African American Coalition

“The coalition members will be undertaking meaningful, motivational projects that have the potential to educate the community and keep African American youth from ever taking up the smoking habit,” adds Dr. Alma Adams, vice chair of American Legacy Foundation. “The African American Partners for a Tobacco-Free Society initiative is ideal for mobilizing African Americans to protect their legacy and commit to living tobacco-free lives.”

Raising awareness about the deadly toll of tobacco on the African American community is vital. Research indicates that:

• More than one of every five adult African Americans is a smoker. Twenty-eight percent of African American men and 18 percent of African American women smoke.1

• Fourteen percent of African American high school students and nine percent of African American middle school students smoke.2

• More than 25 percent of African American youth are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home.3

• 1995 estimates put the tobacco-related death toll among African Americans at 45,000 per year.4

• In 2001, heart disease killed about 78,000 African Americans; 41,000 African American women and 37,000 men.5 Smoking is a major cause of heart disease.6

• In 2001, about 6,000 African American women and 10,000 African American men died of lung cancer.7 Cigarette smoking is overwhelmingly the most important cause of lung cancer.8

“I served as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Task Force on the Tobacco Settlement and worked to assure a fair distribution of funds to provide education and information on the use of tobacco in minority communities. Because of this, I was able to play a role in bringing together the American Legacy Foundation and the National African American Leadership organizations,” said Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS). "It is commendable that they have found such an innovative way to deliver a critical message to our community."

The “African American Partners for a Tobacco-Free Society” marks a new direction on the part of the foundation to partner with six nationally recognized community organizations to combat tobacco use in the African American community. In addition to the “African American Partners for a Tobacco-Free Society” initiative, the foundation has allocated more than $3.5 million to grants programs reaching African Americans. The project was awarded through the American Legacy Foundation’s Priority Populations Initiative. The initiative provides funds to focus on populations disproportionately impacted by the toll of tobacco use and who have been targeted by the tobacco industry. These groups include people of low socioeconomic status; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; Native Americans and Alaska Natives; Hispanics and Latinos; and members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. To date the foundation has awarded more then $26 million in grants to organizations across the nation to help reduce tobacco use among diverse populations.

The American Legacy Foundation is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, DC, the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use through grants, technical assistance and training, youth activism, strategic partnerships, counter-marketing and grass roots marketing campaigns, public relations, and outreach to populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco. The foundation’s national programs include Circle of Friends™, Great StartSM, a Priority Populations Initiative, StreetheorySM and truth®. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states and the tobacco industry. Visit americanlegacy.org.

1CDC. Cigarette Smoking Among Adults – United States, 2001. MMWR 2003; 52(40): 953-956.
2 CDC. Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students – United States, 2002. MMWR 2003; 52(45): 1096-1098.
3 Farrelly MC, Chen J, Thomas KY, Healton CG. Legacy First Look Report 6. Youth Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. Washington DC: American Legacy Foundation. May 2001.
4 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups- African Americans, American Indians, and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998.
5 Arias E, Anderson RN, Kung H, Murphy SL, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Final Data for 2001. National Vital Statistics Reports 2003;52(3).
6 U.S Department of Health and Human Services. 1990. The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
7 Arias E, Anderson RN, Kung H, Murphy SL, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Final Data for 2001. National Vital Statistics Reports 2003;52(3).
8 CDC. Recent Trends in Mortality Rates for Four Major Cancers, by Sex and Race/Ethnicity- United States, 1990-1998. MMWR 2002;51:49-53.

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The CBCF serves as a nonpartisan, policy-oriented catalyst to educate future leaders and promote collaboration among community and business leaders, minority-focused organizational leaders, and organized labor to effect positive and substantive change in the African American community.