About the Commission

Overview

The Shirley Chisholm Presidential Accountability Commission, named in honor of Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to be elected to Congress and the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination for President.  An initiative of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), the Commission was originally announced at the State of the Black World Conference in New Orleans in 2008.

 

Under the leadership of Dr. Ron Daniels, IBW has assembled a group of scholars, policy analysts and advocates to serve on the Commission:

• Rick Adams, Co-convener, Western Pennsylvania Black Political Assembly, Pittsburgh, PA and Chair, Institute of the Black World 21st Century Board of Directors 
• Dr. Michael Fauntroy, Assistant Professor, Public Policy, George Mason University, Washington, DC
• Dr. Tricia-Bent Goodley, Professor of Social Work and Chair of the Community Administration and Policy Practice Sequence, Howard University, Washington, DC
• Dr. Duchess Harris, Associate Professor, American Studies, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
• Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Associate Professor, Education and Anthropology, Columbia University Teachers College, New York, NY
• Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President, Bennett College for Women, Greensboro, NC
• Dr. Patricia Newton, President-elect, Black Psychiatrists of America, Inc.
  
• Dr. Mtangulizi Sanyika, President, African American Leadership Project, New Orleans, LA
• Nkechi Taifa, Esq., Senior Policy Analyst, Open Society Institute, Washington, DC
• Makani Themba-Nixon, Chief Executive Officer, The Praxis Project, Washington, DC
• Dr. Boyce Watkins, Professor, Finance, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

 

• Dr. Ron Daniels, Ex-Officio Member, President, Institute of the Black World 21st Century; Distinguished Lecturer, York College, City University of New York

 

Issues of high priority to African Americans include:

• Jobs and the Economy
• Urban Policy
• Black Farmers/Rural Development
• Education Achievement Gap
• Health Disparities
• New Orleans post-Katrina
• Criminal Justice
• Youth Violence/Fratricide

 

The Commission will conduct research, consult with the Executive Branch and members of Congress, convene public forums and issue periodic report cards to grade presidential administrations on issues of importance to African Americans. The Commission will offer policy recommendations for advancing black interests. 

 

The Commission held its inaugural public meeting in Washington D.C., to coincide with the commemoration of Juneteenth (June19), the date in 1865 that enslaved Africans in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation.

 

Report Card on Obama

A special session of the Commission was held on Sept. 18, 2010, at which a "Report Card on Obama," an assessment of progress on policy issues of vital concern to Black America, was released.

Useful Links

Institute of the Black World 21st Century

 

News Stories

Grading Obama on progress on black agenda

A State of Emergency without Urgency

Shirley Chisholm Presidential Accountability Commission Launched

Hope, Change and Accountability