As the African American population increases in one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, they face significant challenges that affect their ability to grow in their community.
“No matter where we are, Black people will always be forced to live in the worst parts of the city”
The environmental, social, and economic inequities have taken a toll. Overall, the average life expectancy has plummeted. While every state in the country saw a big drop in life expectancy following the spread of COVID-19, Arizona’s drop was the nation’s fifth-steepest. In 2020. Black Phoenix residents under 65 died at a rate that was 1.5 times higher per capita than white residents and two times higher than Latino residents, according to a Capital B News and High Country News analysis of Arizona Department of Health Services morality data.
Decades of redlining and racist housing policies have deepened the inequities that Mass Liberation is fighting. Until the 1960s, city policies banned Black residents from living or visiting parts of Phoenix north of Van Buren Street, located just south of downtown.
“To create the healing environments we deserve, it’s not something any of us can do by ourselves”