In The Wake Of Eroded Black Community Economic Fortunes - Those With The Power To Define The Priorities Redirect Our Consciousness Forward

• Chicago Sun-Times:  Report Paints Bleak Picture For Minorities
•  Black Leaders Regroup To Address Increasing Black Poverty
• Black Children In NY, USA Face Crisis
• Tavis Smiley - Black People Are Catching Hell With Unemployment 
• Roland Martin - Massive Cuts Come To Camden NJ 
• The Grio - Low Income Blacks To Be Victim Of GOP Budget Cuts 
• The State Of Communities Of Color - Survey 

It all reads like a well coordinated script.

Though their coalitions have never been stronger and their seats of power where they have the final say have never been more secure - few people will make reference to the nominal "advancements" that have been made in the areas of power that we were asked to look at for the past 40 years and demand an explanation for the lack of a stable base that can better isolate the community when external circumstances change.

This news which should otherwise provide an opportunity to reappraise the community development strategy toward a more atomic set of initiatives will instead provide more ammunition to the notion that "The Dream Has Not Yet Been Obtained"

A report from the Center for American Progress released Friday emphasized that minorities have struggled through the recession far more than whites.

UNEMPLOYMENT: Unemployment stands at nearly 16 percent among blacks vs. about 9 percent for whites and 13 percent for Latinos. “These structural differences in unemployment rates by race and ethnicity meant that communities of color fell into a deeper hole in terms of economic security during the recession and that communities of color will need to see much stronger growth than is the case for whites to climb back out of this hole,” the report’s authors wrote. “Communities of color are in more desperate need of policy attention to jobs, wages, and benefits than whites to just recover the losses they suffered during the recession since they experienced sharper economic security losses.”

PAY GAP: As of the third quarter of 2010, the last period for which the authors had data, African Americans’ usual median weekly earnings were $623 in 2009 dollars; Latinos earned $532. In comparison, whites made $774 each week, while Asians earned $871, they said.

POVERTY: In 2009, 25.3 percent of Latino families and 25. 8 percent of African-American families lived below the poverty line, the report said. Poverty rates were 9.4 percent among white Americans and 12.5 percent among Asian Americans.

HOMEOWNERSHIP: Nearly 75 percent of whites own homes, compared with 45 percent of blacks and 47 percent of Latinos.

HEALTH CARE: In 2009, 12.0 percent of white Americans lacked health insurance, compared with 21 percent of African Americans; 32.4 percent of Latinos, and 17.2 percent of Asian Americans.