By Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media
New data showing rising unemployment and widening economic gaps for Black Californians framed a statewide conference at UCLA, where more than 200 advocates, policymakers, elected officials, scholars, entertainers and community leaders gathered to examine the conditions facing Black Californians and to push solutions for a thriving Black California.
Hosted by the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies in partnership with the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), the “State of Black California” conference focused on collecting and confronting data on the condition of Black Californians and connecting it to community experience, policy and political power.
Dr. Michael Stoll, UCLA professor and faculty director of the Black Policy Project, reported that Black unemployment rose from 5.6% to 7.5%, adding roughly 25,000 unemployed workers — the largest increase among racial groups.
The rise was most pronounced among Black women, including those with college degrees — a pattern that highlights why the issue is particularly urgent, as the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CABWCEI) reports that Black women are the primary earners in about 80% of Black households statewide.
The data also showed rising involuntary part-time work and a growing number of individuals disconnected from both employment and education. Stoll pointed to the erosion of public sector jobs — long a pathway to stable, middle-class employment — as a key factor reshaping opportunity.
The conference opened with community leaders who connected those findings to lived experience.
