alabama possible from the alabama poverty project

The Montgomery Advertiser

Editorial Board

August 24, 2010

Probably each Alabama governor over the past five decades has talked about the need to improve the economy of Alabama’s rural Black Belt counties. Some of them have tried to do something about it. A few even made some progress. But none of them came close to bringing the Black Belt counties up to the economic level of the rest of Alabama.

Gov. Bob Riley is one of the few governors who has done more than talk. The Black Belt Action Commission that his office inspired has made some very significant contributions toward improving conditions in a dozen Black Belt counties, and those contributions are worth celebrating.

But the economic woes that have held back the rural counties of the Black Belt for more than a century remain stubbornly entrenched.

The Black Belt is a loosely defined region of the South named for its fertile dark soil. Geologically speaking, as many as 18 or 19 counties in Alabama could be called Black Belt counties, including most of Montgomery County.

The Black Belt Action Commission focuses on 12 of those counties — all largely rural and all with relatively high levels of poverty. The counties are Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox.

Since 2004, more than 800 volunteers have worked on more than a dozen committees under the umbrella of the Black Belt Action Commission. At a celebration Monday, they pointed to a wide range of successes.

The committees played a role in attracting more than 3,800 jobs with a total capital investment of about $985 million to the region. They helped to bring free vision screenings for 70,000 children, as well as free glasses for 9,500 of them and medical treatment for hundreds of others. They have provided job training programs in each Black Belt county. They have targeted federal and local funds to help Black Belt families purchase homes, start businesses or continue their education. They have worked to expand free transportation to and from doctors’ offices for pregnant women and children. They helped to bring $17.8 million in grants for water and sanitation improvements. They have provided technical assistance to help Black Belt counties establish their own economic development agencies.

According to the Alabama Poverty Project, the poverty rate for each of the counties is Bullock, 33.6 percent; Choctaw, 22.9; Dallas, 29.9; Greene, 30.3; Hale, 26; Lowndes, 25.4; Macon, 30.5; Marengo, 22.6; Perry, 31.7; Pickens, 25.6; Sumter, 32.9; and Wilcox, 30.2.