Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

Whenever we begin a new calendar year, it can be useful to make New Year’s resolutions to prioritize and focus for the immediate future. What should be our collective goals and strategic objectives during the next 12 months?

Recent academic studies by the Dominican University of California on the importance of goal setting to overcome individual and social procrastination revealed that writing down your resolutions and sharing your goals with others you care about will help you work more diligently to achieve those goals.

Every time I read a black-owned newspaper in America during this season of annual proclamation, it is always informative to see a written list of New Year’s resolutions that challenge black America to continue to strive for excellence and achievement in all fields of endeavor. I am proud of the trusted impact of the Black Press of America and invite readers to go to www.NNPA.org and www.BlackPressUSA.com.

We have another critical election year coming up in 2016 and the African-American vote will have to be mobilized in every primary election and across the nation in November in elections in every precinct in every state, county by county. Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts, therefore, will be a top priority. And we must collectively resolve that, in 2016, we will ensure the largest voter turnout of black voters in U.S. history.

We cannot afford to let the black vote be taken for granted in 2016.

Politics and economics are inseparable in the United States. Yet, even though black Americans spend in excess of $1.2 trillion annually in the nation’s economy, that kind of spending volume has not translated into real economic power — increasing the ownership of global businesses and billion dollar revenue-generating investments. We still have a long way to go to achieve economic equality and parity in America.

We should resolve, therefore, in 2016 to improve and expand the economic development of black American families and communities. Although the American economy continues to recover under the Obama administration, for black Americans, we have not closed the wealth gap. White Americans today have 12 times the wealth of black Americans. We must, without hesitation and without apology, be more determined to end poverty and to generate more wealth for black America. Therefore, we join in solidarity with the resolve of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers in the goal of striving to increase black homeownership in 2016.

We are very encouraged that the 2016 NAACP Image Awards once again will be broadcast on TV One. We all should support Radio One, TV One and Interactive One. We also should support The Impact Network and other black-owned media companies as well as the publishers of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Ending mass incarceration, reforming the criminal justice system and stopping police brutality are related urgent matters that demand the resolve and activist involvement of black America. In 2016, our national outcry will continue to be “Black Lives Matter!”

The highest quality education for our children and our young adults requires our vocal support and energetic involvement from pre-school to postgraduate higher education. At every level of the educational process and journey we must be vigilant in our demands and commitments to attain the best education for our families.

Thus let’s renew and strengthen our dedication to support the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, as well as work to sustain our historically black colleges and universities and predominantly black institutions.

Lastly, we are a spiritual people. We resolve to support and strengthen our religious institutions — churches, temples, mosques and synagogues.

I asked NNPA Chair Denise Rolark Barnes, who publishes the Washington Informer, for her perspective about 2016 New Year resolutions. She emphasized, “In 2016, our first priority should be to commit our lives and our dollars to those individuals and institutions that represent our best interests. Let’s strive to be the ones who will make a difference in our own communities. Be mindful that ‘If it is to be, it is up to me.’ ”

The writer is president and CEO of the NNPA.