THE UNITED BLACK AGENDA was created in 2017 and is a coalition convened by Fair Share Housing Center that provides a shared space and collective voice to promote the health and welfare of Black New Jerseyans. Over the years, the United Black Agenda has had great success influencing administrative and legislative policy to benefit Black residents of New Jersey.
All of New Jersey is better when Black communities enjoy full political participation and representation to ensure widespread economic security and opportunity. The United Black Agenda provides a shared space for organizations dedicated to promoting the welfare of Black New Jerseyans and addressing the state and nation’s history of discrimination, marginalization, and subjugation.
We must eliminate the racial wealth gap. Black New Jerseyans deserve to be able to earn a living wage, afford their rent or mortgage, feed and clothe themselves and/or their families, and have money left over for an emergency fund and savings toward generational wealth. No resident should be forced to choose between basic necessities, nor should they have to live so close to the poverty line that one unanticipated expense unravels their lives. Systemic inequities, such as the racial wealth gap, disrupt the creation of healthy and thriving communities of color in our state. To that end, dismantling systemic racism requires an acknowledgment that economic discrimination in all forms directly influences an individual and a family’s ability to thrive.
We must repair past and current harms to communities of color, and protect Black lives. Black New Jerseyans deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and their humanity should be valued as much as the lives of white residents. State and local systems must be held accountable for the past and current harms inflicted on Black individuals and communities. New Jersey’s social infrastructure must be designed to lift people out of poverty and help them thrive. And we must address the historic disinvestment in communities of color that has led to New Jersey leading the nation in Black-white racial disparities across multiple systems.
All of New Jersey is better when Black communities enjoy full political participation and representation to ensure widespread economic security and opportunity. The United Black Agenda provides a shared space for organizations dedicated to promoting the welfare of Black New Jerseyans and addressing the state and nation’s history of discrimination, marginalization, and subjugation.
We must remove barriers to democracy, as well as promote the leadership of Black and Brown people in legislative, judicial, and other prominent roles. Black constituents must have unfettered access to our democracy. New Jersey is populated by nearly a majority of people of color, so it is beyond time for our state leadership to reflect the backgrounds of its constituents. Barriers to participation in our democracy, especially those that disproportionately impact Black communities, must be eliminated. A true democracy depends on the full participation of its members; our state must do better to make that a reality for Black residents.
Member Organizations:
Fair Share Housing Center
Monarch Housing Associates
NAACP New Jersey State Conference
New Jersey Black Issues Convention
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Salvation and Social Justice
Individual Members:
Carolyn Chang, Esq., Founding Member of the UBA, Past President and Current Social Justice Committee Chair, Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey (ABWL), Member of the Board of Directors of the Garden State Bar Association (GSBA), Co-Chair of the Joint ABWL & GSBA Judicial/Prosecutorial Appointment Committee
Jerome Harris, Founding Member of the UBA
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Fair Share Housing Center is a nonprofit advocacy organization that uses legal, policy, and community-building strategies to fight for housing justice in New Jersey and beyond.
