Mr. President: We Need a “State of Urban America” Address

Feb. 1, 2011 - PRLog -- Delaware Pastor Rev.-Dr. Christopher Bullock, a nationally recognized theologian and speaker on social justice, is asking President Barack Obama to issue a “State of Urban America” address.

Bullock, a huge supporter of Obama, said he appreciated the president’s message during last week’s State of the Union Address, but he is very concerned that urban American is getting ignored.

“I remain deeply concerned that I haven't heard much substance from the White House regarding a serious urban policy that targets severely underserved communities," Bullock said.

Bullock, pastor/founder of Canaan Baptist Church in New Castle, DE, also is concerned that more has to be done to curb urban violence. “This hip-hop generation needs a moral assignment and cause,” he said. “That assignment is education not incarceration.”

Rev.-Dr. Bullock is a huge advocate of getting his fellow black pastors to get more involved in their communities to make a difference. At the same time, he offered this letter to the President to offer more concrete solutions to Urban America:

Dear Mr. President:

I know your plate runneth over with so many priorities here in the U.S. and around the world.  I would be remiss if I did not take the time to ask you to make sure you and your very talented team devote more directed energies in making sure Urban America is not ignored. As many of us know, when America has a cold, Urban America has pneumonia.  The dreadful economic recession of the past two years has taken its toll. I see it in the face of my neighbors, my parishioners and as I travel around this country.

So I ask you, Mr. President, to tell us what you’re doing to help us turn the tide in several critical areas that I believe are critical to the future of this nation:

•   Jobs, jobs, jobs.  You address ‘innovation’ in your State of the Union. That’s great, but there are men, women, families who have been laid off and remain uncertain when they will ever get a pay check again. I urge you to challenge private corporations to loosen the reigns on their cash surpluses to invest in their communities to hire their neighbors. I'm sure these corporate executives are nervous about the stability of our economy. But, I ask, would it not make sense to get as many people as possible working again with money in their pockets, spending those hard earned dollars on groceries, restaurants, movie theaters?
•   Affordable housing.  Many families have lost their homes because of the foreclosure crisis or because they lost their jobs and couldn't afford their mortgage. We need to challenge home builders, apartment owners and landlords to be creative about getting families back into safe and secure housing. I know from what I have seen over my 30-plus years that when a man, a woman and their children are living in substandard conditions that their entire psyche is devastated. They give up. Mr. President, we need to get these families living their lives to the fullest so that they can become productive citizens, contributing to the growth and stability of their communities.

Bullock, a native of Wichita, KS, is author of  “The Social Mission of the Black Church, A Call to Action”, a thought-provoking book in which he challenges black churches to do all it can to improve economic and educational opportunities for its community.  He has a history of getting his churches involved in the community.  In Chicago, he was pastor of the Progressive Baptist Church where he led an HIV/AIDS Awareness program, provided meals to the needy and housed a computer technology center. He also served as president of the Chicago Southside Branch of the NAACP.

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