Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE)

ACRE is controlled by the Action Center on Race and The Economy Institute (ACRE Institute). ⁶

Background

The Action Center on Race and The Economy (ACRE) is an affiliated 501(c)(4) left-leaning advocacy organization controlled by the Action Center on Race and The Economy Institute (ACRE Institute). ⁶

ACRE had two executive directors, Sadiq Bhatti and Maurice BP-Weeks. According to BP-Weeks, ACRE was founded to focus on Wall Street and businesses that are allegedly “extracting wealth from communities, with an explicitly racial lens.” BP-Weeks also mentions that “the actual function of how these companies operate is built on the extraction of wealth from people of color.” BP-Weeks also claimed, “the Trump administration is actually a perfect example of the demonstration of our analysis. On the one hand, you have a group of people who are just outright racist, who are just pushing forward the most hateful, xenophobic ideas that you could possible imagine. And on the other side, you have this group of people who are some of the economic justice targets that we have been fighting for the past 10 or 20 years.” The group also accused the Trump administration of blaming economic problems on racial minorities. The group also supported strikes by labor unions that involve issues beyond the workplace.   ⁷

Activities

Rent Cancellation Advocacy

In the spring of 2020, Action Center on Race and The Economy began promoting a “national reckoning” that would include a “local, state, and federal cancellation of rent and mortgages.” ¹

The ACRE claimed, “The only way to safeguard Black and Brown people is to cancel rent and mortgage payments now until there is a comprehensive plan in place to change America’s dismal housing situation. We are all supposed to stay home, but that’s not possible in a society structured to make it impossible to keep a roof over our heads.” ¹

In April of 2020, the ACRE, alongside several other left-wing social policy organizations, launched “We Strike Together.” The campaign website for the project provides a heat map of persons across the country who cannot pay rent with a “unified commitment to demand universal rent relief.” ACRE jointly announced the campaign with Alex Caputo-Pearl (then-president of the United Teachers Los Angeles) and left-wing Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D). Left-leaning coalition partners in the campaign included the Alliance for Housing Justice, the Center for Popular Democracy, Jobs With Justice, and the Partnership for Working Families. ⁴

The “We Strike Together” web page also featured a map to document “rent-strike” actions. By May 2020, the “We Strike Together” web documented nearly 200,000 rent strikes. ⁸ The website platform provides resources to tenants seeking to organize a “rent-strike” including the ability to list their location with other collaborators. ¹

In the summer of 2020, the ACRE and allies such as Jamaal Bowman, then a candidate for the U.S. Congress from New York, convened a conference call to announce what AM-NY characterized as a “national eviction blockade.” Bowman called evictions “racist” and attacked the bailouts of airlines and other companies. Bowman called for the U.S. Congress to implement rent cancellation at the federal level and provide monthly payments to renters until the COVID-19 pandemic ends. ⁹

Police Brutality Bonds

In 2020, the ACRE released a report on “police-brutality bonds.” According to the report, the “police-brutality bonds” are financed by banks on Wall Street for high-interest loans to cities and counties to settle “police-brutality” claims. The ACRE claimed that Wall Street made $891 million in profit from the “police-brutality bonds.” ¹⁰

Social Media Companies

In 2019, the ACRE released a report accusing Facebook, Twitter, and Google of providing algorithms that gave a platform for racist ideologies. In one example, the ACRE alleged that (Google-owned) YouTube’s “auto play” feature allows for users who view one objectionable video to soon be viewing numerous others. ACRE also accused Amazon’s software of making similar recommendations regarding book searches. The report also denounced Google, Fidelity Investments, and News Corp (the owners of Fox News) for supposedly “profiting off a global fascist movement built on bigotry and fear.” ¹¹

Government-Owned Banks

In May 2021, the ACRE teamed up with the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund to release a report criticizing banks for practices such as imposing fees for checking accounts, for activities such as having overdraft protection, the for financing reliable and conventional energy projects, for alleged discriminatory practices against racial minorities, and for support for private prisons. The report urged customers and governments to move their accounts to smaller banks and credit unions. The report also urged support for government-owned banks either under the U.S. Postal Service or state and local governments. ¹²

Foreign Policy

In October 2024, ACRE executive director Saqib Bhatti wrote an op-ed urging then-Vice President Kamala Harris to announce her support for an arms embargo against Israel. Bhatti claimed that supporting an arms embargo would move Arab and Muslim swing voters to Harris, especially in the battleground state of Michigan. ¹³

In January 2025, ACRE’s Ramah Kudaimi co-wrote an article claiming that Palestinian activism was how the left would combat incoming President Donald Trump’s racism. Kudaimi and her co-authors wrote, “Palestine, then, serves as a key flashpoint in the broader battle against fascism. To sideline Palestine in the name of political expediency or fear of backlash is to capitulate to fascism before it even arrives in full force. Palestinian liberation is not an isolated cause, but is inextricably tied to the larger struggle against state-sponsored violence, racial oppression, and imperialism. When the Palestinian liberation movement is silenced or sidelined, the collective resistance against authoritarianism is weakened. It’s not just about the genocide in Gaza; it’s about whether we will have the courage to stand up for justice and human dignity, even when it feels politically costly.” The co-authors also criticized groups that warned about supporting Palestinian nationalist groups designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. State Department. ⁵

In February 2026, the ACRE opposed war against Iran, claiming “Trump and AIPAC have dragged the American people into yet another war we never asked for — one that Israel has been pushing for decades. This war will devastate the lives of tens of millions of people across Iran and the region, many of whom are in the midst of observing Ramadan, all while lining the pockets of Big Tech, Big Oil, and military contractors.” The group then went on to attack technology companies like Anthropic and Palantir, accusing them of building autonomous lethal weapons and conducting mass surveillance all over the world. ¹⁴

May Day 2026 Protests

In April 2026, the ACRE joined with other left-wing groups, such as the National Education Association, Organized Power in Numbers, the Chicago Teachers Union, and other groups in holding rallies on May 1, 2026 to demand higher taxes on wealthy Americans to pay for increased social programs. The statement claimed, “Across the country, an affordability crisis is accelerating at kitchen tables and in checkout lines. Families are making daily tradeoffs, skipping care, buying less food, falling behind on bills, just to get through the month. The basics of a good life—an affordable home, quality healthcare, nutritious food, a dignified job, and beyond —are increasingly out of reach for millions of Americans. At the same time, big corporations and the super-rich are posting record profits, protected by rules that work for them while shifting higher costs onto everyone else. What working people pay more for, those at the top profit from. This crisis has hit Black and brown communities and working families most of all. None of this is an accident: it is the result of a system that has prioritized private profit over public well-being.” The statement also denounced corporations for “profiting off the war in Iran.” ¹⁵

Policy Outlines

In 2020, the Action Center on Race and the Economy and 101 other mostly left-leaning organizations sent a letter to U.S. Congressional leadership asking that Congress include a “student debt cancellation” plan as part of a stimulus package. The letter claimed that canceling student debt “would put borrowers and their families on better financial footing, provide an immediate economic boost, advance racial equity, relieve strain on other federal and state programs, and accelerate recovery.” Promoters of the letter were left-leaning advocacy organizations, such as the Center for Responsible Lending, Americans for Financial Reform, and Demos. In addition to ACRE, some of the other left-leaning advocacy organizations participating included Democracy for America, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, the Consumer Federation of America, Greenpeace USA, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. ²

In 2020, ACRE advocated that the Federal Reserve purchase state and local government bonds during the COVID-19 pandemic, keep interest rates near zero percent, and allow for refinancing of bonds on local and state government debt. According to The New Republic, a left-leaning journal, these measures were supported in Congress by U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). ¹⁶

In 2020 the ACRE and two dozen other left-leaning advocacy organizations urged Congress to suspend the ability of corporations to merge with each other. “Concentration of corporate power leads directly to worse outcomes for Black and Brown folks in everything from Pharma to employment to Banking,” said Maurice BP-Weeks, then-co-executive director of ACRE in a statement. “Instead of making it easier to extract money from Black and Brown communities, Congress must act now to prioritize assistance in a way that allows these communities to thrive. The Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act is a crucial step.” Other left-wing signatories included 350.org, Justice Democrats, Friends of the Earth, and the Sunrise Movement. ³

Leadership

Saqib Bhatti is the co-founder and co-executive director of the Action Center on Race and the Economy. Prior to joining the organization, he held positions with the Culinary Workers Union and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and worked as a fellow for both the Roosevelt Institute and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. He has sat on the board for the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, as well as the Midwest Academy and Political Research Associates. ¹⁷

Carrie Sloan is the co-founder and managing director of ACRE. Prior to working at the ACRE, she worked as a strategic researcher for the SEIU and was a member of the United Auto Workers (UAW). ¹⁷

Bianca Cunningham is the campaign director for Bargaining for the Common Good at ACRE. She was previously a Verizon Wireless worker who campaigned to organize seven stores under the Communication Workers of America. She is the former co-chair of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and is a co-founder of the DSA’s AfroSocialists and Socialists of Color caucus. ¹⁷

Jonathan Westin is the president of the board of the ACRE. He is the director of the Climate Organizing Hub. ¹⁸

Financials

According to Action Center on Race and The Economy’s 2024 tax returns, the group reported $386,615 in revenue, $124,935 in expenses, and $536,155 in net assets. ⁶