To: Governor Brian Kemp
African American Agenda for Governor Nathan Deal
A petition requesting action by the state of Georgia to make changes to issues surrounding Education, Economic Opportunities, Criminal Justice and Voter Suppression within African American and underserved communities.
Why is this important?
The Influencer Coalition has highlighted these core issues that affect African-Americans and under-served communities. Please review our petition to Governor Deal, sign the petition and share with as many people as possible. Let’s make a better Georgia for you and our families.
EDUCATION:
African-American students are disproportionately represented among students that live in poverty, will not graduate from high school and are not prepared to enter the workforce.
• Restore 1 Billion dollars to the State budget for Public Education to end teacher furloughs, decrease class sizes, and support education programming;
• Restore 25 million to Pre-K Programming to allow all children access to a Pre-K programming, end the wait list for access to Early Childhood Education, and close achievement gaps;
• Restore all funds that have been cut from the HOPE scholarship so that achieving students can attend College based upon robust funding and fair criteria;
• Increase state support of and partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to support the mission, purpose and legacy of these institutions.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY:
African-Americans are disproportionately represented among the 350,000 unemployed Georgians. They also reflect less than 3% of small and medium-size business owners receiving state contracts
• Approve 5 Million dollars to support Georgia Department of Labor sites in inner-city communities to assist with job search, recruitment and hiring;
• Restore funding that allows 45,000 citizens to attend Technical Colleges so that Georgia’s workforce is provided with the skills they need to earn livable wages;
• Provide funding to support inner-city summer work programs for high school students;
• Increase (MFBE) Minority|Female|Business|Enterprise contract procurement with the State by 10%.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE:
African-Americans are disproportionately represented in the juvenile detention and prison population, particularly African-American males. 80% of the people accused of a crime in the State of Georgia cannot afford independent representation. The militarization of the police force has led to less community policing and more brutality.
• Increase the number of Hispanic and African-American State Troopers by 5% to support diversity;
• Provide 5 Million dollars of Funding toward Diversity training for all State Troopers and City Police Officers in Georgia’s largest Metro Cities to adequately prepare officers to serve and protect Georgians;
• Retrain law enforcement officers regarding escalation protocol so that police brutality and use of excessive force decreases;
• Allocate 10 Million dollars to expand and support indigent defense programs and public defenders.
VOTER SUPPRESSION
Georgia officials had to clear voting changes with the Justice Department because of a long history of disenfranchisement and discrimination against African-American voters. More recently: 1) Augusta moved municipal elections from November to decrease African-American voter turnout; 2) Greene County implemented a redistricting plan previously blocked by the Justice Department to decrease African-American voter turnout; 3) Morgan County introduced a plan to eliminate half the area’s polling sites to decrease voter turnout in low-income and minority voters; 4) Efforts have mounted against Dekalb County to eliminate Sunday voting; and 5) Georgia Secretary of State, Jack Kemp is trying to invalidate the applications of 85,000 newly registered African-American voters.
• Stop Georgia’s Secretary of State, Jack Kemp from invalidating the 85,000 African-American new voter registrations that have been received 2012-1014;
• Cease African-American voter suppression throughout the state;
• Stop efforts to end Sunday voting.
EDUCATION:
African-American students are disproportionately represented among students that live in poverty, will not graduate from high school and are not prepared to enter the workforce.
• Restore 1 Billion dollars to the State budget for Public Education to end teacher furloughs, decrease class sizes, and support education programming;
• Restore 25 million to Pre-K Programming to allow all children access to a Pre-K programming, end the wait list for access to Early Childhood Education, and close achievement gaps;
• Restore all funds that have been cut from the HOPE scholarship so that achieving students can attend College based upon robust funding and fair criteria;
• Increase state support of and partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to support the mission, purpose and legacy of these institutions.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY:
African-Americans are disproportionately represented among the 350,000 unemployed Georgians. They also reflect less than 3% of small and medium-size business owners receiving state contracts
• Approve 5 Million dollars to support Georgia Department of Labor sites in inner-city communities to assist with job search, recruitment and hiring;
• Restore funding that allows 45,000 citizens to attend Technical Colleges so that Georgia’s workforce is provided with the skills they need to earn livable wages;
• Provide funding to support inner-city summer work programs for high school students;
• Increase (MFBE) Minority|Female|Business|Enterprise contract procurement with the State by 10%.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE:
African-Americans are disproportionately represented in the juvenile detention and prison population, particularly African-American males. 80% of the people accused of a crime in the State of Georgia cannot afford independent representation. The militarization of the police force has led to less community policing and more brutality.
• Increase the number of Hispanic and African-American State Troopers by 5% to support diversity;
• Provide 5 Million dollars of Funding toward Diversity training for all State Troopers and City Police Officers in Georgia’s largest Metro Cities to adequately prepare officers to serve and protect Georgians;
• Retrain law enforcement officers regarding escalation protocol so that police brutality and use of excessive force decreases;
• Allocate 10 Million dollars to expand and support indigent defense programs and public defenders.
VOTER SUPPRESSION
Georgia officials had to clear voting changes with the Justice Department because of a long history of disenfranchisement and discrimination against African-American voters. More recently: 1) Augusta moved municipal elections from November to decrease African-American voter turnout; 2) Greene County implemented a redistricting plan previously blocked by the Justice Department to decrease African-American voter turnout; 3) Morgan County introduced a plan to eliminate half the area’s polling sites to decrease voter turnout in low-income and minority voters; 4) Efforts have mounted against Dekalb County to eliminate Sunday voting; and 5) Georgia Secretary of State, Jack Kemp is trying to invalidate the applications of 85,000 newly registered African-American voters.
• Stop Georgia’s Secretary of State, Jack Kemp from invalidating the 85,000 African-American new voter registrations that have been received 2012-1014;
• Cease African-American voter suppression throughout the state;
• Stop efforts to end Sunday voting.