The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans (WHIEEAA) has a mandate on behalf of African-American students to close the achievement gap. This goal requires attention to the full education continuum, from the early childhood years through adulthood. Learning begins at birth and the preparation for learning starts well before birth. To solve the employment and education crises facing black children and America we must first ensure that all children have access to high-quality early education. Not only must we work towards providing African-American students with access to high-quality early education, we must also make a concerted effort to provide support for them inside and outside the classroom, extending through college completion and career entry. The first step to ensuring that African-American students grow up to become successful and healthy adults is to give them access to high-quality early education. To accomplish this, the WHIEEAA is working to ensure that all African-American children have a quality early start. We are honored to work with the National Institute for Early Education Research to ensure that all African-American students have access to high-quality early learning opportunities starting at birth. This policy report discusses the lack of access to high-quality early childhood education experiences for African-American children and offers recommendations to expand opportunities.