Introducing the #NeighborhoodEquity Campaign
Children who grow up in disinvested neighborhoods are far more likely to become adults living in poverty.
Where you live usually determines the school your children attend, your degree of neighborhood safety, your access to public transportation or highways, the availability and quality of finance and credit, your employment opportunities, and your social network. These spatial arrangements of opportunity are contoured by our past, and if not changed, they will have serious implications for our future. The geography of opportunity has significant influence on the choices available to us as well as on the shape of the culture we inhabit. Unfortunately, in our society these arrangements continue to carry a footprint of race whether currently intended or not. We can tell much about someone’s life opportunity by his or her zip code. (Powell, 2008)
Where we grow up matters.
Where we find ourselves today is not accidental.
This reality is deeply rooted in inequity. Unfair and unjust systems have colluded to create neighborhoods where families are held in perpetual, generational poverty. This powerfully detrimental “neighborhood effect” is not a random phenomenon but disproportionately affect Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations as a direct result of racial injustice and disenfranchisement.
Where do we go from here?
To bring awareness and action into this reality, we’ve launched the #NeighborhoodEquity campaign. We’re inviting our community to join us in considering the consequences, both seen and unseen, of growing up in historically disinvested neighborhoods, as well as our shared opportunity to set things right.
We’ve partnered with JKDC on a series of graphics highlighting three crucial aspects of this campaign:
From Here to Anywhere
Idea
The zip code where we start shouldn’t limit where we go
Action
Participate in root-level change by investing in historically disinvested neighborhoods
13 x 19 Poster
By Neighbor For Neighbor
Idea
Neighborhood change must be driven by neighborhood leaders
Action
Ask neighbors if/how you can help, and serve their goals in a supportive role
13 x 19 Poster
Our Place to Be Safe
Idea
Neighborhood development must not result in neighbor displacement
Action
Avoid developers who prioritize profit over neighborhood wellbeing. Before buying or moving into a property, begin by asking “who lived here before?”
13 x 19 Poster
Also Available
Pink T-Shirt
Canvas Tote
Recommended Resources
The Opportunity Atlas
Which neighborhoods in America offer children the best chance to rise out of poverty? The Opportunity Atlas answers this question using anonymous data following 20 million Americans from childhood to their mid-30s. Now you can trace the roots of today’s affluence and poverty back to the neighborhoods where people grew up. See where and for whom opportunity has been missing, and develop local solutions to help more children rise out of poverty.
Race, Place, and Opportunity
Where we live influences our life chances. Too many blacks still live in concentrated poverty. — Special Report by John Powell The American Prospect
https://prospect.org/special-report/race-place-opportunity/