The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

A new web-based mapping site will enable nonprofit organizations and state and local governments to use interactive tools designed to help increase the count among historically hard-to-count populations in the 2010 census. The Census 2010 Hard-To-Count Interactive Map [www.CensusHardToCountMaps.org] — which utilizes Google Maps© technology — was developed as part of a collaboration between academia, business, nonprofits, and the philanthropic community. The project was led by the Center for Urban Research (CUR) Mapping Service (www.urbanresearch.org) at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York (CUNY).

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At a rally yesterday, an energetic group of about 250 activists, workers, and students, gathered in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to send a message to Congress that it should pass health care reform legislation and extend coverage to all Americans.

Former House Whip David Bonior, D. Mich., spoke at the rally, urging Congress to "spine-up" and reform a health care system in which 47 million Americans are uninsured, and 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance provider every day.

Representatives from a number of unions and civil rights groups, including the Health Care for America Now coalition, MoveOn.org, NAACP, Common Cause, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and the Service Employees International Union, also spoke at the rally.

The New York Times and the ACLU recently obtained documents proving that government officials systematically covered up malicious abuse that contributed to the deaths of 107 immigration detainees being held in federal custody since late 2003.

Here are a few interesting civil rights related items:

• The 2010 Census kicks off in Noorvik, Alaska today - USA Today
• Editorial: President Obama should do more to keep struggling homeowners in their homes - The New York Times
• New report examines challenges Latinos face in entering the credit market - National Council of La Raza

President Obama appears to be ramping up his efforts to make substantial reforms to the financial industry largely responsible for the current economic crisis.

Large banks had to be bailed out by the federal government following the collapse of the economy in the fall of 2008 – a move that was very unpopular.  In response to widespread anger at the bailouts, exacerbated by the lavish bonuses that bailed-out banks are paying their employees, Obama announced yesterday that he wanted to limit how big banks can get to prevent them from becoming "too big to fail."

Responding to the severe housing and credit crisis in the United States, Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez recently announced the creation of a fair lending unit within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.  Perez, who leads the division, identified "lending discrimination" as particularly destructive, stating that "it's discrimination with a smile, and it tears communities apart." 

Today, the nation celebrates and honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mic Check Radio, a radio project produced by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, is running a special MLK Day podcast today, highlighting King's impact on current efforts to eradicate poverty, eliminate racial disparities, and create living-wage jobs for low-income and minority communities.

Listen to the podcast or download it for listening on your mp3 player. 

The unemployment rate for African Americans is set to soar to a 25-year high of 17.2 percent by the third quarter of this year, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute. The rate for Latinos is also expected to hit a record high of 13.9 percent this year.

In a landmark settlement announced this week, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and its member organizations reached an agreement with A.G. Spanos Companies to increase housing accessibility for people with disabilities.  It is the largest fair housing settlement relating to people with disabilities to date, according to NFHA.

Enactment of comprehensive immigration reform would boost the U.S. economy, generating an additional $1.5 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) over 10 years and raising wages for both immigrant and native-born workers, according to a new study by the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Council.

The study, "Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform," examined the economic effects of three scenarios: 1) comprehensive immigration reform that creates a pathway to legal status for unauthorized immigrants in the United States and establishes flexible limits on permanent and temporary immigration to respond to U.S. labor demand, 2) a program for temporary workers that excludes a pathway to legal status and flexible immigration limits, and 3) mass deportation of all unauthorized immigrants.

The study found that comprehensive immigration reform would create the greatest benefits to the U.S. economy and to workers. Along with raising GDP and wages for immigrant and native-born workers, in the first three years comprehensive reform would also generate up to $5.4 billion in additional tax revenue and increase consumer spending to support nearly 900,000 new jobs.