Last Updated on March 11, 2025 by BVN
Overview: Carlene Davis, co-founder of Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance (SAGE), has launched the Sankofa Elders Project, an Equity Community Organizing (ECO) group that aims to reduce health inequities for older adults. The project, in partnership with the California Black Women’s Health Project’s (CABWHP), aims to address the equity issues faced by older Black adults in Los Angeles County through community-based solutions and education. The project includes the Black Eldering Bill of Rights, a set of principles that will guide future advocacy around issues impacting Black elders and their caregivers.
Breanna Reeves
Carlene Davis, 59, was the sole caregiver for her parents when she was in her late 20s and 30s. Now, at age 59, Davis is dedicated to supporting Black aging adults through education, community support and advocacy.
In 2012, Davis founded Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance (SAGE), alongside co-founder Kiara Harris. SAGE focuses on creating an “intentional community” for Black women to come together to discuss, learn and prepare for their aging journey.
Davis is taking further steps to support Black elders in the community with the launch of the Sankofa Elders Project, an Equity Community Organizing (ECO) groups that are community-based groups that aim to reduce health inequities for older adults. ECO groups were launched through the SCAN Foundation’s call for proposals.
The Sankofa Elders Project was launched in partnership with the California Black Women’s Health Project’s (CABWHP), and with support from Aging While Black (awB). The Sankofa Elders Project brings together Black elders who aim to answer one central question: “How might we together use our voices, our wisdom, our lived experience to create a vision for the dignity, care, well-being and belonging of elders…” Davis shared.
By 2030, it is projected that one in four Californians will be an older adult. Research published by the CA Policy & Budget Center shows that older adults experience unique equity issues as a result of the compounding factors of age, race and ethnicity, gender, disability, among other factors.
The Sankofa Elders Project aims to address these equity issues by developing community-based solutions, empowering Black elders through education and incorporating a multigenerational approach to supporting elders as they age.
The first step to addressing these issues begins with the Black Eldering Bill of Rights, developed by Black elder ambassadors and with the input of 157 people. The Black Eldering Bill of Rights is a set of principles that will act as a “guiding framework” to answering the group’s central question and creating solutions. The bill of rights is set to be released to the public in May and includes statements that affirm that black elders have the right to self-actualization and the right to age in place in “elder affirming neighborhoods.”
“The idea is that these pillars, this Black Eldering Bill of Rights, is used, one, as a platform for future advocacy around issues impacting not just older adults themselves, but really intergenerationally and those who care for them and caregivers,” Davis explained. “So what it’s really designed to do is to be a catalyst for both attention and intention around building the type of community that we need to support our well-being as we move along the aging journey.”
Ideally, Davis envisions other organizations signing on as supporters of the Black Eldering Bill of Rights and encouraging these organizations to use the bill of rights to have important and intentional conversations about Black aging within their networks.
Davis specifically pointed to the topic of caregiving and the lack of education around the resources caregivers need, the need for community support and the importance of multigenerational buy-in.
There’s so much community education that is needed, and so the idea is to be able to use this bill of rights as a platform for that community education that has to take place, that needs to take place,” Davis said.
Black elders are at risk of facing health and socio-economic challenges as they age. Older Black adults are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as older white people and are less likely to receive a diagnosis, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
In California, older Black, Indigenous and Pacific Islanders disproportionately experienced homelessness in the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to an analysis published by the California Budget & Policy Center. Their analysis also found that while Black Californians age 50 and older make up an estimated 5.4% of the state’s population, they accounted for more than 1 in 4 (26%) older adults who made contact with homeless service providers.
Davis emphasized the importance of recognizing the gaps that exist within the care provided by institutions such as Medicare, and understanding how to prepare for those gaps. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people aged 65 or older and people with disabilities. While part of Medicare coverage is free for eligible beneficiaries, the insurance does not pay for all coverage such as long-term care or hearing aids.
Oftentimes, families are unprepared for aging and have not taken steps to plan for the future such as creating an advanced care directive, learning about putting assets in a trust and understanding care options.
“This is why it’s so important to be intentional about it, and to create spaces culturally specific and culturally affirming spaces for the community to think about and plan for and have a vision for what it means to be able to age with dignity, care, wellbeing and belonging,” Davis said.
As the Sankofa Elders project continues to convene Black elders and discuss how to engage others with the Black Eldering Bill of Rights, Davis made it clear that ensuring Black elders age with dignity and care will take everyone.
“This absolutely has to be an intergenerational effort,” she said.
In her line of work, Davis has found it difficult to engage younger generations in the conversation about aging and caregiving.
According to data from California’s Master Plan for Aging dashboard, in 2022, 25% of family caregivers were between the ages of 18 and 24 and 23% were between the ages of 25 and 39. Women also accounted for 30% of family caregivers compared to 24% of men.
As California’s aging population rapidly grows, more and more people will need care, and a large share of that care will be delivered by a family member or friends. Davis wants Black elders, their loved ones and their communities to be prepared.
