Policy Watch: A Community Response to Project 2025 (May 18, 2025)

Restoring Civic Literacy Through the Power of the Pulpit

Following morning worship at St. Matthew United Methodist Church, a different kind of gathering took place—one rooted in faith, a sense of urgency, and a commitment to truth. This was the launch of Policy Watch, a non-partisan, faith-centered civic education series created by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Greater Cleveland Chapter (NCBW-GCC). Designed to bring awareness to Project 2025 and its real-world consequences, the first session set the tone for what this series is all about: equipping our community with knowledge, tools, and a path forward.

More than just a program, Policy Watch is a response—one grounded in faith and focused on truth. It was created to confront Project 2025, a quietly advancing national agenda that is already shaping state and federal policies across key areas: civil rights, education, healthcare, religious freedom, and democratic access. As this agenda grows, many remain unaware of its impact—particularly on Black families.

Policy Watch is here to change that.

Session One, titled “Understanding Project 2025,” marked the official launch of a four-part series designed to equip our community with knowledge and action steps. With doors opened by Rev. Darlene Robinson and the gracious St. Matthew UMC family, the inaugural event reminded us why the Black Church has long been the beating heart of social change. It is no coincidence that so many defining moments in our nation’s history—from voter registration drives to civil disobedience trainings—have taken place inside church walls. As Harvard’s Gazette noted in a reflection on the history of the Black Church, it has always been more than a house of worship. It is a place of power, strategy, refuge, and resistance.

That spirit was alive and well in Session One. Attendees heard from a panel of dynamic speakers, including Dr. Adam Banks, Khalilah Lawson, and InSon J. Loving, whose reflections grounded policy in lived experience. Together, they shared personal reflections grounded in professional insight—combining lived experience with facts to help us fully grasp what’s at stake. This wasn’t a lecture. It was a call to action.

A call to know what’s at stake.

A call to protect what matters.

A call to act with purpose.

Thanks to the leadership of NCBW-GCC President Dionne Jones and Public Policy Chair DaLisa Delk Cann, Policy Watch 2025 is filling a critical gap—one that too often leaves our communities under-informed and underprepared. There is no shortage of political messaging in our society, but what’s missing is trusted, accurate, non-partisan education—delivered in familiar spaces, by people we know, with no agenda other than truth and transformation. That’s the work NCBW-GCC is doing. And it’s work that is urgently needed.

The structure of Policy Watch reflects this commitment. Each session is hosted in a local church after Sunday worship, meeting people where they already are—physically and spiritually. Each gathering concludes with a tangible community action: from voter registration and postcard writing, to organizing attendance at local school board and city council meetings. The goal is not just awareness, but accountability. Not just knowledge, but movement.

This is not a one-year plan. It’s a forever strategy.

As we prepare for the next session—Policy in Practice: Breaking Down Policy Impact—we remain committed to continuing this important work in the fall. This conversation will explore how public policy decisions translate into the everyday experiences of Black families—what they mean for your household, your school, your health, and your vote. Dr. Joy Bostic, theologian and scholar from Case Western Reserve University, is currently slated to participate as a featured speaker, helping to break down complex policy language into clear, real-world implications for our communities.

NCBW-GCC is committed to ensuring those connections are clear. Our mission is to advocate for the empowerment of Black women and girls, and that begins with equipping our communities with the tools to lead, challenge, and change. Policy Watch is one way we honor that mission—through education, through faith, and through collective action.

It’s one thing to know a law has passed; it’s another to understand how that law affects your community, your household, and your future. That’s the kind of clarity Policy Watch aims to provide—faith-centered, community-rooted, and action-driven. As we look ahead to future sessions and deeper partnerships with churches across the city, we are reminded of the words that guide us: onward and upward. Because when we know better, we do better. And we’re just getting started.

There is no political endorsement in this work. There is no fundraising or campaigning. There is only truth, rooted in love of community, and a deep belief that knowledge is power—and faith without works is dead.