View as Webpage ... ..Black People, We Must Complete the Census! .....Sep. 26. 2020
Greetings!
We are in the 11th hour for completing the Census and our communities are behind in this decennial task. September 30, 2020, four days from now, the count ends and if we are not fully counted, then we lose in a number of significant ways.

Please read on to better understand the impact of the U.S, Decennial Census, taken every ten years to count every single person, in every household and current place of residence, in all 50 states and all U.S. territories.

COAL asks its membership and greater readership to complete the census, if you've put off doing so, and then to reach out to neighbors to encourage them to complete the census (it only takes a few minutes). And finally, we ask that you reach out to family and friends, near and far, and insist (as you can do with friends and family) that they too complete the Census. It is that critically important to our communities.

Respectfully,
COAL Board of Directors
  
"The time to work seriously and collectively, to improve the state of our Community, is upon us..."
Let's Get to Work
Why the Census Matters

Knowing how many people live in the city of Chicago—or anywhere else in the nation—is more than just a matter of curiosity. Political districts at the federal, state, and local levels are drawn based on population data. So without an accurate count, it is impossible to ensure that people’s votes will have the same weight. The results of the census are also used for federal funding: more money goes to places where more people live. And knowing who lives where and how the population is changing is also critical for long-term planning, as cities and communities try to make informed decisions about where to invest in services like new transportation lines or more schools.
Your community benefits the most when the census counts everyone. When you respond to the census, you help your community get its fair share of the more than $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs. If you add in funds to nonprofits to deliver services to individuals and communities, the annual allocation is $1.5 trillion in federal funds.

WHAT'S AT STAKE POLITICALLY

The original intent of the census was to ensure accurate representation in the House of Representatives, and it still serves this important role. States gain or lose seats in Congress (and the Electoral College, which determines presidential elections) depending on how much their population changes relative to the nation at large.
Census results are used not only in the process of apportionment, but also for the purpose of redistricting (the drawing of electoral boundaries) for all levels of government.

Please help me get the word out! We got to the end of the month (next week) for our last push. Please send out to your text and email contacts, because the Southside numbers are way below the rest of the city. I'm counting on you to help get the word out.
Thank you,
State Senator Mattie HnterMattie
Featured Song for the Times

Talk to the People
- Les McCann
COAL Highly Commends
STANLEY D. MOORE
as the 'Father of the Modern Decennial Census'
and Community ICON
Stan Moore's first official assignment with the Census Bureau came in 1960 when he joined the Census to help program a computer that weighed eight tons and was the size of a one-car garage. He has been at the forefront of helping create a national digital database that maps neighborhoods, has overseen the implementation of GPS-equipped handheld computers carried by census workers, and pioneered the use of partnership strategies such as the complete count commitee to increase census response rates, especially for people of color and other groups that have been traditionally undercounted.

“If you need good schools, health care or transportation in your community, all that money is based on Census figures,” Moore said. “If you’re not cooperating, another city will have a good living standard where your city won’t.”

Working for the Census under 12 presidents and being an organizer of the Census for approximately six decades has given Moore a front-row seat to history.

COAL commends Mr. Moore's leadership, analytical and statistical expertise, technology, planning and organizing skills, as well as his forward-thinking and consummate professionalism.

He has been a man on the inside who curageously fought to eliminate the undercount of this nation's black residents, as a means of gaining us a fair share of the benefits of our tax dollars. For this and more, COAL says, thank you.

Stanley D. Moore is someone we all should know.
It won't happen individually
"It'll take the wisdom of the elders, our young people's energy."
What We Believe
The Coalition of African American Leaders believes that it is important to examine the critical issues confronting the African American community where injustice, inequality and the absence of access and opportunity continue to prevail, thereby negatively impacting us as a people. COAL is an assemblage that advocates and organizes for appropriate and responsible public policy change, system behavior change and equality of opportunity. We aim to achieve for all of our people the fullness of the life experience without any form of racism or exclusion as a deterrent. We believe we must prepare ourselves for the opportunity of this full participation, thereby achieving the necessary education and training to participate.