The Black Future Co-op Fund, Washington state’s first Black-led cooperative philanthropy, today released an audiobook version of their groundbreaking report, Black Well-being: Moving Toward Solutions Together.
The Black Well-being report and audiobook elevate community identified approaches to tackle structural barriers prohibiting Black well-being. Both are tools for advocacy and power building. The audiobook is available on major audio platforms and was created to expand access to the critical information the report contains.
“This audiobook is a love letter to Black Washingtonians,” said Sharon Nyree Williams, one of the narrators and interim executive director of the Spectrum Dance Theatre. “It is the result of numerous community conversations across the state, and it’s a gift to be able to share some of those voices aloud.”
Within the Black Well-being audiobook, there are seven sections, including a letter to community, introduction and statistics, and five topic areas: civic engagement, education, economic mobility, public safety and health. A mix of Black community voices narrate the sections, bringing to life the challenges faced by Black Washingtonians and the community-identified opportunities for moving toward the equitable world Black people envision.
“It was important to us to make this information easily accessible and support organizing among Black communities,” said T’wina Nobles, CEO and co-architect of the Black Future Co-op Fund and Washington state senator, 28th L.D. “In addition to collective organizing, our aim for this audiobook and report is to inform policy change and direct resources into building Black generational wealth, health and well-being statewide.”
In addition to Sharon Nyree Williams, who curated the team of local artists to narrate, the audiobook features Andrea Caupain Sanderson, Lashon Watson, Felicia V. Loud, Shaunyce Omar, Jeffrey Lee Cheatham II, Malcolm J. West and Stephon Jamaal Dorsey.
Loud said of her experience, “The support and comfort entering the space was natural and refreshing. Even in developing the audiobook, health and healing were present.”
When comparing the report’s updated metrics to those gathered in 2015, the Black Well-being research points out that while some measures have improved over time, the gap between Black communities and everyone else in the state has not improved because social structures and systems—housing, transportation, education, legal and employment—are relatively unchanged.
What the data shows:
- In 2020, 65% of Black Washingtonians were registered to vote—a decrease of 3% since 2015. Yet, a 2022 audit by the Office of the State Auditor discovered that Black voters’ ballots were rejected four times more often than white voters.
- Childcare costs in 2020 for one infant and one four-year-old were more than 45% of the Black median household income of $56,250.
- Despite students of color being 47% of Washington’s 2018-19 student population, white educators made up approximately 88% of classroom teachers.
- Homeownership—a critical path to wealth-building—was 34% for Black Washingtonians in 2020, almost half of the statewide average of 63.3%. While the cost of a two-bedroom rental was on average $4,000 more than the Black median household income in 2020.
- In jobs that pay more than $100,000 per year Black women represent just 2.7% nationally. Yet, Black women are the head of 32% of households nationally.
- Despite 93% of Black Washingtonians having health care insurance, the 37% on Medicaid experience major gaps in coverage, limiting their access to care. Still, clinical care is only 20% of what makes us healthy—much of the remainder rests on societal conditions, such as education, economic stability, neighborhoods and social contexts.
“This Black Well-being report is radically centered in community voice,” said Stephen Robinson, director of community engagement and learning at the Black Future Co-op Fund. “It puts qualitative and quantitative data to what our community has been saying for years, and pulls back the curtains on how racist systems continue to impact Black communities today.”
Examples of community identified approaches include:
- Dismantle systems that harm us and replace them with systems that heal.
- Center the arts in civics because they are foundational to social change.
- Redefine academic standards to recognize and cultivate Black brilliance.
- Partner with Black youth to create the jobs of tomorrow.
- Reflect well-being in employer business models and practices.
“We encourage everyone to listen to this audiobook, while on a walk, in the car, during exercise, and then talk about it with friends, colleagues and neighbors,” said Nobles. “It’ll take all of us to create the change we need to manifest Black well-being statewide, and this audiobook is a tangible tool to move us in that direction.”
For more, visit: blackfuturewa.org.