The NAACP is probably not the first advocacy group you think of when it comes to supporting walking and biking. But the civil rights organization encourages increasing physical activity in minority communities to help reduce childhood obesity.
"It might surprise some that the 104-year-old civil rights organization has a focus on walkable and bikeable neighborhoods," writes Tanya Snyder. "But it shouldn’t. It stems from the organization’s work on childhood obesity. Nineteen percent of black children between two and five are obese. Black high school girls are two-and-a-half times more likely to be obese than their white counterparts."
“We think of health as the premier civil rights advocacy issue,” said Niiobli Armah, the NAACP’s manager of childhood obesity for their health and wellness initiatives. “We advocate for the built environment so that students can have opportunities for safe physical activity in their neighborhoods.”
FULL STORY: NAACP: A Walkable Built Environment Is a “Premier Civil Rights Issue”
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research