The room was abuzz as Aisha Arrington, President and CEO of the Fort Wayne Urban League, moved to the podium, addressing a crowd with more people than seats. She started the meeting speaking about the legacy of the National Urban League.
“This report is inspired by the groundbreaking State of Black America, established in 1976 by the late Vernon E. Jordan who understood that data is more than just numbers on a page," Arrington said, "Data tells a story.”
The project, done in partnership with the Community Research Institute at Purdue University Fort Wayne, analyzed the conditions of Black residents in Allen County on a range of topics, including employment, income and home ownership.
The report showed that while Black residents are graduating high school at higher rates than the national average, they’re struggling to reach higher education and higher wages, falling well behind the national average.
Mayor Sharon Tucker says that these systemic issues must be tackled by everyone, not just by Black residents.
“And so, if we work as a collective group to identify ways that we can have sustainable change on even just one of these initiatives, we will change Fort Wayne for the good,” Tucker said.
The full report can be found below.