Carol McGruder, AATCLC CoFounder

Carol McGruder is on a mission to SAVE BLACK PEOPLE from the hideous dangers and the devastating harm and health Menthol Cigarettes and flavored vaping causes in the Black Communities

The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council is our country’s leading public health education and advocacy organization taking on Big Tobacco to save Black lives. We have grown our coalition of national and local organizations, traveled across the country to educate communities and build grassroots infrastructure, gotten major pieces of legislation ending the sale of menthol-flavored tobacco products passed in cities, counties, and states across the country, and sued the FDA to act on removing menthol flavored tobacco products from the market nationally. 

Formed in 2008, the mission of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) is to inform and influence the direction of tobacco control as it affects the lives of African American and African Immigrant communities. The AATCLC works at the intersection of social injustice and public health policy. Working with health jurisdictions, elected officials, community-based organizations, tobacco researchers, activists, faith-based communities, and the media, the AATCLC plays a key role in elevating the once obscure issue of regulating the sale of menthol and flavored tobacco products to one of national concern and action. A ban on the manufacturing and distribution of menthol cigarettes by the FDA would begin to address the health inequities caused by the industry’s targeting and the FDA’s failure to add menthol to the list of already-banned flavors in cigarettes. In the meantime, state and local governments have taken action to prohibit the retail sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.