The Obama Administration’s First 100 Days laid some vital groundwork for a more just, more vibrant, and more equitable America. But the change has only just begun.

America needs a movement to make sure all people can live in communities of opportunity - with access to quality jobs, good schools, and affordable, healthy neighborhoods. PolicyLink wants to work with you to build that movement.

What do you think Obama should focus on now that the First 100 Days are history?

Share your ideas and hopes in the comments.

Alongside the likes of Robert Reich, Grover Norquist and Dan Savage, PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover Blackwell took to the virtual pages of Salon to give President Obama a grade for his First 100 Days. It’s worth checking out the entire piece, but here is Angela’s take:

ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL, author and chief executive officer of PolicyLink

Economy: B+
Foreign policy/national security: A-
Overall: A-

The $787 billion stimulus package was an enormous step forward in strengthening the social safety net and building a foundation for real, sustainable economic growth in all our communities.

However, I would like to see a greater focus on communities that have been hit “first and worst” by this crisis — low-income communities and communities of color. By empowering mayors and community groups to take control of their own recovery — rather than centralizing power in the hands of governors — the recovery could truly harness the ideas, talents and innovations of all our people.

These vulnerable communities must be considered in every recovery discussion. They have, for instance, suffered disproportionately from foreclosure, disinvestment and lack of access to banking services, yet they have been totally absent from the conversations about the trillions of dollars that have flowed to the banking industry.

Though I lead a domestic policy organization, I know our national security depends on Americans feeling they have a voice in their government and other nations feeling they are being seen and heard by a fair, engaged America. Barack Obama’s commitment to listening and bringing all sides to the table has enhanced our security both here and abroad.

The Obama administration should be commended for their commitment to soliciting and pursuing smart, innovative, proven and equitable public policies. But there is still more he can do to help lead a equitable economic recovery. The White House seems ready to move this nation in a truly inclusive direction … now what they need is the full support of Congress.

What grades do you think Obama deserves for his First 100 Days? Tell us in the comments.

Van Jones, the founder of Green for All and author of the NYT best-seller Green Collar Economy, was just named “a special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation in the Obama administration.”

Van is one of the most prominent leaders in the movement for equity in America. Just last week, PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover Blackwell and Associate Director Radhika Fox joined Van and his staff at Green for All for a packed conference call looking at the role of green jobs in the stimulus package.

More than 1,000 people attended the call. If you haven’t yet had a chance to listen, click the icon below. It’s a rich and informative call.

And while you’re at it, click this icon to read our new report with Green for All, entitled “Bringing Home the Green Recovery: A User’s Guide to the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”

Also, if you want to congratulate Van and his team on pushing green job equity all the way to the White House, please hop on over to their excellent blog. It’s a good day for anyone who cares about equity and, in Van’s words, “greening the ghetto.”

The Center for American Progress has a cool tool up letting you design your own stimulus package. The interactive tool allows you to choose precisely how many dollars you’ll dedicate to unemployment benefits, health care, infrastructure, tax cuts, etc.

The best part about it, though, is it also shows you how many jobs you’ll be saving/creating with your package.  My recovery package provides significant funding for unemployment benefits, food stamps, local government assistance, energy, education, health care and infrastructure and only includes refundable tax cuts for the lowest income-earners (no across-the-board income tax cuts, corporate tax cuts or capital gains cuts).

The results are pretty good — all at a cost basically equivalent to the current package being debated on the Hill:

America is in a hole.  In the gravest threat to our economy since the Great Depression, we are facing rising unemployment; soaring food, energy, and health care costs; growing debts; a shrinking middle class; and widening inequality.To help us climb out, President-Elect Barack Obama plans to spend more than $700 billion on infrastructure projects.  This is promising, to be sure, but we need even more.

If we do this right, the Obama administration’s stimulus package can lay the groundwork for a healthier and more prosperous nation, not just in the months ahead, but for generations to come.  Big problems require big, bold solutions and this crisis requires nothing less than the reimagining of the American city. Let me explain: for decades, public policy has been to pour money into new highways to far-off suburbs, enabling even more sprawl and making us even more dependent on our cars. That kind of thinking is a non-starter. America needs smarter, more targeted spending (in people, places, and projects) that gets a solid return on our investment and actually strengthens communities too often left behind.

But how do we do that?

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Man, the Obama folks are coming up with tons of new ways of reaching out to regular Americans. Just like how he put his weekly radio addresses on YouTube, Obama’s team uploaded a polished, six-minute video making the case for the stimulus package.

This isn’t exactly “engagement,” in that it’s only a primarily a one-way conversation. But enabling people to share their thoughts on Change.gov, it seems to be a step in the right direction.

Everybody will be focusing today on the scary top-line unemployment number: 7.2 percent. That is frightening for millions of Americans — and portends a truly abysmal job market for anyone looking.

But the Bureau of Labor Statistics report includes something that should really send a cold chill through the labor market: the number of “involuntary part-time” workers has reached 8 million, a massive year-over-year jump and the highest in history.

(click to enlarge)

The ranks of the underemployed is stunning….and especially worrisome for those just one or two paychecks away from economic ruin. Competition for low-wage jobs will surely increase in the coming months and low-skilled workers will have a much harder time finding new employment if they lose their current job.

That’s why job training, job retraining and apprenticeship programs are so vital. We have to give low-income people — especially young people — the chance to compete in this 21st century economy.

Yes, 7.2 percent is a big, scary number. But, sadly, it may only obscure the true breadth of the problem.

Thanks to Calculated Risk for the graph. If you want to understand the economics of the current downturn, head over there…very digestible and insightful stuff.

Cross-posted on the Huffington Post.

Grim, yet hopeful. Constrained, yet honest. President-elect Obama’s gripping recovery press conference today promised, in his words, a “clean break from a troubled past.”

Let’s hope so. Central to a clean break must be an emphasis on recovery for all Americans, not the just usual beneficiaries. This means a direct focus on the poor, the vulnerable and people of color who have not been able to participate for some time.

If we invest this money differently, this package can be the “new and hopeful beginning for America” that Obama called for.

More info (and video of the speech) after the jump…

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The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office today released a grim look at the state of the American economy. Some of the harsh lowlights:

More people need food stamps. Government spending on food stamps, designed to help the poor buy basic commodities, will grow by 27 percent this year. CBO said spending will hit $50 billion, from $39 billion last year, mostly because of growing caseloads and benefits as food prices have risen. A record 31.5 million people were signed up for food stamps last September, according to government records.

Unemployment rolls are growing. Washington’s spending on jobless benefits will nearly double, to $79 billion this year from $43 billion last year. CBO thinks the jobless rate will rise to 9.2 percent next year, from around 6.7 percent now.

There is much hope in the air in this country…but hope alone won’t fix these problems. There is much work to be done…

Thirteen, the New York PBS affiliate, listed Angela Glover Blackwell’s speech at the New School earlier this month as one of “NY’s Best Lectures.” Normally, we try not to toot the PolicyLink horn too loudly at EquityBlog….but this speech,  “The Time is Now: An Equity Agenda to End Poverty,” could be an incredibly important one to ensure we seize this singular moment for change.

Across the nation, equity advocates are doing yeoman’s work pushing for opportunity, democracy and inclusion. Angela’s speech highlights some of the leading ideas and offers a way to move forward together.

If you have a bit of time during this holiday week, please watch the speech…and share your ideas for how to seize this precious and potentially fleeting moment.

(Note: Angela starts speaking at about the 11:55 mark, after two very kind introductions)