The Global Black Economic Forum Convenes America’s Leading Economic and Social Justice Organizations to Form “Council for Economic Opportunity & Social Justice” to Fight Back Against Right Wing Attacks

In the wake of this generation’s most sophisticated attack on civil rights, Council to fight for economic opportunity, civil and human rights

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sixty years following Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, leaders from 13 of the nation’s preeminent civil and human rights organizations announced the formation of the Council for Economic Opportunity & Social Justice. The number 13 symbolizes the 13th amendment passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolishing slavery in the United States, and reinforces the magnitude of the work ahead. Slavery has been abolished but the vestiges remain.

When Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech the wage gap between Black and White people in the United States was 8 to 1. Today it is 12 to 1. The fundamental right to vote is being diluted and remains under constant threat. The rights of women and LGBTQ people are under attack with a disproportionate impact on people of color. The efforts to level the playing field for racial minorities in business and investments are being threatened in legislative houses and courts across the country.

Convened by the Global Black Economic Forum, the Council for Economic Opportunity and Social Justice brings together several organizations and leaders in the economic and social justice arena in a concentrated effort to collaborate, advocate and advance economic opportunity and social justice for all members of the Black Diaspora. The participants of the council are:

• The Global Black Economic Forum
• The National Action Network
• The National Urban League
• The NAACP
• The National Council of Negro Women
• The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
• Sister Song
• The U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce
• The Black Economic Alliance
• The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law
• The National LGBTQ Task Force
• The National Black Justice Coalition
• Vote.Org

The Council will focus on three main areas: economic opportunity, civic engagement, and civil rights and human rights. The Council plans to engage on and respond to the coordinated attacks on economic opportunity and freedom for Black communities, bolster public awareness regarding the attacks on our rights through education campaigns, and develop guidance for organizational responses to the attacks on our collective rights. Black communities across the globe are in a state of emergency and this moment requires courageous leadership.

“Heading into the 2024 campaign, we are facing the most coordinated and sophisticated attack on our rights that we’ve faced in our lifetimes,” said Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. “From a far-right Supreme Court to an ‘anti-woke’ movement across the states. In the past, the progressive movement has achieved meaningful and groundbreaking successes, but in many cases taking a ‘go it alone’ approach. Given the severity of attacks, we cannot ‘go it alone.’ To combat these threats, we are joining forces to create a coalition for coordinated efforts that is focused on economic opportunity.”