The Need

Instead of focusing on poor people or black people or women as a mass, we focus on the individual black woman and approach the problem from an intersectional framework. The articles and reports that track the need we are striving to address are many, below is small sample for additional reading.

The Average Black Family Would Need 228 Years to Build the Wealth of a White Family Today
Just as past public policies created the racial wealth gap, current policy widens it.

Joshua Holland, The Nation

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‘Women, Race & Wealth’ a 2017 report from the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and Insight Center for Community Economic Development found that black women still fall behind in every category of wealth accumulation. While income is mainly used for daily necessities, wealth constitutes resources that improve life chances.

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‘Lifting as We Climb’ is a report released almost 10 years ago by Insight Center for Community Economic Development that found black women’s median wealth ranged between $0-$100

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2017 Neighborhood Health Profile Upton/Druid Heights from Baltimore City Health Department

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The Racial Wealth Divide in Baltimore 2017
The Racial Wealth Divide Initiative at CFED developed this profile to better understand how racial economic inequality affects Baltimore. This profile is also one of the first steps taken under the Building High Impact Nonprofits of Color project, funded by JPMorgan Chase. This project aims to advance best practices and strengthen resources for nonprofits of color.

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Median Income

The average White household makes nearly

the income of the average Black household

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate of workers of color in Baltimore is

the rate for White workers

Zero Net Worth

1/3

of households of color in Baltimore have zero net worth

Baltimore Population

Economic inequality has expanded over the past decade, shutting the windows of opportunity for millions of Americans. In urban centers, this growing inequality has manifested through gentrification and concentrated poverty in communities of color. Though Baltimore bills itself as a city of the future, the economic plight of many of its residents suggest a struggle to break free of the past. Indeed, historical policies designed to “quarantine blacks,” as Baltimore’s mayor put it in 1911, have contributed to a city in which one’s race is a dominant determinant of one’s overall life outcomes.

Data represented above is courtesy of Prosperity Now. Full data set and additional infographics can be found in the full Report.

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Creating community, knowledge, and wealth together.

Organization

Program

This project is supported in part by:

Black Women Build-Baltimore is an equal employer. You do not need to identify as Black or a woman to apply but as a mission-based organization, we center Black women.