The Urban
Revitalization Coalition
Commissioned by President Trump, Dr. Darrell Scott and
Kareem Lanier co-founded the Urban Revitalization Coalition, creating a
13-point plan for total revitalization—delivering President Trump’s “A New Deal
for Black America”—which can be implemented in any city within 24 months or
less.
Through our hybrid model of public/private partnerships,
URC is in a unique position to work with the White House, state and local
governments to remove blight and repurpose lands for individual—and total—urban
renewal.
URC is more than a coalition. We are a cause that will
outlive our lives, outwork political talking points, and outweigh any other
21st century American achievement.
DARRELL
SCOTT
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Darrell Scott, Co-Founder
and CEO of the Urban Revitalization Coalition, is a prolific conference
speaker, successful businessman and humanitarian.
Traveling the country since
the 2016 presidential campaign, Dr. Scott has witnessed the devastation and
abandonment of urban communities by career politicians who promised urban
renewal in exchange for votes.
Today Dr. Scott is a fierce advocate for second
chances—committed to total and complete revitalization for urban communities
regardless of race, class, gender, disability, or political affiliation.
Professional Background:
- Founder
of the New Spirit Revival Center
- CEO
of WCCD Radio
- Chairman
of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump
- White
House Faith Advisory Board
- White
House Prison Reform Council
- White
House Media Advisory Council
- President’s
Executive Transition Team Member
KAREEM
"THE DREAM" LANIER
With over two decades experience in banking, Mr. Kareem
“The Dream” Lanier, Co-Chairman and EVP, Board Of Directors, co-founded the
Urban Revitalization Coalition with Dr. Darrell Scott to bring the American
dream back to Urban America.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Kareem “The Dream” brings
valuable insights and actionable solutions to America’s “$30 Trillion Dilemma.”
For decades, resources have been poured into Urban America without actually
investing in urban people and their communities.
Kareem “The Dream” is committed
to revitalizing inner cities by renewing urban people.
Professional Background:
- 20+
Years of Banking (Residential & Commercial Lending) Experience
- International
Relationships Director, National Diversity Coalition for Trump
- Real
Estate Investment Advisor
- Sustainable
Business Development Advisor
- Professional
Public Speaker
- Proven
Coalition Builder
13-Point
Program
After the significant achievements of the 1960s, both
parties began to overlook and take for granted African Americans, other
minorities, low-income workers and even the middle-class. Rather than
continuing to expand influence, Black America harshly became forgotten America.
Urban America watched in horror as their jobs were shipped overseas,
unemployment skyrocketed and immigration increased displacing generations of
Urban American workers.
Rather than the urban main streets of the past,
enterprises like McDonalds upstaged and supersized the market through
inexpensive products and cheap labor. While American dreamers like Jeff Bezos
(Amazon), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), Tim Cook (Apple) and Mark Zuckerberg
(Facebook) optimized their destinies, pocketing fortunes, Urban American
dreamers were doled out welfare or minimum wages.
Investing in urban entrepreneurs to create small
businesses is vital to revitalizing urban communities. The federal government
is rarely entrepreneurial in taking risks with no promise of rewards.
But to
rephrase President Trump: “What
the hell do [we] have to lose?”
Now with our Commander-in-Chief as the “greatest jobs
president God ever created,” Urban America has the chance to become the
greatest jobs creator in American history.
For decades the government has doled out money in
exchange for dependency, calling it “welfare.” But in reality, the long-term
welfare of Urban Americans depends on how America responds to illegal
immigration, refugees and foreign workers displacing Urban Americans.
In just over a year after taking office, President Trump
has reversed the trend for Urban America as Hispanic-Latino and African
American unemployment have reached record lows.
As Urban America experiences independence after generations
of government dependency, wealth creation is essential for sustainable growth.
Bad trade and immigration policies, which contributed to the decimation of
Urban America, must be repealed and replaced if Urban America is to
indeterminably thrive.
Creating wealth will empower the sustainable welfare of
Urban Americans for generations to come.
Urban America, you’re hired.
Every two months, we lose more Americans in our hospitals
than we did in the entire Vietnam War. Medical errors are now our nation’s #3
cause of death—disproportionately impacting urban communities.
Founding father
Benjamin Rush predicted: “Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution,
the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship
to restrict the art of healing to one class of Men and deny equal privileges to
others.”
Life is not only sacred but also protected by our
Constitution. In recent years as a result of one-sided protections and
regulations, American patients have not just been forgotten but killed and
injured because of lack of accountability, transparency and adequate
protections.
Healthcare is the United States’ #1 employer, lobbies the
government with over $155 million per annum and costs the U.S. 18% of
GDP—averaging 400,000 lost lives and 16 million injuries per year.
The Urban Revitalization Coalition will build URCare
(“Your Care”) facilities within our “Cities within Cities” model that will
service underprivileged urban communities in emergency and preventive services.
The value of an American’s life should not vary based on ethnicity, gender or
race. The URC is committed to Making America Healthy Again—saving hundreds of
thousands of lives as well as improving the quality of health for millions in
urban communities.
The term “energy” can be politically charged. Too often
energy is used simultaneously with partisan issues—such as climate change, the
Paris Climate Accord, the effect of fossil fuels, etc.—while overlooking the
day-to-day costs of energy for Urban American families.
Energy revitalization begins with deregulation, allowing
for free markets to competitively innovate affordable options for consumers.
But there is also an incredible need for opening markets to service poor
communities, inspiring a new American era of industry and opportunity.
In addition to the ever-increasing need to update public
transportation with sustainable solutions, innovation in the energy industry
impacts new transitional and affordable housing with renewable energy sources.
Food deserts (lacking fresh and healthful foods) can also be eliminated by
providing accessible fresh grocery stores and planting edible landscaping and
community gardens within URC’s “Cities Within Cities” model.
Working together with the Trump Administration, the Urban
Revitalization Coalition believes we can establish a green and sustainable
future for every Urban American.
America invests in third-world countries to combat global
poverty while overlooking millions of Urban Americans who are unbanked or
under-banked.
With microfinance making a comeback thanks to innovative
technology platforms, now is the time to invest in Urban America First.
Whether in the form of community banks, credit unions or
cooperatives, establishing trust between the financial industry and minorities
is crucial if Urban America is to forge a sustainable partnership to revitalize
forgotten communities.
The untapped potential of those living paycheck to
paycheck or welfare check to welfare check cannot be realized unless our
banking focus shifts from bottom lines to new horizons.
Revitalizing Urban America begins with refinancing urban
dreamers.
By investing in urban entrepreneurs, America will empower a shift
from dependence to independence for every Urban American.
America is home to over 327 million Americans. But over
553,000 Americans are homeless. Moreover, roughly 41.5 million are in poverty
and over 121 million are not actively engaged in the labor market even though
they are able to work.
While America has attempted to solve homelessness for
many years, the problem is becoming even more pressing in Urban America.
Yes,
unemployment is at record lows but with almost 60% of Americans having under
$1,000 in savings, it will take years to build up a second chance at the
American dream. Particularly with the run-up of household debt during the
financial crisis, which was concentrated on middle-income borrowers,
homeownership has become unattainable for many.
URC in partnership with the White House is dedicated to
empowering the homeless for sustainable living by building transitional housing
as landing-to-launching pads for Urban Americans to rebuild their lives and
restart their American dreams.
These homes are designed to serve as incubators
for habit formation among those who have experienced hardship or bad role
models throughout their lives, imparting knowledge about financial literacy and
savings and professional etiquette.
Urban communities across the country are facing
low-income housing shortages as not a single county in the United States can
meet 100% of its low-income population’s need for safe, affordable housing.
Twenty-five percent of America’s 43 million renters are extremely low income
(ELI)—resulting in a shortage of almost 4 million affordable rental homes.
Through tax credits and deductions, URC will incentivize
developers to preserve the status of affordable units through potential
alternative housing options such as co-housing, equity sharing and tiny house
living.
In addition, URC will encourage public and private partnerships for
mixed-use affordable housing with medical and mental health clinics, childcare,
charter schools, cafes as well as office and shop space for resident
entrepreneurship or pop-up markets.
Welcome home to Urban America.
Hosting just 5% of the global population, America houses
almost 25% of the world’s prisoners. Recognizing that crime is a function of
many environmental factors empowers local authorities to work with their
communities to design innovative solutions that address the root cause of
crime, rather than merely the manifestation of it.
With almost 700,000 exiting
our prisons every year, America should be investing in empowering and educating
ex-felons to find immediate employment, affordable housing and a second chance
at the American dream.
Many Urban Americans have found themselves on both sides
of the system—some victims without any ability to pursue recourse (in cases of
tort reform pertaining to victims of rail accidents and medical malpractice),
others are perpetrators suffering unjust sentences or abandoned after release.
Justice is supposed to be blind—impartial and objective.
Instead, there appears to be a double standard—one for everyday Americans,
another for the protected class of elitists. Criminal justice reform begins by
recalibrating the weights of Lady Justice and reinstating her blindfold.
For too long America has displaced urban youth with
illegal immigrants. Every day urban children are being murdered in their
neighborhoods, arrested and thrown into prison, drop out of school and/or lose
jobs to illegal immigrant youth.
URC proposes an America First perspective to youth
empowerment. By building training-based centers within our “Cities Within
Cities,” URC will be empowering the urban athletes, entrepreneurs and
entertainers of the future.
From video and audio recording studios to full
court basketball courts, weight rooms, game rooms and state-of-the-art
entrepreneur training centers, our Youth Empowerment Centers will holistically
inspire urban youth to pursue and achieve their dreams.
Cultivating the God-given skills and talents of millions
of American youth who have been neglected for decades will unleash a new
powerhouse of American dreamers into the public, private and political spheres.
Urban Americans are dreamers too.
Child poverty is pervasive in America’s urban cities
negatively impacting educational outcomes. While children from middle-income
neighborhoods have an average of 13 books per child, children from poorer
neighborhoods share one book per 300 children.
One of the first priorities in revitalizing urban
communities is to invest in quality education and school choice. Not only do
urban communities need better schools but also smaller classrooms to provide a
more balanced teacher-to-student ratio.
Technology such as virtual reality can
immerse students in real-life scenarios and inspire them to break the poverty
cycle and achieve their American dreams.
URC believes in school choice so urban students can
pursue new horizons and improve life for themselves, their families, their
communities and even their country.
Sixty-six percent of African American children and 42% of
Hispanic or Latino children grow up in single-parent homes—80% led by
mothers—suffering the emotional toll of divorce, abandonment or abuse. Over 40%
of children living in female-headed families are poor. Statistically, a child
raised by a single mother is 400% more likely to be poor.
By launching programs that will train urban parents in
proper and healthy living, URC will ensure the health, safety, and well being
of female and male workers as well as their families.
URC will also offer
services in: training and professional development; budgeting and economics;
subsidized daycare; entrepreneurial mentorship; nutritional guidance.
Revitalization begins in the epicenter of urban
communities—urban families.
Policing does not have to be a frightening term. In fact,
the word “police” comes from the Greek derivative “polis,” broadly interpreted
as:
“A state or society especially when characterized by a
sense of community
[emphasis added].”
[emphasis added].”
URC is committed to bringing back the original
interpretation of the word “police” by opening communications, increasing the
frequency of cooperation between citizens and leaders and restoring trust.
Through focused deterrence strategies, adopting the
leadership style of “management by walking around” and empowering community
accountability organizations to serve local residents, URC believes we can
achieve peace through strength in Urban America.
Many of America’s founding fathers were people of faith
and their beliefs of morality and freedom of religion shaped America’s founding
documents from a Judeo-Christian perspective.
Markedly more religious than other communities, many
Urban Americans integrate faith into daily living—with 87% of African Americans
and 85% Latino Americans citing the importance of regular church attendance as
well as prayer.
President Trump has publicly recognized the important
contributions of people of faith in urban communities, saying: “For centuries,
the African-American church has been the conscience of this country.”
Now, with the most “faith-friendly President” and record
levels of charitable giving, America has a tangible opportunity to
strategically partner with faith-based and community organizations in urban
communities to ensure all Urban Americans are empowered to pursue their
American dreams.
Whether combatting under-education, incarceration or human
trafficking, the Urban Revitalization Coalition is committed to assisting
faith-based organizations to serve urban communities.
