The city of Akron has launched a Racial Equity and Social Justice Task Force to address and change policies that have led to the disenfranchisement of Akron’s Black residents, who continue to fare worse economically and experience other inequities.
Chaired by Bishop F. J. “Joey” Johnson II, senior pastor at the House of the Lord, and composed of 29 community members spanning diverse fields and backgrounds, the task force will develop a five-year strategic policy plan to improve the lives of Akron’s Black and minority residents.
The task force will deliver its recommendations, including funding proposals and projected timelines, to Mayor Dan Horrigan in December 2021.
The creation of the Racial Equity and Social Justice Task Force, announced on Thursday, follows a June declaration from Horrigan and other elected officials from around the country that racism is a public health crisis.
“The purpose of this task force is to give the grassroots leaders who are actively engaged in the Akron community an opportunity to work together to develop a common understanding of where we are, and where we need to go, to advance racial equity and social justice,” Horrigan said Thursday in news release.
“We cannot truly address the challenges we face, unless we all agree on what those challenges are, and the specific steps needed to move our community forward,” he added.
The task force’s mission is to increase trust between Akron residents and the city through impactful policy changes. Members of the task force will work with other city officials and groups engaged in similar work — namely, the Elevate Greater Akron project, which aims to foster a level economic playing field and support economic growth among the city’s Black community.
The task force’s key policy proposal areas include public safety; procurement and contracting; hiring and human resources; recreation, planning and neighborhood development; and public service and neighborhood assistance.
It also includes five subcommittees focused on additional issues: equitable workforce development and job creation; health care/public health; housing; criminal justice; and education and communications. Chairman Johnson will invite additional members of the Akron community to chair these subcommittees.
Every year, for five years, the task force will measure its progress through status reports and make amendments as needed.
“This will not be a lifeless document that sits on a shelf — but rather a plan of action, with specific benchmarks, that the community can use to hold us accountable for creating real change,” Horrigan said.
Johnson lauded the timing of the task force amid a nationwide reckoning with racist policies.
“This is a wonderful moment in time in terms of what we’re trying to accomplish in bringing together various people across all ethnicities and walks of life in order to make recommendations that we hope will forward our community in a number of areas,” Johnson said.
“At the same time, it’s a horrible moment,” Johnson said, referring to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis law enforcement that sparked nationwide protests against police brutality. “But out of that moment has come an opportunity to try to do something positive.”
Freedom Bloc Executive Director Ray Greene, who is not on the task force, said that he will support its efforts. But Greene also pointed to a long history of robust policy recommendations that have yet to be implemented in Akron to improve the lives of the city’s Black residents.
The Freedom Bloc is a Black-led grassroots collaborative that works to shape better policies for Northeast Ohio’s Black, poor and formerly incarcerated residents through civic education and voter outreach, job training and other supportive services.
“There’s already tons and tons and tons of recommendations. And to put together another task force when, you know, we’ve pointed out that Summit County is racist. Elevate Akron came behind us and proved what we had already said. And now we’re going to create another focus group, another task force. … Who is paying for this? … Who’s paid for the work that we’ve already done free?” Greene asked.
Greene also raised concerns that “there are no low-income community people on there to talk about their experiences of being directly impacted by racism.”
“I will work with them, I will wait and see the recommendations they come up with, and I will not hinder any progress in what they’re trying to do,” he said. “I will remain open minded. But I don’t have confidence in this.”
Johnson said that he could not address previous recommendations as he is not familiar with them, but he said that the task force could help to propel the adoption of existing policy recommendations.
“I can speak to efforts to draw together additional people, additional impetus, additional influence in order to be able to push forward some of those things that perhaps might be lying there and have not reached implementation,” Johnson said. “I look forward to doing all that I can to facilitate a positive and a growing situation for the city of Akron.”
He added that the task force’s subcommittees provide additional opportunities to gain input from people on the ground who may be living the reality of unjust policies.
The task force will meet every second Tuesday of the month from 5-6:30 p.m. To participate in subcommittees or in other ways, email [email protected].
Seyma Bayram is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Learn more at reportforamerica.org. Contact her at [email protected] or 330-996-3327 or on Twitter @SeymaBayram0.
