Joint Center

The Joint Center's newsletter includes the latest updates on our work including reports, events, press releases & statements on Joint Center research and major developments in Congress. Stay up-to-date with America's Black think tank by subscribing here: jointcenter.org/newsletter/

For Memorial Day, we're reminded of the cost of war. In a recent op-ed, Joint Center Senior Fellow Eric Morrissette explains how rising oil prices, tariffs, and war spending could deepen the affordability crisis for American households. jointcenter.org/op-ed-the-cost…

The Joint Center recognizes @AndrePerryEDU, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift at @BrookingsInst, as a Voice with Vision. Perry is also the author of “Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It.”

Joint Center Senior Researcher LaToya Parker, Ph.D., penned an op-ed discussing how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is impacting the Child Tax Credit and what this means for Black families. Dr. Parker also explores the decrease in SNAP participation rates and how this is failing families. Read the full essay here: jointcenter.org/op-ed-obbbas-c…

Yesterday, Joint Center President Dedrick Asante-Muhammad participated in a press conference held by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Color Of Change to raise awareness of the state of the Black economy and the impact of the current administration’s agenda on Black Americans. Speakers urged lawmakers to advance policies protecting civil rights and improving the economy for Black Americans, including Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Nadine Smith of Color of Change, Tara Murray of the National Urban League, Patrice Willoughby of the NAACP, and others. Watch the full press conference here: bit.ly/4dDRP7y

For over 55 years, the Joint Center has been dedicated to providing policy analysis and solutions for Black people in America. In this clip, Joint Center Board Member Ashley Lewis explains how we can continue to meet the moment for Black communities.

Representation alone does not guarantee equity—but without it, inequity is almost certain, writes @DedrickM of @JointCenter. commondreams.org/opinion/suprem…

This is a must-read from the @JointCenter's LaToya Parker. Close to half of Black children receive less than the full Child Tax Credit -- fixing this needs to be a top priority! url-media.com/op-ed-what-the…

🚨 The Joint Center is now on @Substack! Subscribe to find timely policy analysis, research, and commentary on the most important issues shaping Black communities — all in one place. Follow along here: jointcenter.substack.com

Joint Center President Dedrick Asante-Muhammad joined Amber Webb Sims and Erika Brown on the Broke-ish podcast. During the discussion, they focused on the Supreme Court’s decision to erode key provisions under the Voting Rights Act. They also discussed Jesse Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential runs and what they revealed about the history of Black voting against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's decision. Watch the episode here: jointcenter.org/joint-center-p…

New from Joint Center Senior Fellow Eric Morrissette (@MoreEricPlease): What happens when the data used to measure discrimination disappears? This new @WashInformer op-ed examines how federal data rollbacks could make it harder to identify and challenge disparities. Read it here: washingtoninformer.com/data-collectio…

🚨 What happens when women become the test case? For an essay in The Impact Report for The Women's Tech & Telecom Partnership, Joint Center Tech Policy Director & Senior Advisor @Dani_Esquire breaks down Grok, non-consensual AI images, and the limits of Section 230. Read the essay and watch her discuss it here: jointcenter.org/joint-center-j…

Without targeted investment and accountability, place-based industrial policy initiatives risk reinforcing existing economic disparities. A new brief from the Joint Center outlines key barriers and opportunities for Black workers. Learn more: jointcenter.org/billions-inves…

"...States are responding in increasingly divergent ways to the pressures on their budgets that they're seeing right now," said @CenterOnBudget Director of State Fiscal Policy Whitney Jemison. Watch her explain more in our tax policy webinar: jointcenter.org/taxing-consump…

As more Americans tap into their retirement savings to cover basic expenses, a new op-ed from David Asiamah, Ph.D., Joint Center Contributor and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, examines rise of hardship withdrawals now affecting 6 percent of U.S. workers and what it signals about financial instability and policy gaps. jointcenter.org/op-ed-vanguard…

The Joint Center hosted our first National Economic Roundtable convening. The convening had remarks from Tyese Williams, the Advocacy & Policy Manager of NCNW, and Andre Perry, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift at the Brookings Institution, on wealth-building, business ownership, familial economic security, and related issues impacting Black economic mobility.

Watch Joint Center Tech Policy Director & Senior Advisor @Dani_Esquire discuss the growing challenges around synthetic media and trust in digital content during the @NHMC's AI Detection panel. Full webinar here: jointcenter.org/joint-center-j…

"DC has always been a place of pretty extreme inequality," said @DCFPI Executive Director Erica Williams. Watch her explain how DC's "unique and highly problematic relationship with the federal government" contributes to this issue in our tax policy webinar: jointcenter.org/taxing-consump…

Black mothers are central to Black family economic security. 69% of Black mothers are key, sole, primary, or co-breadwinners in their households, compared with 40% of white mothers. For #MothersDay, our latest snapshot examines the policy choices shaping Black family economic security: jointcenter.org/motherhood-wor…

The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April, exceeding the 55,000 forecast in the Dow Jones consensus estimate. The stronger-than-expected gain suggests that hiring was more resilient than economists anticipated. However, the simultaneous decline of the number of Black workers employed shows that overall job growth does not always mean employment gains for Black workers. cnbc.com/2026/05/08/job…

At 7.3 percent, the Black unemployment rate remains the highest among all racial groups, compared to 3.7 percent for White workers, 5.0 percent for Hispanic workers, and 3.3 percent for Asian workers.

It's #JobsDay! Each month, the Joint Center analyzes Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data and explains what the numbers mean for Black workers. Our April Jobs Day analysis, led by Joint Center Senior Researcher, Financial Regulation and Policy, Cantrell Dumas, is below. 🧵 #JobsReport