Wilson will serve on the commission's education committee, and Sumners will serve as a technical advisor to the skills, training and labor force subcommittee and the community development subcommittee.

State Sen. Hank Sanders of Selma, a Democrat, and State Treasurer Kay Ivey, a Republican from West Alabama's Wilcox County, were appointed by Riley to co-chair the commission. The Commission Executive Committee has 12 members, many of whom are connected to economic, industrial and community development, in addition to educators, newspaper publishers, representatives of non-profit organizations and private landowners.

More than 100 people serve on subcommittees examining such topics as agriculture; communications; community development; culture and youth; education; families; health; infrastructure; marketing and tourism; small business; skills, training and labor force; transit and transport; and legislation.

The Black Belt region, often called the state's "Third World," runs from the Mississippi border across south-central Alabama. The 12 counties that make up the Black Belt include: Pickens, Sumter, Choctaw, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox, Lowndes, Macon and Bullock. These counties suffer from severe economic stagnation, lack of infrastructure and economic opportunity. The region has the highest rates of poverty, illiteracy and infant mortality in the state. Eight of Alabama's 10 lowest-scoring school systems on the Stanford Achievement Test between 1996 and 2001 were in the Black Belt. Eight of the counties are among the 100 poorest in the United States.

For more detailed information about the Black Belt Action Commission, including listings of the members of the executive committee, the subcommittees and technical advisors, visit the Web site at www.blackbeltaction.org.