John,

The story of poverty and economic injustice is one America has been writing since its founding. “In 1968, a typical middle-class black household had $6,674 in wealth compared with $70,786 for the typical middle-class white household.”¹

Since then, the racial wealth divide has only widened. Despite the passing of important legislation such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, and changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which set a federal minimum wage, Black and Brown families' wealth has grown at a slow pace while White households' has soared.

The numbers don’t lie. In 2020, White households held 11 times more wealth than Black households and almost six times more wealth than Hispanic/Latine households.

So how do we honor Dr. King’s legacy, especially when his words about poverty five decades ago still stand true today? How do we truly change a system that’s so deeply broken and not just wish for it to change or know it should be different?

We created Prosperity Now to help answer these questions and make economic justice a reality.

Please consider supporting our work with a gift today. Your support places us on Capitol Hill to offer real policy solutions and bring change to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities who are struggling. With your help, we can be on the ground with communities to equip families with policies that change their lives.

Indeed, communities of color and families working to make ends meet face distinct challenges. Black Americans have the highest unemployment rate of any group at 7.1%. Hispanic unemployment is at 4.9%, while White unemployment is almost half that of the Black workforce, at just 3.2%.

But to Dr. King, movements created to change such statistics are “indicative of the fact that a new world is being born and that an old world is passing away.” Through policy advocacy, research, and technical assistance, we’re creating an economy where all people have what they need to thrive and combat discriminatory or exploitative jobs.

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, let us honor Dr. King’s legacy by heeding his call to accelerate the dawn of justice. If you’re ready to answer the call, join forces with Prosperity Now and take the first step toward a more equitable future, today.

Sincerely,

Prosperity Now

¹ Long, Heather, and Andrew Van Dam. “The Black-White Economic Divide Is as Wide as It Was in 1968.” Washington Post, 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/04/economic-divide-black-households/.

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