Americans and improving their economic relationships on the continent of Africa.
