Press

Forbes: Mississippi’s TANF Scandal

Mississippi’s TANF Scandal Shows How America’s Safety Net Was Built To Fail Families

“When a program serves only a tiny fraction of eligible families, it becomes even easier for officials to treat its funds as discretionary revenue, rather than as a lifeline that must be protected with the same urgency as a widespread benefit such as Social Security. And the broader issue is that despite all the evidence showing its inefficacy, TANF reform still hasn’t happened. We have the lesson of what happened in Mississippi, but we are not having the conversations needed to expedite change. Rather than making meaningful change, we have privileged people who abused resources pointing fingers, while those who are still in need are being punished.”

Forbes: A Year-End Giving Playbook

A Year-End Giving Playbook To Invest In Community, Justice and Power

READ AISHA’S FULL ARTICLE HERE

“The throughline in all of these choices is simple: each organization reflects what matters most to me right now — Black women’s leadership, community joy, narrative power, economic infrastructure and civil rights. Year-end giving does not have to be perfect or exhaustive, but it should be intentional. Choose a few organizations that sit at the heart of your values, and commit to being more than a one-time donor. Whether it is a local arts center transforming a vacant building into a community anchor, a national network training Black women to lead, a narrative lab closing the hope gap, a credit union financing possibility in the Deep South or a civil liberties group defending our freedoms — this is a moment to move beyond performative generosity. Because there is no better investment in this moment than in the people and institutions who are quietly making “impossible” futures feel within reach.”

Forbes: 50-Year Mortgages

A 50-Year Mortgage Is A Crisis, Not A Solution

READ AISHA’S LATEST CONTRIBUTION TO FORBES HERE

“After a decade working side by side with families living in subsidized housing, if there’s one refrain that echoes through every conversation, it’s the hope of homeownership — the practical hope of leaving a valuable asset for future generations, as well as a deep yearning for the autonomy and privacy afforded by having a home of one’s own. Again and again, mothers tell me what they really want isn’t just a yard or extra bedroom, but dignity — the right to claim a home that’s theirs, that their children can remember as an anchor, not a rest stop. Nothing makes this more real than hearing about birthdays held in tight kitchens or kids doing homework on borrowed Wi-Fi, all for the possibility that one day, the sacrifices will pay off. Yet in this context, the recent proposal for 50-year mortgages made by the Trump administration lands not as a lifeline, but as a trap — a heavy shackle disguised as a helping hand, and the latest example of policies that promise much while leaving our most marginalized families burdened with more debt and fewer options.”

What would truly help? ⬇️

1. Short-term fixes like stretching out a bad loan simply don’t cut it. Instead, we need to focus on proven, equity-centered solutions: expanding affordable housing supply, investing in targeted down payment assistance and actively combating predatory lending that preys on desperation with false promises of accessibility.

2. Real change demands policy that is not only attentive to what seems possible in the short term, but also to the history and reality of exclusion and financial harm borne by Black families and other marginalized groups.

3. Wealth-building requires predictability, fair access to credit, support for first-time buyers — and, importantly, options for building equity, not just meeting a lender’s bottom line.

NonProfit Quarterly Column

How Black Women in the South Are Protecting Each Other in a Time of Crisis

“Protecting each other is what we’ve always had to do as Black women in the South. Black women have long been the backbone of our families and communities, often stepping into roles that require us to advocate for ourselves and those around us in ways our peers do not understand.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

A Message from Aisha – SNAP

Forbes: AI Data Centers

The Rush To Build AI Data Centers Leaves Black Workers With New Risks

READ AISHA’S LATEST FORBES CONTRIBUTION HERE

“The speculation over the impact of AI has been the focus of conversations from corporate board rooms to grocery store checkout lines for several years now, with both the worry and the potential of such a disruptive invention increasing as the use of the technology broadens past Silicon Valley and to the general public. While the enthusiasm on AI varies, Pew research from earlier this year finds that both experts and everyday people say they want more control over how it’s used in their own lives.

For those living in proximity to AI data centers, the concern includes more than only the potential for lost jobs; but also worsening health. In California, the heart of the AI boom, data centers are located in some of the state’s most polluted areas. A study published last year found that the household health burden from data centers in such economically disadvantaged areas could be 200x that of more affluent communities, with pollutants produced from training an AI model estimated to exceed that of 10,000 cross-country car trips.

Data centers — those sprawling warehouses powered by thousands of servers that fuel everything from online banking to social media posting — are only poised to proliferate, with Deloitte estimating their power demand to increase thirtyfold over the next decade. As they do, we must recognize and rewrite a familiar story of environmental burden, economic displacement and deepening inequality playing out in Black communities across the country. Black Americans are 75% more likely than the rest of the population to live near facilities that produce toxic waste, which worsens health disparities like asthma and cancer.”