Black Agenda For Change
The Black Agenda for Change is our platform of community-driven solutions, designed to address the complex systemic challenges Black communities face in Minnesota. It’s a mix of policy recommendations and innovative procedures; a blueprint to resolve issues that have historically hindered the push for equity.
2025 Policy
priorities
Informed by statewide market research polling of Black households, policy research and analysis, focus groups, design sessions, and large-scale community convenings, the Forum presents its 2025 legislative priorities, advocating for Black-centered solutions in education, economic prosperity and wealth building, and public safety.
We enjoin elected leaders to support enacting policy changes that empower the state’s Black communities and advance their collective uplift.
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For Black families, liberatory education serves as the core of resilience, empowerment, and limitless possibilities, acting as a catalyst for reimagining futures in which every Black student thrives. We believe education is more than a tool. We imagine education as a gateway to unlearning white supremacy and rediscovering and designing worlds yet unseen, where innovation, unfettered imagination, and cultural pride converge. To unlock the infinite potential of Black students, Minnesota must create and invest in schools and programs that go beyond merely providing access. Abundant learning environments require safety, equity, and transformation—inside the classroom and beyond.
- Expand Youth Opportunities: Imagine a network of learning hubs where Black students engage in cutting-edge technologies, mentorship rooted in ancestral wisdom, and career pathways that align with their dreams.
- Foster Restorative Justice: Envision schools as sanctuaries of healing and empowerment, where restorative conferencing, youth diversions, and holistic interventions weave together supportive environments that reduce chronic absenteeism and promote school safety.
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Economic sovereignty begins with imagining ecosystems that empower our community to access self-determination through unlimited access to economic possibilities. To unlock opportunities in the future, we examine what happened in the past and arrive at the right strategies to propel our economic visions forward. As we reach for the equitable future we deserve, we challenge our policymakers to prioritize investments in Black-centered businesses, communities, developments, and initiatives—fertile and rich ground for our collective and sustainable growth.
- Community-Led Investments: Strengthen place-based investment strategies through Community Benefit Ordinances that prioritize community investment and ownership, safeguarding against displacement.
- Access to Capital: Pass the GroundBreak Coalition Capital Access and Innovation Fund to expand opportunities for Black entrepreneurs, real estate developers, and homeowners. Click here to access information from the latest testimony to get this passed.
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Homeownership remains one of the most powerful pathways to generational wealth. Yet, systemic barriers have long denied Black families access to this power. To reshape the narrative, policymakers must act decisively to eliminate the housing disparities that hold Black Minnesotans back from building and transferring wealth.
- Improved Credit Building Opportunities: Ensure the reporting of rent payments to credit bureaus to strengthen credit building and help aspiring homeowners improve their credit scores. Follow the link to read our policy brief on Building Wealth Through Credit Equity.
- Expand Housing Support: Encourage employer-sponsored housing savings accounts to empower first-time Black homeowners. Follow the link to read our policy brief on our proposed Employer-Sponsored Housing Savings Plan.
- Secure Housing Investments: Pass the Our Future Starts at Home Constitutional Amendment to increase funding for homeownership programs, rental assistance, and homelessness prevention.
Support The Forum
The Forum drives for change by confronting racism and inequities, to improve the living standards of Black Minnesotans. Our Black-centered solutions are aimed at impacting the areas of economic prosperity, generational wealth building, education, public safety, environmental justice and health. Our work is rooted in ending racial injustice in all its forms in Minnesota.
All Donations help to support our mission to create a radical future for Black Minnesotans by advancing Black Centered policies and solutions that actualize true liberation. The African American Leadership Forum is a section 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, EIN 47-220083