Philanthrocapitalism_ How Giving Can Save the World - Matthew Bishop [57]
African-American ministers are stimulating this kind of development all over America, but there’s no reason other churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples can’t do the same thing.
The most comprehensive American model for citizen service I’ve come across also centers on African Americans, but can be adopted by others. In February 2006, Tavis Smiley, the prominent African-American radio and television journalist, published The Covenant with Black America, a remarkable book analyzing the continuing racial disparities in American life and providing a plan of action for dealing with them in the form of ten “covenants.” Each chapter of the book calls on its readers to make a covenant to do something about a particular problem: health care; education; criminal justice; accountable policing; affordable housing in stable neighborhoods; voting rights; rural development; access to jobs and capital; environmental justice; and the racial digital divide. Each chapter opens with a short introductory essay by an expert, followed by a comprehensive list of salient facts and by specific examples of “what the community can do,” then “what every individual can do now,” “what works now,” and “what every leader and elected official can do.”
The Covenant touched a nerve with African Americans and others concerned about the future of black America. Within a month of its release, it reached number one on several best-seller lists. All over America, churches, community organizations, civic groups, elected officials, and concerned citizens gathered to discuss how they could become advocates for and agents of change. The response was so great and so rapid that within a year Tavis Smiley published a second book, The Covenant in Action, which describes efforts already under way to advance the covenant’s goals; profiles young emerging black activists; and provides a toolkit to help readers take on each challenge in a systematic way through political action, legal action, and NGO projects. The Covenant in Action is a practical guide to getting involved.
In this short summary, I can’t begin to do justice to The Covenant movement, to the power of its inspiration, instruction, and examples. Both of Smiley’s books can be read quickly, and the actions they propose can keep you busy for a lifetime. I recommend both books to you because I believe Smiley has given us a model for how to organize other groups with common challenges for action in America and across the world. If you read them, I’m sure you’ll agree.
An education program serving minority students that could be replicated in virtually every community is College Track, which works to help low-income students prepare for, get into, and succeed in higher education. Currently, College Track is serving nearly 300 high school and college students at its centers in East Palo Alto and Oakland, California. It provides a summer high school preparation program, workshops, tutoring, and college entrance exam preparation classes; required extracurricular and community service participation; paid summer internships; assistance getting college scholarships and financial aid; and ongoing support in college. College Track is getting results. Nationwide, 29 percent of students from low-income households finish college, but 86 percent of College Track’s students will do so. Why does it work? Founder Laurene Powell Jobs says: “Some organizations work to fix the education system through political and policy changes. We don’t. At College Track, we focus on kids.”
America’s Promise, founded by General Colin L. Powell (U.S. Ret.) and his wife, Alma, offers an interesting model for people seeking to advance a cause with multiple programs in which many people are already involved. The mission of America’s Promise is to give all children what they need to succeed by keeping five promises to them: the involvement