Activest

10/12/2022

Ready for a municipal bond primer? Join our senior fellow Chelsea McDaniel virtually as she goes “Behind and Beyond the Bond” with Boston Ujima Project. Discover who buys city bonds, the power of bondholders, how rating agencies are accounting for social justice (or not)—and how you can use bondholder engagement to push for change.

As part of : Participatory Governance series of workshops and discussions centered on the importance of people power and democracy. 10/19, 6pm. Register here for the FREE event here: https://bit.ly/ujima-assembly

09/12/2022

Failing infrastructure, lower graduation rates, overpolicing and low homeownership rates are a recipe for Newark’s residents to continue to overpay to be underserved.

By placing people over property and investing in human capital, New Jersey has the opportunity to capitalize on the potential of its residents. https://bit.ly/3PupCSv

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

09/06/2022

Imagine paying to be overpoliced—with a Black mayor at the helm. Or paying a premium to access capital—just because you’re Black.

Financial markets, regulators, bondholders, investors and local residents are all stealthily footing the bill for systemic racism. See how the Black Tax is at work in Newark, NJ in our fiscal justice analysis.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Fiscal justice analysis — fiscal health and racial justice—of municipal spending for Newark, New Jersey for credit risk.

08/29/2022

NJ is #1 in the nation for racial disparities in incarceration—but are rating agencies taking injustice into account?

Municipal revenues serve as the supply lines to fueling state sanctioned, taxpayer-funded racial oppression. It’s time investors demanded change. Get in on the push for transparency, accountability and fiscal justice in New Jersey by targeting its purse. https://bit.ly/3dtRGrL

Fiscal justice credit analysis of municipal spending in New Jersey on Credit Rating, Governance, Education, Economic Development, Health, Policing, Income Disparities

08/22/2022

The cost of police brutality in Brooklyn Center is more than Black life—and the taxpayers are paying for it.

Check out our fiscal justice analysis outlining the cost of injustice and a strategy towards holding Brooklyn Center accountable for its extractive municipal practices that physically and economically harm communities of color.: https://bit.ly/3SUoZEz

08/19/2022

$400M annually given away to corporations while being top 5 for worst infant mortality rate in the US—make that make sense, New Jersey decision-makers.

Our NJ Fiscal Justice Analysis reports how inequitable practices in the municipal market cast a long shadow on NJ’s Black communities—all financed by taxpayer dollars. https://bit.ly/3dtRGrL

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

07/25/2022

From the size of the TIF to the lack of independent review and government analysis, the is extractive to the majority-Black community of West Louisville.

Discover our senior analyst Homero Radway’s perspective on the TIF in the new WDRB News report—and why is needed for :

Backers of the tax increment financing plan say it’s a way to use an established economic development tool. But some economists, TIF scholars and land-use experts caution that its massive

07/13/2022

Missed the SEIU Racial Equity Audits webinar? Watch the replay of our co-founder Ryan Bowers as he and other experts discuss how to leverage burgeoning racial equity and civil rights audit opportunities as a powerful means to intervene in systemic racism.

Full webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbXIFJ6VbDk

06/24/2022

2 years after the racial reckoning, Activest is still holding municipalities & the market accountable for policies and practices towards Black & Brown communities—by listening from the ground up. Join our co-founder Ryan Bowers as he shares how & why we do this. Bitly.ws/smMP

06/14/2022

Fiscal justice is just one part of the conversation. Tune in to hear new initiatives being implemented to encourage more transparency around racial equity in municipal bond offerings—featuring our Senior Fellow, Chelsea McDaniel. Presented by Council of Development Finance Agencies and BNY Mellon https://bit.ly/3NKzKX7

05/26/2022

The VICE News report also outlines how money disappeared from citizen's homes during police raids. Meanwhile, Louisville Metro Government has increased public safety spending to over 50% of the annual budget.

Bondholders should demand for because poor governance is financially material.

Internal documents and recordings going back more than a decade, and interviews with multiple accusers, as well as current and former members of LMPD, show a...

05/04/2022

The streets are watching—and listening.

Check out coverage on our Louisville, KY Fiscal Justice Analysis by Next City.

"Fiscal justice” investors want to flip the muni bond market script. Here’s why that could be a good thing — both for equity and for city finances.