Politics As Usual Has Failed The Black Community

For too long the levers of power in Washington have changed hands between Republicans and Democrats without meaningful change coming to the black community.  Things will be different with Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has spent forty years fiercely protecting minority communities. 
In Kennedy’s first case as an environmental attorney, he represented the NAACP in its fight to stop a garbage station in Ossining, NY. He has always been there for vulnerable communities, from the Bronx to indigenous people in North and South America.

STRUCTURAL COMMUNITY INVESTMENT

Black businesses are the lifeblood of the Black community, and Kennedy knows it. He served on the board of Restoration Plaza in Bedstuy, New York for 35 years. Ending redlining, and releasing investment capital turned Restoration Plaza into a thriving business community.  Kennedy will replicate this success across the country with Structural Community Investment. Rather than the hundred billion dollar bank bailouts, Kennedy will invest in urban and struggling communities. 

TANGIBLES:

• Increased access to investment capital for a robust, self-sustaining Black business infrastructure.
• Institute Black Business Development Agency to build and support African-American companies.
• Web courses taught by respected Black entrepreneurs on starting a business as qualifiers for small business grants. 
• Low interest microloans to invest in approved business plans with flexible repayment terms.
• Millions of new, full-time jobs for the Black community.
• Immigration policy that protects local resources, ending the migrant encampments in urban areas.
• Increased trade school and college prep opportunities for our youth.

JUSTICE

Black Maternal Mortality

Kennedy will address the Black maternal mortality crisis by supporting expanded coverage for pre and postnatal care, doulas, and wraparound support up to a year after giving birth.

• Tackle the Black Maternal Health crisis with increased funding to maternity wards in African-American communities.
• Call for increased implicit bias training for medical students.
• Incentives for medical facilities found to improve outcomes for Black patients.

Police Reform

• Recruit police from the neighborhoods they serve.
• Don’t make police do jobs they aren’t trained for..Increased funding for mental health professionals accompanying police to help de-escalate citizens in nonviolent mental health crises.
• Commission to root out systemic bias from the federal to the local levels.
• Ending civil forfeiture by making seizing assets from citizens illegal without due process. 

Justice for Black Farmers

Robert Kennedy Jr. will end USDA discrimination against Black farmers, and protect current landowners from further land loss.

Prison Reform

Expand reintroduction to the community for non-violent offenders and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline by ending suspensions being added to criminal records.

Environmental Justice

Penalize environmental pollution caused by corporations dumping toxic waste in Black communities.

AN AMERICAN DREAM FOR ALL

Americorps and a New GI Bill for Community Service

Just as the GI Bill built the middle class after WWII, Kennedy’s expansion of service award benefits in Americorps, our domestic Peace Corps, will put the next generation on a path towards the American Dream. Cleaning up parks, caring for the elderly, building infrastructure and working on organic, healing farms will unlock significant assets to pay your way through college or learn a trade, start a small business or put a down payment on a home.  With nearly 60% of minority households liquid asset poor, Kennedy’s plan will help end the racial wealth gap.

Student Debt Relief

As President, RFK Jr. will push to make student debt dischargeable in bankruptcy and move to cancel student debt.

Home Ownership

First time home buyers should not have to compete with private equity firms and billionaires to buy a home. Kennedy will fight to keep Wall Street out of the single family home market and  institute 3% government-backed mortgage bonds to make home ownership more affordable for families. It’s like having a rich uncle - Uncle Sam - who is willing to cosign your mortgage.

Homelessness

There’s no American Dream for those living the nightmare of homelessness which disproportionately affects the Black Community.  Kennedy will push to address root causes of homelessness and expand wrap around services.