May 2025 Newsletter

Issue #99

There were 204 new billionaires last year --

nearly 4 a week.

Oxfam

Billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024 alone, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day, at a rate 3 times faster than the year before. 

Oxfam

The combined wealth of the 500 richest people on the planet is $10 trillion.

Robb Report

36% of billionaire wealth is inherited.

Oxfam

Every billionaire under age 30 inherited their wealth.

Forbes

Over 1,000 of today’s billionaires will pass on more than $5.2 trillion to their heirs over the next 2 to 3 decades.

UBS

The richest 1% in the Global North extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023.

Oxfam

Global North countries control 69% of global wealth, 77% of billionaire wealth and are home to 68% of billionaires, despite making up 21% of the

global population.

Oxfam

In 2024, the number of billionaires rose to 2,769, up from 2,565 in 2023. Their combined wealth surged from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in just 12 months. This is the 2nd largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began.

Oxfam

The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men grew on average by almost $100 million -- a day. 

Oxfam

Low- and middle-income countries spend on average nearly 50% of their national budgets on debt repayments, often to rich creditors in New York and London. This far outstrips their combined investment in education and healthcare. Between 1970 and 2023, Global South governments paid $3.3 trillion in interest to Northern creditors.

Oxfam

Wages in the Global South are 87% to 95% lower than wages in the Global North for work of equal skill. Despite contributing 90% of the labor that drives the global economy, workers in low- and middle-income countries receive only 21% of global income.

Oxfam

The 15 top richest people in the world & their estimated net worth:

• Elon Musk -- $335 billion 
• Jeff Bezos -- $209 billion
• Mark Zuckerberg -- $195 billion  
• Warren Buffett -- $166 billion
• Larry Ellison -- $164 billion
• Bill Gates -- $162 billion
• Bernard Arnault -- $158 billion 
• Larry Page -- $146 billion 
• Sergey Brin -- $137 billion
• Steve Ballmer -- $137 billion
• Jim Walton -- $116 billion
• Rob Walton -- $114 billion
• Alice Walton -- $113 billion
• Amancio Ortega -- $110 billion
• Michael Dell -- $106 billion

Bloomberg

At current rates the world is on track to see at least 5 trillionaires within the next 10 years.

Oxfam

The United States wealth inequality is the highest it has been in 50 years.

U.S. Census Bureau

Wealth inequality in the U.S. is the 36th highest in the world and the highest of the G-7 countries.

World Population Review

The states with the highest income inequality are: New York 51.0%, Connecticut 49.4%, Louisiana 49%, California 48.8%, and Florida 48.5%.

World Population Review

The 400 wealthiest American taxpayers pay an average federal income tax rate of around 23%.

Verify

The richest 1%—those worth $11 million or more

— paid a 34.5% income tax in 1980. In the 1950s and 1960s, when the economy was booming, the wealthiest Americans paid a top income tax rate

of 91%. 

Americans for Tax Fairness

Taxing investment income at a much lower rate than salaries and wages loses $250 billion a year.

Americans for Tax Fairness

Some of the richest people in the U.S. have paid $0 federal income taxes. 

Americans for Tax Fairness

The proposed tax package would provide

the richest 1% — households earning over $1 million — 23.5% of the benefits from the tax cuts

in 2027. 

FactCheck.org

61% of Americans say there is too much economic inequality in the country today, but views differ by political party and household income level.

Pew Research Center

The average life expectancy for people living in high income countries is 10 years longer than those in lower income countries.

World Bank

For more on Economic Justice, click here.

The Truth About Immigration:

Why Successful Societies

Welcome Newcomers

By Zeke Hernandez. A fact-based, comprehensive, and nonpartisan book that debunks the negative narratives about immigrants. Argues that from jobs, investment, and innovation to cultural vitality and national security, more immigration has an overwhelmingly positive impact on everything that makes a society successful. Combines research with personal stories to offer an accessible, apolitical, and evidence-based look at how newcomers affect local communities and the nation.

Focuses on the often overlooked impact of immigrants on investments and job creation, technologies, and products. Examines the facts regarding jobs, crime, and undocumented immigrants and offers new perspectives on the border, taxes, and assimilation.

Essentially shows how newcomers bring enduring economic benefits because of their differences and contribute positively to society because of their similarities, proving a simple truth: immigrants are essential for economically prosperous and socially vibrant nations. Read more.

For more on Immigration, click here.

The Crossing: El Paso, the Southwest, and America's Forgotten Origin Story

By Richard Parker. A history that re-centers the American story two-thousand miles west of Plymouth Rock, in El Paso, Texas—the heart of Indigenous power and resistance, locus of European colonization of North America, centuries-long hub of immigration, and underappreciated modern blueprint for a multi-ethnic United States. Recasts the city as the unacknowledged cradle of American history, where cultures have encountered each other for centuries and forged a thriving multi-ethnic community far ahead of the rest of the nation. Read more.

For more on Immigration, click here.

Know Your Rights Handouts

A resource of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), provides basic information for various scenarios: ICE worksite raids (for employers), ICE home visits, and ICE public stops. Available in multiple languages, including: Arabic, Chinese, English, Haitian, Portuguese, Punjabi and Spanish. Learn more.

For more on Immigration, click here.

Your Inner Fire is Your Greatest Strength

A TED Talk, featuring climate activist Xiye Bastida, who says that hope isn’t just a feeling, but a skill we can practice. Taking cues from the resilience of nature, she shows why trusting Indigenous leaders who’ve protected the planet for generations can help turn despair about the climate into the momentum needed to ignite meaningful change. Watch now.

For more on the Environment, click here.

The Best Way to Lower Earth’s

Temperature – Fast

A TED Talk, featuring chemical engineer Daniel Zavala-Araiza, who highlights the emerging technologies and policies that are part of a worldwide effort to hold oil and gas companies accountable for methane pollution. It's a glimpse into a future where global cooperation and cutting-edge monitoring could rapidly slow climate change. Watch now.

For more on the Environment, click here.

Benevolence: A Journey from Prison to Home

A documentary from New Day Films, that follows the journey of five women who leave prison and move onto a working farm in North Carolina -- a transitional house designed to help formerly incarcerated women get back on their feet. It inspires conversations about how gender affects incarceration and reentry and reveals what women face as they move from prison back into society. Watch the trailer.

For more on the Criminal Justice System,

click here.

A History of Racial Injustice

A resource from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), this unique full-color wall calendar includes hundreds of historical entries and 12 short essays highlighting historical events and issues in our nation's racial history. Learn more.

For more on Racism, click here.

Farming While Black

A documentary from New Day Films, featuring Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, who reflects on the plight of Black farmers in the United States. Looks at the reasons for the decline in Black-owned farms from 14% in 1910 to less than 2% today. Soul Fire Farm is helping propel a rising generation finding strength in the deep historical knowledge of African agrarianism - and its potential to save the planet. Learn more.

For more on Racism, click here.

Faith and Racial Healing:

Embracing Truth, Justice, and Restoration

An 8-week program from JustFaith Ministries, that guides small groups in conversations about the historical roots of racial injustice in the United States. Explains the context behind the racial inequalities we face today, whether in education, the criminal justice system, the workforce, or even in church life.

Each session includes prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. As with all JustFaith programs, participants explore how their faith can inform their response to their learning, as well as discern action steps for working toward justice and equity in their own communities. Though focused specifically on enslaved Africans and their descendants, this program can also open participants’ eyes to patterns of injustice that affect other communities across

the nation. Learn more.

For more on Racism, click here.

NuclearBan US

A 501c4 non-profit organization working for the total elimination of nuclear weapons and fossil fuels by building a national movement committed to boycotting and divesting from the corporations responsible for these existential threats to humanity. Promotes and advocates for legislation and policies at the national, state and local levels that will put financial and social pressures on these corporations and force them to change course. Learn more.

For more on War, click here.

How to Build Global Community

A poster that lists numerous themes and actions that can help improve our approach to living well, such as: Imagine Other Cultures, Question Consumption, Learn People's History, Support Cooperatives, Read the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Respect Indigenous Cultures, Pledge Allegiance to the Earth, and Recognize Our Shared Humanity. Learn more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

Institute on Inequality and Democracy

A resource of UCLA, advances research and scholarship concerned with displacement and dispossession in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the world. Working in alliance with social movements and communities on the frontlines of struggle, the Institute seeks to abolish structures of inequality. Focuses on issues such as: housing, finance & sanctuary. Learn more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

Social Change Now:

A Guide for Reflection and Connection

By Deepa Iyer. A roadmap for individuals and organizations who are ready to deepen their commitment to social justice. Shows how we can we effectively anchor our commitments to equity, solidarity, and justice. Introduces the social change ecosystem framework, which includes a map of ten roles, from builder to storyteller to disrupter to experimenter, as well as practices to identify values and strengthen our social change ecosystems. Going beyond presenting ideas and frameworks, it is also a practical guide that contains detailed descriptions and real-world examples, reflection prompts with room to write responses, and accessible tips that can immediately be put into action. Learn more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

Prayer

Loving God, you have given all peoples one

common origin.

It is your will that they be gathered together

as one family in yourself.

Fill the hearts of every human being with the fire of your love

and with the desire to ensure justice for all.

By sharing the good things you give us,

may we secure an equality for all

our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

May there be an end to division, strife and war.

May there be a dawning of a truly human society

built on love and peace.

Amen

Every month we email our newsletter to about 4,500 people around the country. Each issue focuses on a social justice topic and has resources that have been recently added to our website. If you know of others who might be interested in receiving our newsletter, please forward this email on to them or let us know and we'll add them to our mailing list. For our previous Newsletters,  click here.