Forward Together: The Black Policy Playbook for an Equitable America
GLUE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Forward Together: The Black Policy Playbook for an Equitable America
Prepared by Great Lakes Urban Empowerment Center (GLUE)
Based on the report by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
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Overview
This policy agenda outlines urgent, research-backed policy priorities to advance Black equity in America. It spans seven major sectors and highlights structural barriers as well as specific federal and state policy opportunities. The original report was compiled in 2024–25 in response to both progress under the Biden-Harris administration and regression under the current Trump-Vance administration.
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1. Voting Rights & Civic Engagement
Challenges: Suppression, intimidation, felony disenfranchisement, and disinformation
Policy Priorities:
• Pass Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
• Expand early voting, voter ID access, and same-day registration
• Restore voting rights post-incarceration; limit purges
• Protect against AI-driven election disinformation
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2. Economic Opportunity & Advancement
Challenges: Wealth gap, housing discrimination, tax code inequities
Policy Priorities:
• Expand housing access through appraisal reform, credit programs, and rental assistance
• Strengthen fair lending enforcement and public housing investments
• Reform the tax code: Child Tax Credit, EITC, IRS audit fairness
• Invest in Black entrepreneurs via CDFIs, MDIs, and federal contracting equity
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3. Workforce
Challenges: DEI rollbacks, occupational segregation, low job quality
Policy Priorities:
• Reauthorize WIOA with equity metrics and HBCU partnerships
• Fund job training, child care, wraparound services
• Raise the minimum wage; pass Paycheck Fairness Act
• Restore Justice40 and invest in climate and clean energy workforce pipelines
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4. Education
Challenges: Book bans, loss of affirmative action, underfunded HBCUs
Policy Priorities:
• Protect Black history education (e.g., Books Save Lives Act)
• Expand Pell Grants, loan forgiveness, and SAVE Plan benefits
• Invest in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions
• Replace legacy admissions with equity-centered practices
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5. Healthcare
Challenges: Coverage gaps, Black maternal health crisis, food insecurity
Policy Priorities:
• Extend postpartum Medicaid and telehealth access
• Fund maternal doulas, WIC expansion, and lactation services
• Pass environmental justice laws (clean air, water, zoning reform)
• Support food security through SNAP and Black-led agriculture
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6. Criminal Legal System Reform
Challenges: Over-policing, sentencing disparities, youth incarceration
Policy Priorities:
• Pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act
• Eliminate cash bail and mandatory minimums
• Fund reentry programs and community-based public safety
• Decriminalize cannabis, expunge records, and reinvest locally
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7. Technology & Telecommunications
Challenges: Digital divide, AI bias, underrepresentation
Policy Priorities:
• Expand broadband infrastructure (BEAD) and refund ACP
• Increase Black representation in STEM, tech leadership
• Regulate facial recognition, algorithmic discrimination
• Reform content moderation and Section 230 to protect Black users
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Conclusion
This agenda reflects an urgent call to action: equitable policymaking is not just about remedying past harm—it’s about shaping a future where all Americans can thrive. GLUE offers this summary as a resource to support local, state, and national work committed to systemic justice.