By Black PR Wire

(Black PR Wire) – Recently, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford (NV-04) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus released its new corporate accountability report, “What Good Looks Like”: A Corporate Accountability Report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – a first-of-its-kind report to hold Fortune 500 companies — across all sectors — accountable to their diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments and racial equity investments post-George Floyd.

The new report commissioned by the CBC finds that the majority of Fortune 500 companies that responded to a survey by the CBC remain committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace despite right wing attacks in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn affirmative action in the landmark Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard in June 2023. Since the ruling, diversity initiatives have come under attack in corporate America, on college campuses in nearly 30 states, and in federal programs and venture capital firms for Black and minority businesses, despite research from institutions such as the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, which proves that 78 percent of Americans agree that corporate America should reflect the racial diversity of the American population, and McKinsey & Company showing that companies with racially diverse executive teams outperform their peers in profitability by 39 percent.

The report analyzes corporate diversity practices based on data shared with the CBC aggregated by industry according to the Global Industry Classification Standard  (GICS) and the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Of the Fortune 500 companies reflected in the GICS data, a majority have made progress to their commitments to workplace diversity and racial equity.

The report further outlines 12 Best Practices and innovative approaches (or “What Good Looks Like”), taken by companies across various industries to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplaces and beyond, which the CBC hopes corporations will use as a standardized tool to strengthen, magnify, and expand diversity, equity, and inclusion practices across industries

The report comes nearly 10 months after the CBC issued its corporate accountability letter in December 2023 in response to the ongoing attacks on diversity initiatives in the private sector. The letter urged corporate America, particularly those in the Fortune 500 who made public pledges to diversity and racial equity post-George Floyd, to stand firm in their commitments and to update congressional members on the progress of their commitments.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford offered the following quote:

“The CBC commends corporate leaders who have overwhelmingly reaffirmed their company’s commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in their business practices and operations, and those who believe, like most Americans, that diversity is a business and talent imperative. We cannot allow a handful of right-wing agitators to bully corporations, and this report offers corporate America a guide to strengthening their diversity practices. This report is the initial step in a strategic effort to ensure the tools of economic opportunity are protected as we work to advance our Black wealth and economic prosperity agenda in the next Congress to close the Black-white wealth gap in America.”

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By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO

After a six-week recess, lawmakers have returned to the U.S. Capitol and are working to put forth legislation that will benefit their constituents.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.-20) told the AFRO that she is focused on passing a string of appropriations bills to avoid a government shutdown that will impact millions of Americans.

“We hope that we can pass the appropriations bill. That’s the biggest concern,” said the congresswoman. “Another issue we’re having to move quickly on is a resolution to combat the continued violence and threats taking place in Ohio against Haitians.”

In recent weeks, Republicans have falsely accused Haitian migrants of eating domestic animals in Springfield, Ohio. Former President Donald Trump repeated the allegations during the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10. Although law enforcement has denounced the false narrative, Haitians have become targets of threats and violence.

“We’re looking at introducing a resolution by the end of the week that actually condemns the false statements,” said Cherfilus-McCormick. “They aren’t illegal. They came here through a legal pathway. Statements such as what Donald Trump Jr. said that Haitians have low IQs and they are scientifically inferior… those are the kinds of things that play into White supremacy.”

Cherfilus-McCormick added that it is imperative that members of Congress hold Trump, his running mate, Sen.  J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and other GOP members accountable for spreading misinformation.

U.S. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.-4) told the AFRO that for the remainder of the congressional session he would like to pass legislation that reforms the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I’m looking to build on the court reform measures that have now been recognized by President Joe Biden as important for the nation’s future,” said Johnson. “So, things like term limits for Supreme Court justices and a code of conduct that is binding and has an enforcement mechanism.”

He added that he will also “introduce the Judiciary Accountability Act which will bring the 30,000  judicial branch employees under the protection of the civil rights laws so they will not be subject to rampant and unaddressed discrimination and sexual harassment.”

The Democratic lawmaker doubts that his proposed legislation will pass during this session given that Republicans have control of the U.S. House of Representatives. However, he is hopeful that these measures will be passed next session if Democrats regain control of the House during the elections while maintaining control of the Senate.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.-5) told the AFRO that he is focused on passing the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, which, if enacted into law, would help preserve affordable housing opportunities.

“I’m working with my Republican colleague U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.-3) to put forth legislation during a session where Congress hasn’t seen a surplus of significant legislation come through,” said Cleaver.

Rep. Luetkemeyer told reporters that this legislation is the answer to affordable housing.

“Owning a home used to be fundamental to the American dream, but it has become incredibly difficult and less realistic for Missouri families,” said the Republican representative. “I thank Congressman Cleaver for his dedication to remedying this issue, and I’m proud of our bipartisan work.”

Cleaver told the AFRO that he and Luetkeymer are not “foolish enough to think ambitiously” and doubts that the bill will be passed this session. However, he said, “I’m caught up in this whole thing about trying to demonstrate to the American people and to the world that we are not a dysfunctional legislative body. But, so far I’m losing.”

At this time, Congress has less than four months to pass meaningful legislation before the start of a new session in January 2025.

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By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO

While the U.S. faces an ongoing mental health crisis, several members of the Congressional Black Caucus have introduced legislation to combat it.

In April 2024, U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.-16) introduced the Access in Mental Health Act to strengthen the mental health workforce.

“As an educator for 20 years, I saw firsthand how the lack of mental health professionals and culturally responsive care impacted my students and their families,” Bowman told the AFRO. “Not only do we need more mental health professionals in our communities and schools, but we need more Black and Brown mental health professionals who are equipped to provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed care.”

If enacted into law, the Access in Mental Health Act would provide grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to improve graduate programs that focus on mental health such as psychology, counseling, social work and psychiatry. The statute would also provide $10,000 grants per year to cover the cost of attendance for students who are pursuing graduate degrees in the mental health field.

“My would rectify the lack of diversity in the mental health workforce by providing grants to HBCUs…to create and expand programs and to support tuition costs,” said Bowman. “We’ve been facing a national mental health crisis over the last few years and Congress must begin to take action by strengthening our mental health workforce and investing in opportunities for young people from all communities.”

At this time, the New York congressman’s statute has only been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, given Bowman’s status as an outgoing Democratic lawmaker, it is unclear if and when the bill will be brought to the House floor for a vote.

U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), the first Black and openly LGBTQ+ senator, also introduced the Pride in Mental Health Act to Support LGBTQ+ Youth in Mar. 2024 to help combat the nation’s mental health crisis.

“Accessing mental health care and support has become increasingly difficult in nearly every state in the country,” Butler told reporters. “Barriers get even more difficult if you are a young person who lacks a supportive community or is fearful of being outed, harassed, or threatened.”

If passed, the statute would provide mental health and crisis intervention resources for at-risk LGBTQ+ youth through federal grants. In addition, the act would require lawmakers to provide a report on the mental health outcomes and care of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care and other federal social services programs.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), a cosponsor of the Pride in Mental Health Act believes the legislation is the solution to the mental health crisis plaguing children and teens across the nation.

“Mental health care is health care and for some LGBTQ+ youth, receiving access to the mental health care they need can mean the difference between living in safety and dignity, and suffering alone through discrimination, bullying and even violence,” Smith told reporters.

The Minnesota senator added, “The data shows what many parents and educators see every day. An epidemic of students in classrooms dealing with anxiety, depression and other serious mental health conditions, with nowhere to turn.”

At this time, the bill has only been introduced in the U.S. Senate. It is unclear when it will be taken up for a vote.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told reporters that this act is “a crucial step” towards breaking barriers to mental health care for the youth.

“It’s time to pass this bill…to build a more just future for all children and teens,” said Merkley.

In order for both bills to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, they will need bipartisan support.

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By Catherine Pugh
Special to the AFRO

The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus, with the support of the Maryland Black Caucus Foundation, hosted one of the largest state gatherings during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 53rd Annual Legislative Conference from Sept. 11 through Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C.

The weekend’s Friday night is reserved for states throughout the country to host their congressional, state and local constituents, civic and business leaders and guests.  

Maryland has the largest Black state legislative body in the country with 66 members.

The event titled, “Maryland Black Excellence,” showcased Gov. Wes Moore who reminded the audience: “We have to elect Angela Alsobrooks to the United States Senate to maintain control of the country’s future agenda.” 

Alsobrooks, county executive for Prince George’s County, is the Democratic nominee for the Maryland Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. Alsobrooks appeared on the stage with a number of Maryland elected officials, including Moore, Congressman Kweisi Mfume, who represents Maryland’s 7th congressional district, and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. The diverse group also included U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th district), Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller and Democratic candidate for Congress state Sen. Sara Elfreth (D-Dist. 30), who is running to replace Congressman John Sarbanes, who did not seek re-election. Congressman Glen Ivey (4th District) was also in attendance but had to leave for another event.  

The waiting list to attend the Maryland celebration exceeded 3,000 with over a thousand people in the room of the Salamander Hotel, which is owned by a Black entrepreneur Sheila Johnson and Henderson Park.

“The excitement and interest in the event with attendees from across Maryland reflects the energy and progress we are making in the state under the leadership of Governor Wes Moore and Speaker Adrienne Jones,” said Chairwoman of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus Jheanelle Wilkins, who has represented District 20 in the House of Delegates since 2017.

“With the only Black governor in the country, and the first Black and female speaker of the House, Maryland stands as a model for Black political leadership with deep impact, “ continued Del. Wilkins.

“This was a night of celebration,” said the Rev. Dr. Zina Pierre, president of the Maryland Black Caucus Foundation. “We put in a lot of work to showcase our Black leadership at the federal level and to showcase the excellence of Maryland and its delegation. In Maryland we all work together. That is why you saw the chair of the (national) Democratic Party, Ken Ulman, along with congressional leader Steny Hoyer in attendance. Maryland is a state that is truly moving forward.”

Pierre said 34 members of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus will head to the White House and Capitol Hill on Sept. 18 to lobby on behalf of the state of Maryland.

“We were so proud to come together during the nation’s foremost Black political week,” said Wilkins.

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By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

(NNPA Newswire) – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) 53rd Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) on Sept. 14 culminated in an influential Phoenix Awards gala at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, D.C. This year’s theme, “From Vision to Victory: Amplifying Black Voices,” was not just a celebration of Black culture and heritage but also a call to action to defend and expand fundamental freedoms in an increasingly challenging political climate.

The Phoenix Awards, always the pinnacle of the conference, honored individuals who have made significant contributions to the progress of Black Americans.

President Joe Biden received the Congressional Black Caucus Lifetime Achievement Award. He praised the CBC for its integral role in bolstering his administration’s efforts. 

“With the CBC, we went big, and we went bold, and we are better off today than we were four years ago,” Biden said. 

He also stressed the importance of continued vigilance to ensure a future where freedom, justice and equality prevail. “We must show up; we must look to the future. I’m looking to you to help lead the way,” he told the audience.

And Democrats are looking to another CBC alum to lead the way. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, also addressed the gathering, calling on the CBC to leverage its history as “the conscience of the Congress” to shape the nation’s future. 

“The CBC has always had a vision for the future of our nation; a future where we can see what is possible unburdened by what has been;” Harris said, “a future where we fulfill the promise of America; a promise of freedom opportunity and justice, not just for some but for all.”

Another Black leader in whom Democrats see a bright future is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who was awarded the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference Honorary Co-Chairs’ Award. 

“I am standing before you as probably the most improbable governor in America… It’s an exciting time for our country, and I’m so grateful to be your partner in the work,” Moore said.

Other honorees included the late Sheila Jackson-Lee, former U.S. representative for Texas’s 18th congressional district; the 14th Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden; and Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison. 

An “in memoriam” tribute was displayed on the large screen above the stage and featured influential African Americans who died this year, like singer Frankie Beverly, actor James Earl Jones, hip-hop artists Fatman Scoop and Rich Homie Quan, actress Erica Ash, Rev. James Lawson and baseball superstar Willie Mays.

Throughout the week, the ALC tackled pressing issues impacting the Black community. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., led a session on Supreme Court reform, highlighting the challenges posed by the Court’s “6-3 MAGA supermajority” and its recent rollbacks on voting rights, reproductive rights and affirmative action. Johnson advocated for court reforms, including adopting a code of conduct, term limits and court expansion, arguing these changes are necessary to protect democracy and restore balance to the judicial system.

Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., moderated a panel on Black maternal health, focusing on the critical need for research and programs such as the NIH IMPROVE Initiative. The discussion underscored the alarming disparities in health care for Black women and the importance of ongoing efforts to address this crisis.

A significant highlight was the 16th Annual Black Women’s Roundtable (BWR) Public Policy Forum Series, in partnership with the CBCF. The forum spotlighted Black women’s leadership, power and influence in shaping a new movement and political era, particularly as the nation heads into the 2024 presidential election cycle. Contributors to the 11th Annual Black Women’s Roundtable Report shared insights on Black women’s roles in various movements, from civil rights to social justice.

Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, led the “Mothers of the Movement” workshop at the conference. The session brought together African-American mothers who have lost loved ones to police violence. These mothers shared their stories and discussed their efforts in advocating for criminal justice reform and stricter gun laws to prevent future tragedies.

Congressman Glenn Ivey’s session on the challenges facing Black-owned businesses amidst conservative attacks on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs emphasized the need for legislative advocacy. The push for the Black Wealth Agenda Resolution, H.R. 1101, seeks to enshrine DEI commitments into law.

CBCF President and CEO Nicole Austin-Hillery emphasized the critical moment in history that the conference represents. “We are at a defining moment in history. Just weeks ago, we saw the first African American woman nominated to run for president by a major party,” she said. 

Austin-Hillery said the ALC’s mission remains to empower the global Black community by creating real opportunities and ensuring true equity. Reflecting on the conference’s essence, she added, “Each and every voice adds to our collective strength; every collective action emphasizes our unity and our determination. And all of those things are necessary to move us from vision to victory.” 

The sentiment was echoed throughout the conference, driving home the imperative to protect progress and work toward a future where equality and justice are not just ideals but realities. Vice President Harris summarized it this way during her remarks at the Phoenix Awards:

“Each of us has a job to do, and the bottom line is we know what we stand for and that’s why we know what we fight for. And when the CBC fights, we win.”

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By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com

The expanding role of artificial intelligence in modern life has been the subject of much discussion and some controversy in recent months. Therefore, it was no surprise the topic was featured on the first day of the 2024 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference, which kicked off Sept. 11 in Washington, D.C. 

A group of panelists, including Tracy Owens, director of U.S. public affairs at Sage; Aaron Harris, chief technology officer at Sage; Dona Franklin, owner of Turnkey Solutions; and Georgia State Sen. Jason Esteves (D-Dist. 6), discussed how small businesses can maximize the use of AI.

The conversation featured Sage, a software company that provides human resources services to small and medium businesses,  and how it has incorporated AI into its business. The company is particularly aiming to use AI in ways that can serve their clients.

“With the help of AI, we can capture all business activity in real time and account for that business activity,” said Harris. “We pair continuous assurance for continuous accounting to create trust in that data. Small business leaders and owners need to move very fast to compete, and our objective is to give them technology that enables them to [do just that].”

Franklin described how she has used ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, in her business to save time on everyday tasks.

“AI has literally revolutionized our business in the past couple of years,” she said. “I looked at ChatGPT as a fun thing when I first discovered it. But what has happened over the past two years is we found that it can make mundane, everyday tasks so much easier, and it provides such tremendous productivity.”

Franklin said she has used ChatGPT to create documents based on presentation slides and develop training videos.

“An activity that might have taken me an hour and a half [to] two hours literally took 10 minutes,” she said. “If you think about the time you spend doing those things, it translates directly into money.”

With the plethora of issues Black small businesses already face such as high interest rates, AI could provide that much-needed relief.

“Just this morning, I gave a speech to an association not too far from here, and prior to finalizing that speech, I ran the text through ChatGPT,” said Esteves. “I said ‘Give me your thoughts on the speech. How long is it? How long will it take me, and do you have any recommendations on what I had?’”

“It did a lot for me in [those] 30 seconds that it took to spit out the information,” he continued. “I was able to add more to my speech.”

Though only 3.8 percent of American businesses were using AI in 2023, Owens insists that it will continue to expand rapidly and urged small business owners to take part in the conversation.

“Small businesses, medium-sized businesses are going to be in the mix for all of this,” said Owens.

He said small business owners should ensure “investments are being made” and have conversations with government officials and larger businesses about how they can best assist small business owners’ AI endeavors.

“There’s room for all of us,” said Owens.

In a related event, Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) led a discussion about ways African Americans can use AI to empower the Black community.

Butler emphasized the importance of this conversation and briefly discussed legislation she was planning to introduce. 

“This is legislation that is directed towards traditionally marginalized communities,” she said. 

Butler said it would set aside $250 million to invest in upskilling students, educators and employers in industries that will potentially be impacted by artificial intelligence.

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By Megan Sayles
AFRO Business Writer

On day one of its Annual Legislative Conference (ALC), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) took on Black maternal health, Black infertility, family building and reproductive justice. 

Experts from across the country weighed in on challenges, opportunities and policies regarding reproductive health for Black women, who disproportionately experience maternal mortality, infertility and miscarriages. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White Women. The public health agency also reports that they are more likely to encounter infertility compared to their White counterparts. 

“Across the board, Black women and Black birthing people have worse maternal health outcomes than our White counterparts,” said Nicole M. Cooper, executive vice president and chief strategy and innovation officer at United Way Worldwide. “From preterm births, to lack of access, to equitable care, to insufficient prenatal care and poor postpartum recovery supports and services, the U.S. health system is failing Black women and their families during a time that should be full of joy and hope.” 

Examining infertility and maternal mortality in the Black community

Dr. Lasha Clarke is the assistant director of research and translation at Morehouse School of Medicine’s Center for Maternal Health Equity. Since 2021, the center has been conducting a Fertility Equity Study. 

Clarke shared that the study has concluded that Black women face infertility twice as much as White women. They are also half as likely to seek fertility care. Clarke stressed the importance of destigmatizing infertility.

“Infertility is a medical condition–not a social condition,” said Clarke. “It’s not something that we need to feel a sense of shame or blame around.”

The center also found that in certain segments of the country, Black women are five times more likely to die during childbirth. Even when controlling for socioeconomic factors, they are more likely to experience maternal mortality than their counterparts. Clarke said this is also reflected in infertility. 

“In our study and even in the broader literature, Black women who are of high socioeconomic resources are reporting the same thing,” said Clarke. “They are experiencing infertility, but there are barriers to seeking care that are not strictly the finances of it.”

These barriers include racial biases and discrimination from providers and limited access to education about maternal health and fertility. 

The role of doulas and midwives 

Considering the poor state of Black maternal health in the U.S., many women turn to non-traditional care providers, like birthing centers, doulas and midwives. 

Baltimore County Delegate Jennifer White Holland (D-10) pointed out that Maryland does not have any free-standing birthing centers. 

“That limits the options that birthing people have in finding other alternatives to receive their care,” said Holland. 

She noted that the state has made progress on supporting doulas. In 2022, Maryland started the Medicaid Doula Services Program, which provides reimbursement to these professionals. But, the compensation is not yet enough.

“Unfortunately, the reimbursement rates are so low that there isn’t really an incentive for doulas to participate, which makes it very cost-prohibitive for many birthing people to access doula services,” said Holland. 

Leah Jones, director of maternal health and birth equity initiatives for SisterSong, said her organization is aiming to mitigate certification issues for community midwives in Georgia. 

“They’re literally people who can teach physicians how to do their work. They’re reflecting our communities, our issues and our stories. However, they have licensing issues in Georgia,” said Jones. “We have been on a continuous fight to make sure their legitimization gets pushed through legislation and that communities can reach into midwives, doulas and birth workers who look like them, talk like them and live in their neighborhoods.”

Black men as allies in the fight for reproductive rights

Historically, a dangerous and unfounded stereotype has been propagated about Black fathers being absent parents. Data from the CDC refutes this generalization. It found that Black fathers were more likely to feed and eat meals with their children; bathe and dress them; and take them to activities compared to other racial groups. 

“The best piece of advice that I ever received as an expectant father was that everything she feels, the baby feels,” said Charles Johnson IV, founder of 4 Kira 4 Moms. “It’s your job fundamentally to make sure that she feels safe, protected and happy at all times, as much as humanly possible.”

He started his organization after his wife, Kira Johnson, died during a routine C-section in 2016. Johnson said it’s critical for Black men to be informed about the spectrum of labor options and how to advocate for their partners even before they become pregnant. 

Sheehan Fisher is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University. He also serves as associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion for the institution. Fisher acknowledged that for a lot of Black women, pregnancy can be an isolating experience. This is only compounded by their heightened risk factors for poor maternal health outcomes. Fisher said he believes Black men should eliminate the isolation their partners may feel while on their maternity journey. 

“She needs a partner who can be an advocate throughout the whole experience,” said Fisher. “Fathers are not clinicians or doctors, but they can be trained to know what to look out for.”

Charles Daniels Jr., CEO of Father’s Uplift, explained that Black men must first address their mental health in order to be good partners through pregnancy. 

“We need to go to therapy,” said Daniels. “We need to get the necessary help to be able to be present.” 

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By Aria Brent
AFRO Staff Writer
abrent@afro.com

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) kicked off their 53rd Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. on Sept. 11. Attendees from across the country and beyond have traveled to the nation’s capital to partake in the panel sessions, networking opportunities and social events planned Sept.11 to Sept. 15. 

The opening ceremony featured several leaders and elected officials, including CBCF CEO and President, Nicole Austin-Hillery. The CBCF leader spoke on empowering the global Black community and taking action aligned with this year’s theme of “Vision to Victory: Amplifying Black Voices.”

“We are carrying on with our mission of empowering the global Black community and we know that empowering the global Black community means creating opportunities, creating spaces and ensuring equity for all,” she said. “We refuse, as a community, to go backwards…we will achieve all of the visions for success that we have for our community in front of us.”

Attendees spoke with the AFRO about why they decided to attend the legislative conference. 

“I’m a sponsor. I’m also Black and in government to a very large degree,” said Kwame Canty, managing director of external affairs for Edison Electric Institute.

“People from all over the world– from parliaments and governments from other countries– come here to learn and to hear some of the policy discussions. The diaspora isn’t just in the Americas–it’s all over the world and Black culture is all over the world,” Canty said. “It’s good to hear policy descriptions that germinate from different places.” 

Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (D-AL-7) spoke on the organization’s commitment to empowering and advancing the Black community.

“We on the CBCF Board take seriously our mission to uplift, empower and advance the Black community. That’s exactly what #ALC53 is all about– it’s more than just a conference it’s a catalyst for change,” said Sewell. “In less than two months, we will have the opportunity to enter into a new chapter in America’s history in electing the first Black woman president of these United States.”

The ALC has always been a breeding ground for innovation and change. Many use the conference to encourage young women and men alike to get involved in politics. 

“Within legislation we need a lot more young people that can be the voice for the future,” said Taylor Robinson, 29-year-old former CBCF fellow from Houston, Texas. “It’s important for people our age to be active within this space, to really talk about what’s happening in our communities, nationally and worldwide.” 

Vendors at the event range from Black authors and designers to members of service organizations and researchers, such as David Asiamah, Ph.D. The research and content developer manager for the Black Wealth Data Center said Black data is imperative in creating policy for wealth equity.

“Until now, the data needed to fully understand racial wealth equity has been out-of-date, inaccessible, and difficult to find in a single location. This has made it difficult for policymakers and practitioners to leverage data to make decisions that affect Black communities,” said Asiamah. “That’s why Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative launched the Black Wealth Data Center to better inform research, investment decisions, and policies that support Black communities.”

Sessions that took place on day one of the event included a panel addressing an equitable approach to Black infertility and family building;  a session titled, “AI and How It Can Be Leveraged by Small Businesses”; a discussion on DEI and children and a forum on how Project 2025 could impact Black women if implemented after the next presidential election.

In addition to the workshops, forums and panel discussions, a variety of both professional and social events will be held throughout the length of the conference, providing attendees with plenty of opportunity to brainstorm, empower one another and network. 

“Through the CBCF I’ve met a plethora of people and I’m glad that I was able to expand myself and connect with a couple of people,” said Janelle Edge, a former CBCF fellow from Orlando, Fla. “The fellowship was great, I was able to learn how policy is actually implemented and know the logistics of different stakeholders. I learned how essential partnership is.”

This year the CBCF is partnering with Amazon to help make the conference possible. Several people from the retail conglomerate spoke about the importance of their company supporting the CBCF and all of their initiatives.

“Growing up in D.C. I had the privilege of attending CBC programs and it was in those spaces that I saw first hand how policy makers, community activists and corporations come together to address critical community challenges,” said Terreta Rodgers. “Much like the CBCF, Amazon believes that solving our complex issues requires collaboration, innovation and deep commitment to community. Whether it’s advancing social equity, supporting education, helping small businesses thrive or fostering social justice, we are proud to partner with organizations like the CBC to drive impactful solutions.”

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By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members met with President Joe Biden virtually on the evening of July 8.

The meeting came after a number of House Democrats asked the president to end his reelection campaign following a shaky performance during a presidential debate moderated by CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper on June 27. 

As Biden fights to save his bid for reelection, he has decided to partner with Black lawmakers who could be the answer to defeating former President Donald Trump.

Black voters were key to Biden’s election in 2020 and could remain the key to his success in the 2024 election.

During the private discussion Biden thanked the Democratic lawmakers for their support, talked about what is at risk during this election cycle and the role he would like the CBC to play in his campaign.

The president and CBC members also talked about how they should coordinate messaging and engagement with voters to increase voter turnout on November 5.

Following the meeting CBC Chairman Steven Horsford, (D-Nev.) publicly showed his support for the president.

“President Joe Biden is the nominee and has been selected by millions of voters across this country,” said Horsford. “They know President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting for them…they don’t want to see Donald Trump back in the White House.”

U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, (D-R.I.) also attended the meeting and said the Biden-Harris administration has “delivered” legislation on behalf of all Americans and that he is in the president’s “corner.”

“I’m talking record job creation, lower costs for seniors and families, overdue gun violence prevention laws and historic action to address the climate crisis. These aren’t just my opinions, these are cold hard facts,” said Amo.

The Rhode Island lawmaker added that the consequence of not voting for Biden would result in the reelection of Trump.

“Trump offers the dark and dangerous vision outlined in Project 2025. It’s an agenda chock full of retribution, lies and grievance politics,” stated Amo. “That is what we must constantly hammer home because it’s what is at stake in this election.”

U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, (D-Ill.) said that before he went into the meeting, he was a Biden supporter and after leaving the meeting that remained unchanged.

“I didn’t change my mind. I was always with him, never wavered and I want to do more for the campaign,” said Jackson.

On July 9, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held a briefing and told reporters that Biden received positive feedback from other CBC members.

U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, (D-Ohio-3) told Jean-Pierre that, “The call went extremely well and the president was very responsive.”

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, (D-La.-2) said that he was excited “to hear directly from the president that he is all in.”

Jean-Pierre told reporters that the president may host another meeting with Black lawmakers as the election draws nearer.

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(Black PR Wire) – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) proudly unveils a groundbreaking collaboration with the University of Oxford to establish a CBCF Alumni Scholarship, a transformative initiative aimed at closing the financial gap for Black students aspiring to pursue master’s degrees at the prestigious institution.

Tony Bishop, a distinguished CBCF fellowship alumnus from the class of 2018, conceived the scholarship to address the challenges faced by individuals like himself, who possess immense academic and professional potential but encounter financial constraints hindering their pursuit of elite educational opportunities. Bishop, having been accepted into the University of Oxford’s Diplomatic Studies program in 2019, was unable to accept his place due to financial limitations. Determined to pave the way for future generations, he initiated the CBCF Alumni Scholarship to empower young Black scholars and dismantle financial barriers.

Bishop, who is now a White House Advisor based in Washington, D.C., found the allies to secure the partnership after attending one of the university’s executive programs where he met the President of Oxford’s Magdalen College, Dinah Rose KC.  Rose commented, “We are delighted to be working with Tony and the CBCF on this exciting new initiative, which will provide generous financial support to help talented students from the widest possible pool to access the opportunities that Magdalen and Oxford can offer.”

The partnership between Tony Bishop and CBCF was solidified with the enthusiastic support of CBCF President and CEO Nicole Austin-Hillery and Senior Vice President of Resource Development Donna Fisher-Lewis who oversees the CBCF’s Leadership Institute. Austin-Hillery remarked, “This scholarship comes at a crucial time when opportunities for Black students face challenges. We are committed to closing the financial gap and restoring educational opportunities for Black students.”

The CBCF Alumni Scholarship is scheduled to launch in April 2024, with the first students attending Oxford in September 2025.  The scholarship funding was made possible by a generous grant from the Open Society Foundation.      

To learn more about the partnership, visit cbcfinc.org/oxford.

###

About the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF)

Established in 1976, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) is a non-partisan, nonprofit, public policy, research, and educational institute committed to advancing the global Black community by developing leaders, informing policy, and educating the public. For more information, visit cbcfinc.org. 

As a 501(c)(3), the CBCF takes no position on legislation or regulatory matters before Congress or any other government agency.

Source: Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF)

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By AFRO Staff

Donald Payne Jr., a beloved lawmaker, who represented New Jersey’s 10 Congressional District on Capitol Hill for 11 years, died April 24, his office announced. The 65-year-old died of a heart attack due to complications from diabetes and hypertension.

“Today, the Congressional Black Caucus mourns the loss of our dear colleague and friend,” the CBC said in a joint statement. “Representative Payne will be remembered by all those who knew him for his kindness and generosity. He leaves behind a legacy and commitment to service that New Jerseyans and our country will not soon forget.”

Payne Jr. somewhat reluctantly ran for and won his congressional seat in 2012, following the death of his father, Donald Payne Sr., who was the first African American elected to represent New Jersey in Congress and was a beloved son of the state during his more than two decades on Capitol Hill. 

A member of one of Newark’s prominent political families, Payne Jr. was deeply embedded in the community, living his entire life on Newark’s Bock Avenue. Before his stint in Washington, he previously served his community as a member of the New Jersey City Council, as a president of the South Ward Young Democrats, as a Garden State Parkway toll collector and for the Essex County Educational Services Commission. 

“As a former union worker and toll collector, he deeply understood the struggles our working families face, and he fought valiantly to serve their needs, every single day,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement announcing the congressman’s death.. “That purpose was the light that guided him through his early years as Newark City Council President and during his tenure on the Essex County Board of Commissioners. And it guided him still through his more than a decade of service in Congress.”

Known for his sartorial flair and signature bow ties, Payne was deemed an “effective” leader in Congress, serving on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, and as the ranking member and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. In his latter role, most notably, introduced the INVEST in America Act, which became the bipartisan, $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to provide funds for critical road and rail projects, such as New Jersey’s Portal North Bridge and Hudson River Tunnel in the Gateway Program.  

Additionally, Payne was a fierce advocate of racial justice, equal rights for all, reproductive freedom, free college tuition, and public transportation; he fought to expand access to health care, clean drinking water, and cancer screenings; and worked to prevent gun violence, protect voting rights, and promote environmental issues. 

President Biden said Payne, who “represented the best of Newark, a community of faith, grit, and hard work,” has been a stalwart partner on Capitol Hill, even co-sponsoring the 2013 law reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act that Biden first wrote years ago.

“They,” the president said of Payne’s legislative efforts, “will be a piece of his legacy forever.”

He added, “Don Payne was an accomplished public servant whose kind strength and generosity of spirit won him love across his district and the U.S. Congress. I’ve trusted his partnership throughout my presidency, and always been grateful for his insight and support.”

Payne is survived by his wife Beatrice and their three adult triplets: Donald III, Jack and Yvonne.

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Black PR Wire) Washington, D.C. – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) announced its collaboration with Paramount Pictures for the highly anticipated BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE film which hit theaters on February 14, 2024. The CBCF has been selected as the film’s nonprofit partner to provide The Bob Marley: One Love Social Impact Scholarships to support students pursuing degrees in social justice related programs.

“The message of unity and love in the Bob Marley: One Love movie reinforces the resolve required to meet the generational challenges faced by diverse emerging leaders through a steadfast commitment to progress,” said Nicole Austin-Hillery, CBCF President and CEO. “Developing future leaders is central to our mission of advancing the global Black community by preparing the next generation to lead in public service and policy development. We are proud to add the One Love Social Impact scholarship opportunity as another option to help relieve financial barriers to higher education for students of color.”

The Bob Marley: One Love Social Impact Scholarships honor Marley’s legacy as a cultural icon and his message of unity by supporting ten rising sophomore, junior, and senior students with $5,000 scholarships in pursuit of degrees in community organizing, nonprofit management, public policy, or social justice related degree programs who are attending selected Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Paramount Pictures is giving $50,000 to support the ten scholarships that will be awarded to students attending Bowie State University, Clark Atlanta University, Dillard University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, Spelman College, Texas Southern University, and Xavier University of Louisiana. 

Applications are open April 1 through April 30, 2024. To apply, students can visit https://cbcfinc.academicworks.com/.

“Bob Marley’s commitment to creating a better world is the driving force behind his musical legacy,” said Marc Weinstock, President Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Paramount Pictures. “Empowering a new generation to take the reins on shaping that world is one way to honor the values that Bob embodied, and we are proud to partner with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to move that mission forward.” 

BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE celebrates the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. On the big screen for the first time, discover Bob’s powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music. Produced in partnership with the Marley family and starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the legendary musician and Lashana Lynch as his wife Rita, BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE premiered February 14, 2024.

For additional information on CBCF and to learn more about The Bob Marley: One Love Social Impact Scholarships, visit cbcfinc.org.

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The Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — The family of former U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson said Jan. 4 that the trailblazing Texas congresswoman, who died over the weekend at age 89, passed away after getting an infection and accused a Dallas rehabilitation facility of neglect.

Johnson, who was the first registered nurse elected to Congress, died on Dec. 31 at her Dallas home. Les Weisbrod, her family’s attorney and Johnson’s longtime friend, said at a news conference that her death was caused by an infection in her spine that developed after she was left in her own feces at Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation following back surgery.

Weisbrod said he has given notice to Baylor Scott & White Health System and Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation that the family intends to file a lawsuit for medical negligence over her death.

In a statement Jan. 4, Baylor Scott & White Health called Johnson “an inspiration to all,” and said they are committed to working with her family and attorney.

Weisbrod said it’s a case that Johnson herself had asked him to pursue weeks ago after she began suffering from complications from the infection.

“I thought it was going to be a case for the pain that she went through and the additional procedures she went through and the medical bills and that she was going to recover,” he said. “And so it’s very distressing for me that she succumbed to this.”

On Sept. 21, her son found her lying in her own feces and urine at the rehabilitation facility, according to a news release from Weisbrod’s office. Kirk Johnson said at the news conference Jan. 4 that he had gone to the facility after his mother called to tell him she was getting no response from the call button. He said he arrived about 10 minutes later.

“Deplorable,” he said. “She was being unattended to. She was screaming out in pain and for help.”

The news release said that when Kirk Johnson couldn’t find any nurses on the floor, he went to the administration office and the CEO accompanied him to his mother’s room. When they arrived, staff members were cleaning up the feces.

The news release said that Eddie Bernice Johnson’s orthopedic surgeon noted in his record that Johnson had some complications following the operation after being found in bed sitting in her own feces and three days later she began having “copious purulent drainage from the low lumbar incision.”

The surgeon performed a surgical repair on the infected wound, and she was moved to a skilled nursing facility on Oct. 18 and went home on hospice care mid-December, the news release said.

The news release said that laboratory wound culture reports showed organisms directly related to feces.

Johnson served in the House for three decades, leaving office last January after repeatedly delaying her retirement. Johnson, who was the first Black chief psychiatric nurse at Dallas’ Veterans Affairs hospital, became the first Black woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and she also led the Congressional Black Caucus.

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By Ashleigh Fields
AFRO Assistant Editor
afields@afro.com

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) observed the impact of her 25-year-old Minority AIDS Initiative at 25 through the lens of benefactors at the World AIDS Day Conference on Dec. 1. The initiative was established by Congress in 1998 with the objective to provide evidence-based treatment to HIV patients with primary care and prevention services for people of color.

Waters partnered with organizations aiming to eradicate health disparities for the day-long symposium at the John Hopkins Bloomberg Center. The conference included two panel discussions surrounding the correlation between race and access to quality healthcare.

“It is often true that one of the biggest barriers to equity is a lack of resources— especially when it comes to funding for programs that are designed to serve Black and Brown communities,” said panel participant Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. “When it comes to funding, it’s important to look for ways that both the public and private sectors can work together to provide sustainable support for programs…”

This sentiment was echoed by Waters, who served as the keynote speaker.

“Black women account for more than half 55 percent of new HIV diagnoses among women,” said Waters in relation to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. “We’ve got to get more money. We’ve got to get more resources. We need more capital and it’s not going to come–we have to fight for it.”

She cited the attacks seen in budget recommendations from the Republican-led House Appropriations Subcommittee that threaten the survival of entities serving people of color diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. If passed, the proposed recommendation could result in a 53 percent spending cut to the Minority AIDS Initiative in the Office of the Secretary. Funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative within SAMHSA and the Ryan White HIV AIDS Program would also be reduced affecting national education training centers. 

“The cuts to the Minority AIDS Initiative will exacerbate racial disparities and the elimination of the ending of the HIV epidemic,” said Waters. “Minority led community based organizations to help them deliver in their capacity culturally. When we write and we talk, nobody understands us but us.”

She continued by highlighting Black leaders such as Archbishop Carl Bean of the Minority AIDS Project and Dr. Wilbert C. Jordan of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital who educated her early on about the AIDS epidemic. Those inspired by their work and her words traveled to be in the audience.

“Maxine Waters just re-energized everybody in the room. I’m here in the room representing Black transgender men, because data shows that we are impacted by HIV as well, but we don’t receive much funding at all–we’re not at the table. I was happy to hear her say that we’re going to continue to fight for ‘money, money, money,’” said Elijah Nicholas, founder of 100 Black-Trans Men. “Our objective is to continue showing up in spaces like this, having a voice for Black transgender men and then building relationships within the community so that we can learn the process–learning the political process is a big part of the strategy of learning.”

Nicholas said the Black maternal mortality rate is one area that lacks statistical input from the Black-trans community.

“Black-trans men who are birthing parents also, fall into the Black maternal mortality rate, but we’re not at the table and we’re not a part of the discussion,” said Nicholas. “It’s my objective to get a seat at the table first and then begin to help organizations collect the data because there’s no real data on Black-trans men who are birthing parents and the mortality rate.”

Waters agreed and ended her speech by urging President Biden to provide more federal funding to organizations led by minorities.

“We’ve got to fight and we’ve got to fight dirty. That’s not a bad word, it’s a good word when you’re fighting dirty people,” said Waters. “We in the Black caucus, in the combined caucuses that’s in the House of Representatives, we’re going to be there on the front lines with you doing what I’m advocating in order to make sure we get America to do the right thing.”

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Center for Policy Analysis and Research’s “Where Do We Go From Here?” encourages businesses to adopt sustainable, inclusive, and equitable practices.

(Black PR Wire) WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) recently announced the release of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) guide, “Where Do We Go from Here? A Guide to Advance Racial Equity Through Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance.” This comprehensive CSR guide is a blueprint for businesses and supporting organizations that challenge discriminatory practices and policies and seek to make a meaningful, positive impact. With an emphasis on genuine advocacy that goes beyond mere financial contributions, the guide empowers businesses to leverage their awareness of racial injustices and to adopt a clear stance on distinct societal matters.

“This guide is a testament to CBCF’s commitment to advancing racial equity and is a valuable tool for businesses aiming to make a lasting impact. It not only serves as a catalyst for positive change, but it also aligns with our unwavering commitment to advancing equity and justice for the global Black community,” says Rep. Terri A. Sewell, chair of the CBCF Board of Directors.

“As champions of social progress and advocates for positive change, we recognize the pivotal role that corporations play in our society and offer this guide as a catalyst for change and a resource to foster ethical leadership and an inclusive business landscape,” says Nicole Austin-Hillery, president and CEO of CBCF. “Through this CSR guide and our Center for Policy Analysis and Research, we invite C-Suite executives, small business leaders, and organizations to explore the transformative power of responsible corporate citizenship.”

Corporate social responsibility and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives are instrumental in demonstrating a company’s commitment to social well-being and ethical conduct. In the same spirit, CBCF’s CSR guide provides invaluable insights, best practices, and actionable strategies, while emphasizing the power of corporate social responsibility to drive positive change in communities and society.

“As a trusted resource, CBCF continues to lead the way in promoting responsible corporate citizenship and sustainability, ensuring that businesses can thrive while contributing positively to the global community,” says John Mason, chair of the CBCF Corporate Advisory Council. “This guide is not about checking DEI boxes; it’s about making a genuine difference in the communities we serve.”

CBCF’s corporate social responsibility guide stands as a testament to the expertise of the Center for Policy Analysis and Research at the intersection of policy research and social consciousness, emerging in large part from its National Racial Equity Initiative for Social Justice (NREI). Developed by former NREI John R. Lewis Social Justice Fellows, Shelby Birch and Jasmine Payne, this guide reflects the CBCF’s deep commitment to advancing sustainable and ethical business practices and dedication to fostering positive change in the corporate world. With a wealth of research-driven insights and evidence-based strategies, the guide underscores the Center’s contribution to the field of corporate social responsibility.

“In an era where businesses are increasingly aware of their role in society, it’s imperative to have a resource that not only guides but also inspires them to think critically and strategically about their social responsibility efforts,” shares Dr. Jonathan Cox, vice president of the CBCF Center for Policy Analysis and Research. “Where Do We Go From Here? is a vital tool to assist organizations in taking the initial steps towards making a meaningful impact.”

“Where Do We Go From Here? A Guide to Advance Racial Equity Through Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance” is now available to corporations and organizations seeking to strengthen their commitment to racial equity and social justice. For more information, please visit cbcfinc.org.

About the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.

Established in 1976, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) is a non-partisan, nonprofit, public policy, research, and educational institute committed to advancing the global Black community by developing leaders, informing policy and educating the public. For more information, visit cbcfinc.org.

Sources: Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.

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By SenatorCory V. McCray (D-Md.- 45)

Partnerships can conquer tough challenges. Part of my job as a public servant is to find solutions to these challenges, especially when they negatively impact the communities I represent. Since taking office, bringing a grocery store to the heart of East Baltimore has been a challenge. A few factors hinder a community grocery store from taking shape, such as population and the income level of residents and families in the community.

Even though the challenges before us are enormous, many are possible to solve. In a few short years, I have watched and worked hard to improve the educational outcomes for youth, make housing more affordable for families, reduce the number of liquor outlets, increase green spaces for people to enjoy, enhance public safety and so much more in East Baltimore. Food insecurity, however, has been a formidable quest. Anyone who grew up in Baltimore can remember our Harford Avenue and Federal Street supermarket. There was another on Chase Street and Patterson Park Avenue and– more recently– in the Church Square Shopping Center.

Many of those neighborhoods are now “food deserts” or “Healthy Food Priority Areas,” a report changed the name in 2018, but its definition did not change. “Healthy Food Priority Areas” are communities where healthy food choices are limited because the nearest supermarket is a quarter mile or more walking distance. This issue is a barrier for older people and people who rely on public transportation to get back and forth. While we have acted and done more minor things, such as increasing SNAP Benefits during the summer months through Summer Snap for Children Act, Senate Bill 280 (2020), and improving transit access to healthy food outlets through Senate Bill 116 (2020), communities such as Oliver, Darley Park, South Clifton Park and others in East Baltimore remain “Healthy Food Priority Areas.”

However, in the last two years, one of our greatest accomplishments has been partnering with Dana and Dan Henson of Henson Development on the Somerset footprint to secure a grocer in East Baltimore finally. They already rolled up their sleeves and created a proposal to secure federal dollars to develop affordable housing units, green spaces, and now a grocery store – the first to come to east Baltimore in decades. In 2021, I remember talking to Dana about developing a plan to lure a reputable grocer to invest in East Baltimore.

After careful consideration, we realized we needed a subsidy to put together a plan of action which is how the “Somerset Grocery Store Initiative” was developed. Working with Senate President Bill Ferguson, we secured $1 million in the 2022 Maryland Capital Budget in our quest to provide fresh food to our neighbors in East Baltimore. The following year we added another $300,000 from the 2023 Capital Budget to solidify a $1.3 million investment.

If this was a four-quarter game, I am glad we have made it through the first quarter and are working hard to move past the next three quarters. While ground has yet to break on this project, I remain enthusiastic about having secured the funding and inked the deal with the grocer — this process alone took several years to accomplish. Instead of losing grocers as we have over the past several decades in East Baltimore, we can celebrate the hard work to say we put points on the board and gained one. As we celebrate this win, I hope we are laying the blueprint for more opportunities in East Baltimore, success in West Baltimore, and a blueprint for urban neighborhoods across the country.

Senator Cory V. McCray  is a Democrat that represents District 45 in the State of Maryland.

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This Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) annual conference focused on the power of the Black vote throughout various sessions and at the culminating awards dinner.

President Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speak at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference Sept. 17. (AFRO Photo/ Rob Roberts)

The 46th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards dinner Sept.  17 not only featured the last CBCF conference address from the nation’s first Black president, but it furthermore featured politicians and the organization’s leadership who also stressed the importance of preserving the current political agenda for the benefit of the youth and the community as a whole.

“If you want to give Michelle and me a good sendoff — and that was a beautiful video — but don’t just watch us walk off into the sunset, now.  Get people registered to vote,” President Obama told a ballroom full of supporters. “If you care about our legacy, realize everything we stand for is at stake… My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot.  Democracy is on the ballot.  Justice is on the ballot.  Good schools are on the ballot.   Ending mass incarceration — that’s on the ballot right now!”

The awards dinner also honored Rep. Charles Rangle (D-N.Y.). As one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rangle is scheduled to retire from Congress at the end of the current term after serving residents of New York’s 13th district since 1971. Rangel received the Founder’s Phoenix award.

“I’m very pleased to see our wisdom become what it has today,” Rangle said. “The torch has passed and there is a lot more work to be done.”

Robert Smith, founder and CEO, Vista Equity Partners and the nine Black people who died at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. in June of 2015 received the CBCF Chair’s award. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) received The Barbara Jordan Phoenix award, named after a leader of the Civil Rights Movement and the first Black women to be elected to the U.S. Congress from the south. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton received The Trailblazer Phoenix award.

CBCF Phoenix Awards Dinner

As part of her acceptance speech, Clinton acknowledged the progress Obama made during his two terms in office, highlighting the fact that attendees and communities throughout the nation had to stand up to keep that progress going. “I have made the point over and over again; President Obama has saved our country from a second Great Depression, he brought Osama bin Laden (former leader of the al Qaeda terrorist group) to justice and so much more. I for one don’t think he gets the credit he deserves for doing what he’s done on behalf of the greatest country in the world,” she said. “In the country we have a moral obligation to … give every family a chance to rise up and be their dreams. That is what’s at stake in this election.”

The average of ABC News/ Washington Post polls taken in August and September show Clinton with a 91 percent support rate among Black voters, Trump only had 5 percent.  

“This award is also for everyone out there, breaking the barriers that are holding Americans back,” Clinton said. “The leaders like all of you and to a rising generation of young activists and to all of those on the front line dedicated to a proposition that in America every single child deserves the chance to fulfill his or her God-given potential.”

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah and singer, songwriter and actress Kelly Rowland served as the event’s emcees. CBCF Spouses 2016 Heineken USA Performing Arts Scholarship recipient Lauryn Hobbs sang the Black national anthem. Clarence Knight and The Clarence Knight Orchestra provided the musical entertainment.

“There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter,” Obama said. “It all matters.  And after we have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community, I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election…. Go vote.”

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With the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement following the acquittal of the man who murdered 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2013, Millennial activists have brought issues of race, racial disparities, state-sanctioned violence, racial equality and income and wealth disparities into the national conversation.

#BlackLivesMatter co-founder Alicia Garza said Black Lives Matter was “a call to action for Black people after Trayvon was posthumously placed on trial for his own murder and the killer, George Zimmerman, was not held accountable for the crime he committed. It was a response to the anti-Black racism that permeates our society and also, unfortunately, our movements.”

Panelists for the “Decriminalizing the Black Community” session included (left) The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, CEO and President of the National Newspapers Publishers Association; (center) former Peterburg, Virginia Police Chief John I. Dixon III; and (right) Major (retired) Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. (Courtesy Photos)

Social media was a game changer in transforming the anguish Garza and others like her around the country and other parts of the world felt about the injustices that allowed Trayvon’s killer to walk. And social media is also the vehicle that connected activists, allowing them to strategize and plan, becoming the mirror that enabled people, outside of Black communities, to see the often deadly results of police-community interactions.

“I’m committed to turning this around. This is one of the most important issues in the country right now. Folks are dying because we’re over-policing. Police officers need better training,” said former Peterburg, Virginia Police Chief John I. Dixon III. “Since the 1980s, we’ve incarcerated more men than in the whole history of this country. Only 14 percent of the people are African American, but African Americans represent 1 million of the 2.2 million people in prisons.”

Dixon admitted that he’s locked up his share of people because he was following the law and the policies that created them, but he said he woke up to the consequences of what he was doing.

“I’m guilty … but I grew up and realized that I was locking people who looked like me. The War on Drugs is a war on Black men,” Dixon said. “It destroyed men, their families and opportunities to provide for their families or go to college. We need good policymakers to develop good laws and we have to be sitting at the table.”

Dixon was joined by three panelists at a Decriminalizing the Black Community session at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference on Sept. 16. Panelists included The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, CEO and President of the National Newspapers Publishers Association; Major (retired) Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; and Christopher Alexander, a policy coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance. Guided by former congressman Kendrick Meeks, the group discussed how schools, politicians, policymakers and others have criminalized the Black community.

Currently, the federal government spends $80 billion a year to hold 2.3 million people behind bars. One million of that total are Black men and the arrest and incarceration of Black women is reaching record levels. Several speakers on panels discussing this issue cited the statistic that although the U.S. constitutes one-fifth of the world’s population, it has 25 percent of the world’s prisoners in its prisons and jails, more than China, India and Mexico. And for Black men, one of every 52 is either in jail, on parole or on probation.

During the three-day conference, attendees were constantly reminded of the precarious nature of the lives of Black and brown people. In Ohio, police shot and killed 13-year-old Tyree King; on the night of Sept. 16, officers gunned down 40-year-old unarmed Terrance Crutcher, who officers said repeatedly ignored their demands to put up his hands.

Meanwhile, one of the NYPD officers who shot Amadou Diallo 41 times as he reached for his wallet in 1999 was named “Sergeant of the Year” and Daniel Panteleo, the NYPD officer who’s chokehold of Eric Garner immediately preceded to his death, just received a hefty bump in pay — $116,996, including $23,000 in overtime since being put on modified duty. None of the officers directly involved in Garner’s death have been charged and a civil rights probe into the incident has been dragging on for more than two years.   

The panel used efforts by the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the use of menthol in tobacco products as just the latest example of policymakers advocating what could become a law used to wrongly label Black people as criminals.

“When we talk about policies going forward, what are the consequences? What happens after?” asked Franklin, who worked for 34 years with the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department. “The already growing illicit underground market in the Black community will grow and the banning of menthol will lead to more arrests.”

Alexander offered data and perspective on New York’s Stop and Frisk law which in 10 years  resulted in officers locking up 700,000 people – 88 percent who were young Black and Latino males. The American Civil Liberties Union substantiates Alexander’s observation that the NYPD stopped, questioned and searched more Black and brown men than are living in New York, meaning a number of them were stopped multiple times, yet nine out of every 10 men stopped were completely innocent.”

“I’m here because I’m the affected population,” said Alexander. “Marijuana has been hyper-criminalized … we can legalize substances but not legalize the people. In Colorado, there is a disparity between those being arrested.”

Chavis exhorted audience members to get involved.

“You need to go back to your member of Congress, legislator and those in public policy,” he said. “The NNPA will write about this. We want people to be informed. There are people who are well-intentioned who don’t consider the unintended consequences. We have to mobilize to prevent injury and more harm. We should oppose any act or legislation that would put our brothers and sisters at risk.”

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The money now spent on the U.S. prison system could be better used to train officers on de-escalation tactics, on policing without profiling and on how to compensate for implicit bias, according to U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.). 

He also called on people to vote in lawmakers—on both the local and national levels—who prioritize policies that reduce police violence.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott

“You can’t sleep through an election and think that we’re going to be able to have that impact,” Scott said. 

He made his remarks on Sept. 16 during a panel discussion called:  “A Blueprint for Meaningful Criminal Justice Reform” at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. 

States spend an average of $150,000 a year to lock violators up, according to the Justice Policy Institute. What’s more, the U.S. incurs an estimated $8 billion to $21 billion in annual costs to imprison young people, the institute’s data shows. 

That money covers treatment, unionized, privatized and overcrowded facilities, said Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, dubbing the prison system a “complete and utter failure for our country” that disproportionately affects Blacks.

“This is a monumental waste of public dollars and we believe we can do so much better,” he said. “We know how to do better.”

The Virginia lawmaker has introduced two recent pieces of legislation that address criminal justice reform, the Safe Accountable, Fair and Effective Justice Act and the Youth Justice Act. 

The former would reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, while the latter would aim to reform front-end sentencing and release policies, reserve prisons for violent and career criminals, eliminate mandatory minimum sentences in drug cases, encourage increased use of probation and problem-solving courts and more.  

Neither bill has advanced in Congress; it’s likely that neither will see a vote. But there are other avenues to take even if Congress refuses to act, said Vincent Schiraldi, senior research fellow, at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Massachusetts. Those efforts include reminding prosecutors that they have discretion in deciding whether to push for prison time. 

“This is the next frontier,” Schiraldi said. 

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HBCUs have done more with less for decades, but going forward, relying primarily on alumni donations may not be enough.

Instead, universities should take the initiative to forge creative partnerships with corporations and others to increase cash flow, said one college president.

“We need to attract foundations that are giving funds out for the kinds of work we do,” said Jimmy Jenkins, president of Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C. “We need to be able to get before those boards. We need to be able to also look for government grants and contracts. So if we can increase those, we can increase the funding that comes along with what we’re asking our alumni to give.” 

He said that strategy is paying off for Livingstone, where he’s asked board members and other prominent people to connect the school with various foundation and corporate board members. Thanks to that networking, the National Science Foundation, for example has awarded $2.3 million in grants that faculty members applied for, Jenkins said. 

He made his comments following a panel discussion at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 46th annual conference in D.C. The panel focused on the past, present and future of HBCUs.  

 “If the Benjamins are not there, colleges can’t give the scholarships that our students desperately need, can’t retain the faculty that we desperately need, can’t make sure that our buildings and grounds look like something that folks want to go to,” said Julianne Malveaux, president emeritus of Bennett College. “So folks need to give.” 

At the same time, HBCUs should show alumni where their donated money goes, and involve them in the schools’ daily activities, said Ronald Johnson, president of Clark-Atlanta University. That helps increase transparency and encourages them to give more, he said. 

Terrence J., an alum of North Carolina A & T State University, said he didn’t need a full accounting of his alma mater’s financial activities. The actor and television personality is thankful the school took a chance on him when his low grades kept him out of the state’s higher-ranked schools. 

“The biggest highlight of my career—more than any film I’ve done or more than any show I’ve been on—last year was when I gave a $100,000 endowment to my university,” he said, explaining that the endowment was more important to him because HBCUs give students opportunities. 

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The political power of millennials and Black women were topics of discussion at issue forums during the 46th Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference.

U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.)

U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) hosted an issue forum, “Black Millennials: Building National and Local Political Power.” Meanwhile, the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute hosted its Eighth Annual Policy Forum with the theme “Choosing Our Leaders…Setting Our Agenda” on Sept. 16 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, D.C.

Edwards said that it is critical that millennials assert themselves politically.

“Every powerful movement that this country has ever had has been led by young people,” the representative said. “It is your time to really seize the moment. There are some who say that you are not ready but don’t listen to them. Trust yourselves.”

In the 2016 election cycle, millennials—Americans born between 1980 and 2000—are on pace to outvote the Baby Boomers. Barack Obama’s election to the presidency in 2008 and his re-election in 2012 has been credited in part to the support of millennials.

The issue forum that Edwards hosted consisted of Marc Baynard, director of the Black Worker Initiative; Carmen Berkeley, the civil and human rights director for the AFL-CIO; the Rev. Tony Lee, senior pastor of the Community of Hope AME Church in Prince George’s County, Janae Bonsu, national public policy chair of the Black Youth Project 100, Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change and Dayvon Love, director of research and public policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle.

There has been talk among some millennial leaders that their generation won’t vote in large numbers because of discontentment with the presidential candidates offered by the two major parties. Bonsu said that perception is simply not true.

“We are going to be fully engaged in the November 8 general election,” she said. “We are going to get people to vote. There are a number of ways that will happen. We can engage you at the party, at the bus stop and at the grocery store.”

Love said that a lack of interest in the political process may be result of the actions of past generations.

“We need to be clear, racial integration has been a failure,” he said. “When integration took place, it replaced the institutions that helped Black communities thrive during segregation. The government and corporations took up the slack and we as Black people have suffered for it.”

Dr. Barbara Williams Skinner

While Love made it clear that he doesn’t support segregation, he said that Blacks should be doing for themselves.

While the millennials were talking about how to engage their generation, the panel hosted by the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute advocated ensuring that Black women are ready to vote in the general election. The moderator for the panel was Dr. Barbara Williams Skinner, a motivational speaker, religious leader and executive coach and the panelists were Melanie Campbell, the convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable; Clayola Brown, president of the Black Women’s Roundtable; Mignon Clyburn, Federal Communications Commission commissioner; LaDavia Drane of Hillary for America and Beverly Evans Smith, national first vice president, Delta Sigma Theta.

In the 2012 election cycle, Black women voted at a higher rate than any racial and gender group. Democratic exit polls during this year’s primaries showed that Black women outvoted Black men.

Drane said her candidate, Hillary Clinton, recognized the power of Black women’s votes.

“She understands that she can’t get to the White House without you,” Drane said. “I urge you to do your part to make sure that Love Trumps Hate.”

Skinner said that this year’s election is no time “for foolishness.”

“Black women cannot be talking ‘we don’t like her,’” Skinner said. “We need to talk about who will help our families. We need to also look at the races down the ballot. Don’t complain if you don’t know who the judges are. Get educated before you get in that poll booth.”

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What has slowed growth in the number of African American school principals in the United States? This was the question that opened “Black Principals: How to Strengthen the Leadership Pipeline,” a panel held during the 46th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Leadership Conference.

The discussion featured five African American principals from District of Columbia, Memphis, Tenn, Clinton, Md., Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta, and was moderated by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.)

(from left) Erica Jordan-Thomas, principal Ranson IB Middle School in Charlotte, N.C., William L. Blake, Ed.D., principal at Stephen Decatur Middle School in Clinton, Md., and Elena Bell, Ed.M., principal at Peabody and Watkins Elementary School in Washington, D.C. (AFRO Photo/Brenda Siler)

Nationwide, Norton said the number of African American principals has increased only from nine percent to ten percent in recent years. This small increase prompted the Congresswoman to ask, “What is wrong with the pipeline?”

Though the panel of school principals cited a passion for teaching, the consensus amongst all five pointed to the importance of mentorships as a start for teachers to make it through the pipeline to become principals.

According to William L. Blake, Ed.D., principal at Stephen Decatur Middle School in Clinton, Md., “Mentorships are the number one equalizer that prepares individuals for success. We all know that someone helped us, so we need to reach back to help someone else.

Two principals cited the need for a residency-type of program similar to what doctors and lawyers experience to help prepare for educational advancement. Residency programs were attended by Archie Moss, Jr., who is now principal at Bruce Elementary School in Memphis, Tenn.

“In my third year of teaching, I was in the Emerging Leaders program in Memphis,” said Moss. “I was paired with a Black male principal where I learned how to drive instruction, cultivate leaders, and interact with the community.”

A common theme between the panelists was the challenge to bring in teachers who could best interact with diverse student populations.

“I have to be thoughtful and strategic about diversifying the pool,” said Elena Bell, Ed.M., principal at Peabody and Watkins Elementary Schools in the D.C. public school system. “We struggled to find teachers of color. I had to be very intentional in how I wanted to structure our space.”

When interviewing new teachers for their schools, there was agreement among the principals that in many, cases teachers can improve how they highlight their accomplishments.

“I want to see someone who is a great, amazing teacher before we begin talking about being a principal. I want to know about individual achievement vs. what you have accomplished as a team member,” said Erica F. Jordan-Thomas, principal at Ranson IB Middle School in Charlotte, N.C. “Also, I run across too many teachers who rely on their great rapport with children and not on academic excellence in the classroom.”

Alexandria Bates, Ed.S., the principal of Westlake High School in Atlanta, stressed that principals need to be trained to identify and build a teacher’s capacity in order to move through the pipeline.

All of the principals agreed that being a productive educational leader, whether as a principal or a superintendent, requires developing a strong instructional foundation as a teacher.

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Black and Latino communities need to work together in order to achieve economic and educational parity with Whites, according to a recent session at a legislative conference.

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) sponsored the “Blacks & Latinos: Our Quest for Civil Rights” forum Sept. 15 during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Johnson told the gathering of 35 people that people of color should stick together on issues of common concern.

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson hosted issue forum on Black-Brown relations. (Courtesy Photo)

“It is important for people whose experiences intersect should correspond together,” he said. “They should come together and form a coalition that represents political power for our communities.”

Fourteen percent of all U.S. citizens are Black and 17 percent are Latino. Latinos are the fastest growing population in the U.S. and anchor the majority-minority status of such states as California, Texas and New Mexico and have strong percentages for states with people of color populations such as Maryland, Nevada and Florida.

Dr. Ramona Houston served as the moderator for the forum. Panelists included Clarissa Martinez de Castro, deputy vice president of the National Council of La Raza; Donald Cravins, Jr., executive director of the Washington Bureau of the National Urban League; Alejandro Y. Castillo, national director of the  U.S. Department of Commerce/Minority Business Development Agency; Kevin F. Gilbert, a member of the executive committee of the National Education Association; Carol Frazer-Haynesworth, an arts entrepreneur; Guesnerth Josue Perera, director of communications for the Afro-Latino Forum; and Hernando Viveros Cabezas, president of the Afro Columbian Global Initiative.

Houston, who noted that she has both Black and Latino ancestry, said that both groups suffer from negative stereotypes.

“In this country, Blacks and Latinos are considered lazy, dirty, untrustworthy and ignorant,” she said. “Blacks and Latinos have inadequate access to health care, have high teenage pregnancies and HIV-AIDS rates, have high dropout rates and don’t have easy access to higher education and suffer from high unemployment and employment and economic discrimination. Not only that, we face bigotry in our communities because Blacks say bad things about Latinos and Latinos do the same.”

Despite the problems, de Castro said that those of Black and Brown skin should work together.

“Both of our communities deal with these adversities but have resilience,” she said. “We can beat those obstacles.”

de Castro pointed out that her organization and Black groups have worked together on common issues such as affordable housing and access to good education and there will be collaboration in the future.

“We are planning to work with African American organizations like the Urban League on reforming the criminal justice system,” she said.

Cravins said that the National Urban League welcomes input from Latinos.

“We want you to come to the Urban League when you need help,” Cravins said. “When we do our annual State of Black America reports, we now include statistics dealing with Latinos. We are also working with Latino organizations to stop voter suppression.”

While the discussion centered on U.S. Blacks and Latino relations, there was a mention of Black Latinos in Central and South America. Cabezas mentioned that there are 100 million Black Brazilians and they constitute 51 percent of the country’s population.

In his country of Colombia, Blacks make up 10 percent of the population and Cabezas pointed out that they are an emerging political and economic force.

“Like in the U.S., people of African descent have struggled for respect,” he said.

Castillo explained that the Black-Brown relationship should have an economic component.

“We need to add another color to this discussion and that is green,” she said. “In addition to fighting for civil rights, we should be fighting for economic rights.”

Castillo said that the Brazilian market is open for Black and Brown entrepreneurs and that the world should be their marketplace, not just their own neighborhoods.

Gilbert said that educational attainment is a boon for both groups to grow together and be prosperous and powerful.

“Education is the gateway for opportunity,” he said. “Both Black and Brown communities need to work to dismantle the school to prison pipeline, improve the English Language learners system and make sure that students of color have resources to learn.”

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Despite the recent statistics showing that unemployment in the U.S. is near five percent, U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) said he is still pushing his full employment bill to insure that any American that wants work will be able to.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers has been in the House of Representatives since 1965. (Courtesy Photo)

Conyers is the author of “The Humphrey-Hawking Full Employment and Training Act of 2015,” which is designed to ensure that unemployed Americans will be able to use their labor and talents to rebuild America’s roads, bridges, parks and electrification systems. He convened an issue forum titled “Why We Need Full Employment Now” Sept. 15 at the Washington Convention Center as a part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference.

He said the recently released positive unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are a deception. Conyers, the longest-serving member in the U.S. Congress, is also dean of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Michigan delegation.

“The nearly five percent unemployment is good but we aren’t talking about our communities,” the representative said. “That is why we need full employment right now. To me, full employment is a fundamental human right.”

The issue forum panel was moderated by Isaiah J. Poole, who works for the Campaign for America’s Future and featured Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy; Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research; Philip Harvey, professor at the Rutgers University School of Law; Connie M. Razza, director of Strategic Research, Center for Popular Democracy; David Stein, lecturer at the UCLA Department of History and African American Studies; Juan Garcia, global leader for Career Advancement at Amazon.com and Anand Vimalassery, policy director of the National Job Corps Association.

Poole said that the real jobless rate is almost 12 percent, including people who have become discouraged from looking for work and people who can’t find full time work. “The rate is upwards of 25 percent in some communities of color,” he said.

Harvey produced data from the BLS that showed that while the unemployment rate is 4.9 percent for all Americans; Blacks have an 8.1 percent rate while Whites are at 4.4 percent. For Black youth aged 16-19, the jobless rate is 26.1 percent while for White youth it is 14 percent, according to Harvey’s data.

Harvey’s data shows that people who have bachelor’s degrees and higher have a 2.7 percent unemployment rate while those who have less than a high school diploma are at 7.2 percent. Harvey said that the BLS statistics shouldn’t surprise anyone.

“Anyone who has a disadvantage tends to be unemployed,” he said. “That’s why we need full employment because every person who wants a job will be able to have one.”

Baker said that many Americans are working involuntarily at part-time jobs that they don’t want and that men during the prime working ages of 22-55 are dropping out of the labor force because of the lack of full-time employment.

“The idea that men are sitting in their homes playing video games or watching pornography is simply not true,” Baker said.

Wilson said that her research shows that full employment would be a benefit for the country.

“Full employment would produce stronger wage growth, people would make more money per hour and it would increase household income and decrease poverty,” she said.

Vimalassery said that full employment may be able to curtail one of the most unusual aspects of the present employment picture.

“Many Americans are over-skilled for the jobs that they have,” he said. “People do have jobs but those jobs don’t fit with what they are trained in. That is why the Job Corps is investing in job training for work that will be needed in the future.”

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Nationally, only 16 percent of high school seniors show proficiency in math and express interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Unfortunately, representation and degree completion in STEM fields is even more scant for students of color.

David Johns, White House, Executive Director,White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, addresses participants at the “Producing STEM Stars” panel during the CBCF’s Annual Legislative Conference on Sept. 14. (Photo by Chelsea Burwell)

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference included a panel discussion, “Producing STEM STARS: Supporting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Success among African American Students” on Sept. 14 that addressed the department’s statistics and offered solutions to diversify the field and workforce.

“The greatest thing that had the most impact on me was the support system I had with my mother and other ladies that were with me,” said panelist Yasmin Graham, who is a student of color in STEM at the University of Maryland – Baltimore County. “They were always there to challenge and encourage me to take classes that were beyond the norm, that were higher level math and science classes.”

Other student panelists included: Aliyah Smith, University of Maryland- Baltimore County; Anicca Harriot, Regent University and Grace Dolan-Sandrino, Duke Ellington School of the Arts; all of the panelists were young women of color. David Johns, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, was the moderator.  

As millennial voices led the discussion, important facets of Black youth entering technology and art fields – such as mentorship, support systems and resourcing – were highlighted.

“Seeing the dedication that other people had in making sure I followed my dreams motivated me all the more to prove them right,” Harriot said. “It’s incredibly rare, as you see with the number of women that come out of this pipeline. So, having that support system, not only from people who were there to motivate me but people who looked like me, was important, because it showed that there were people like me.”

Dolan-Sandrino, a high school junior who is majoring in theater, said that integrating art classes opened doors for students to take their creativity to new levels.

“Art education is very important because it allows us to correct and create our own narratives,” she said. According to Dolan-Sandrino, investment in arts education advocacy is essential to her self-expression and identity.

“I am an Afro-Latino transgender youth and I definitely see myself falling into the large community of marginalized people; being able to create my own narratives through my own work is very helpful.”

Additionally, Graham, Williams and Dolan-Sandrino said it is vital to tap into the surrounding communities for support and opportunities. With limited funding being allocated to art education and STEM programs, the young women said that it is necessary for nonprofit and local organizations to fill the voids for Black youth.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to get engaged early and engage often,” Williams said.

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A diverse mixture of political, civic and civil rights leaders participated in a town hall meeting to discuss the problems that Blacks faced and what direction should be taken under a new presidential administration in 2017.

During the CBC conference’s National Town Hall Sept. 15, Valerie Jarrett spoke about President Obama’s accomplishments during his time in office. (Courtesy Photo)

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation hosted its annual National Town Hall meeting on Sept. 15 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown D.C. U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), one of the conference’s co-chairs, told an estimated 400 people that the Nov. 8 general election is crucial to the future of the U.S.

“This election will be decided by the people,” Bass said. “Our issues are America’s issues and now more than ever, disparities in education, employment and health care cannot continue to leave our communities behind.”

Participants in the panel included: Rep. Robert ‘Bobby’ Scott (D-Va.); Julianne Malveaux, a nationally recognized economist and writer; Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League; LaTanja Silvester, president, Service Employees International Union; Brittany Packnett, vice president National Community Alliances, Teach for America; Jahmal Miller, deputy director, Office of Health Equity, California Department of Public Health; and Melina Abdullah, professor and chair, the Pan-African studies department at California State University.

The moderator for the program was April Ryan, White House correspondent and bureau chief of the American Urban Radio Network. Before the discussion began, Valerie Jarrett, the senior political adviser to President Obama, talked about the accomplishments of the nation’s first Black commander-in-chief.

“Thank you for your support for our president and our country,” Jarrett said. “What an eight years it has been. In 2009, we were losing 800,000 jobs a month and unemployment was at 10 percent, with it being higher for African Americans. Today, we are at a 5.6 unemployment rate and, as has been reported in the news, middle class incomes are rising for the first time since 1999.”

Jarret mentioned the passage and successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the highest high school graduation rate in the nation’s history. She also spoke about the troubled criminal justice system and said it needed reform, noting that the president commuted the sentences of 673 inmates and pointed out the work of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and current Attorney General Loretta Lynch in fighting voter suppression.

“I encourage everyone to vote,” Jarrett said. “Not just for president, but for state’s attorney, judges and state legislators–those legislators will draw the lines for the 2020 census.”

The election generated a lot of discussion among the panelists. Miller said that Blacks need to be fully engaged in the political process.

“Many Black people only see voting as the means for change,” he said. “We have to change our game beyond just voting. We have to show up for hearings in Washington, our state capitols, our county seats and city halls.”

The Pew Research Center released data in 2013 that showed, for the first time, Blacks voted at a higher rate for the 2012 election cycle than Whites. Sylvester said that Blacks need to be more actively engaged politically “and make sure that the right people are elected to office.”

Packnett said that she intends to vote in the November election but confesses that many of her fellow millennials may not.

“The presidential candidates aren’t addressing the issues that affect us,” she said. “We have to ask why?”

Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans, took issue with Packnett ‘s concerns.

“You are not the first generation that is frustrated,” he said. “Voting is a responsibility, it’s not like buying ice cream. I agree that we need to protest and make our concerns heard but it is not a viable strategy for Black people not to vote.”

The other topics that were discussed weren’t debated so passionately. The panelists supported the Black Lives Matter movement and favored ending the prison-industrial complex in which people of color fueled its profits by being incarcerated.

“We have five percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population,” Morial said. “In my home state of Louisiana, many towns’ primary industry is the prison that created jobs for the people and supports local businesses. This is an example of misplaced priorities.”

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The leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and its foundation recently announced that the focus of their annual legislative conference will be on protecting and increasing the voting rights of people of color.

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass is the co-chair, with Rep. Lacy Clay, of the 46th Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.

The 46th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference kicked off on Sept. 14 at a press conference that took place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest D.C. A. Shuanise Washington, the president and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which runs the legislative conference, stressed the importance of the voting rights of Blacks.

“We have made great strides in increasing African-American voter registration and turnout, but significant barriers remain,” she said. “African Americans still face challenges from an enduring legacy of having been deprived to vote. And so, we must challenge restrictive voting measures wherever they exist.”

The co-chairs of the conference are U.S. Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Lacy Clay (D-Mo.).

“This year’s Annual Legislative Conference theme, ‘Defining the Moment, Building the Movement,’ highlights the social and political moments in American history,” Bass said. “The CBCF plays a vital role in continuing this legacy with its first-ever Voting Rights series and Black Voter Turnout Day.”

Voting rights is one of the many topics pertaining to African Americans that will be addressed at the legislative conference from Sept.14-18. CBC members will sponsor and lead issue forums and workshops on a wide range of issues such as minority health disparities, increasing government contracts for minority businesses, the state of Black women, an update on the status of HIV/AIDS and the expanding political and civic empowerment.

Almost all of the forums, workshops and braintrusts will take place at the convention center.

The signature annual conference events such as the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts (Sept. 14), the National Town Hall meeting (Sept. 15), the Prayer Breakfast (Sept. 17 in the morning) and the Phoenix Awards Annual Dinner (Sept. 17 in the evening) will also take place at the convention center with the exception of the fine arts gala. The fine arts gala will take place at Sidney Harmon Hall.

The Phoenix Awards Dinner will be the last time that President Obama will give a keynote address at the event as the nation’s commander-in-chief. The president will be joined by Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary R. Clinton, members of the Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina, U.S. Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and Black billionaire Robert Smith, who will receive awards.

“The 2016 presidential election will be the first election in 50 years without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act,” Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the chairman of the CBC said. “It is imperative that the African-American community understands how this change may impact their ability to vote. CBCF’s Voter Protection Series is a critical step in this direction.”

The Voter Protection Series will be presented with the cooperation of Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and the Judiciary Braintrust, the Voting Rights Caucus and the Voting Rights Alliance on Sept. 16 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. with such national leaders as NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks, Barbara Arnwine, founder and president of Transformative Justice Coalition and the Rev. William Barber II, executive director of the North Carolina-based Repairers of the Breach.

The foundation has on its website a voting rights toolkit that Clay said “is designed to help all citizens better exercise their right to vote.”

“The nullification of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act could have a far-reaching impact on voter turnout and, as a member of the Voting Rights Caucus, this is a concern of mine,” Clay said.

Butterfield said that high Black voter turnout could not only help a candidate win the White House but increase the numbers of the CBC.

“The way I see it now, we will have a new CBC member from Orlando, Richmond, Va., and Wilmington, Del.,” Butterfield said. “If the presidential election goes the way I hope it does in November, we may have a Black U.S. senator from Virginia in 2017.”

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Obama and Michelle wave to attendees at the CBCF’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner on Sept. 19 after Obama delivered a speech centered on Black women. (AP Photo)

President Obama presented a very “pro-women” message during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation(CBCF)’s Phoenix Awards Dinner on Sept. 19. He stressed the importance of female strength, education and health, while also advocating for more positive opportunities for the youth.

“I’m focusing on women tonight because I want them to know how much we appreciate them, how much we admire them, how much we love them,” Obama said during the event that capped the 45th Annual Legislative Conference. “Because all of us are beneficiaries of a long line of strong Black women who helped carry this country forward.  Their work to expand civil rights opened the doors of opportunity, not just for African Americans but for all women, for all of us – Black and White, Latino and Asian, LGBT and straight, for our first Americans and our newest Americans.  And their contributions in every field – as scientists and entrepreneurs, educators, explorers – all made us stronger.”

The president spoke of holding civil rights leader Amelia Boynton Robinson’s hand when they walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the seminal march on March 7, 1965, when Alabama State troopers attacked Blacks who were protesting for their right to vote.

“Like every parent, I can’t help to see the world increasingly through my daughters’ eyes,” Obama said.  “And on that day, when we were celebrating that incredible march in Selma, I had Ms. Amelia’s hand in one of my hands, but Michelle had Sasha’s hand, and my mother-in-law had Malia’s hand, and it was a chain across generations. …  And that tells me that if we follow their example, we’re going to cross more bridges in the future.  If we keep moving forward, hand in hand, God willing, my daughters’ children will be able to cross that bridge in an America that’s more free, and more just, and more prosperous than the one that we inherited.” 

Obama, keynote speaker for the CBCF’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner on Sept. 19, delivers a speech that highlighted the importance of Black women to the country’s and the Black community’s progression. (AP Photo)

Robinson was posthumously presented one of the five Phoenix awards along with the Rev. Dr. William Barber II, who was instrumental in the release of the Wilmington Ten; Fred Gray, civil rights attorney for Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; civil right’s activist Juanita Abernathy, who helped organize and lead the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama (1965-1966) and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. According to a press release from the CBCF, the fraternity received the award for its diligence in cementing Dr. King’s legacy with a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

In addition to awarding the honorees, tributes were also given for Julian Bond and Congressman Louis Stokes. Both men died early this year, Aug. 15 and Aug. 18, respectively.

The honorees “remind us of the courage and sacrifices, the work that they’ve done – and not just at the national level, but in local communities all across the country,” Obama said. “We couldn’t be prouder of them. The heroes of the Civil Rights Movement whom we lost last month remind us of the work that remains to be done.”

Obama also reflected on the need for criminal justice reform. “There is no contradiction between us caring about our law enforcement officers and also making sure that our laws are applied fairly,” he said. “We need to make sure the laws are applied evenly.  This is not a new problem.  It’s just that in recent months, in recent years, suddenly folks have videos and body cameras, and social media, and so it’s opened our eyes to these incidents. … But we can’t avoid these tough conversations altogether.  That’s not going to help our police officers, the vast majority who do the right thing every day, by just pretending that these things aren’t happening.  That’s not going to help build trust between them and the communities in which they serve.”

The dinner also put a spotlight on youth development and progression, highlighting the CBCF’s internships and fellowship programs on Capitol Hill, the need for more entrepreneurship opportunities, and a greater push for the Black community to be involved in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Obama said he would work with Congress and many in the CBC to try to make progress on legislation that addresses unjust sentencing laws and encourages prevention to influence youth to take different paths while also helping ex-offenders.

Special guests attending the dinner included presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), Rev. Al Sharpton, Judge Greg Mathis and several other Congress members. Actors Larenz Tate and Nia Long emceed the event. Denise Ward, a senior at Boston University, sang the national anthem.

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Congresswoman Maxine Waters speaking to audience. (Photos by Linda Poulson)

Mandatory minimum sentencing is an out-of-touch, unfair mechanism in the criminal justice system that disproportionately affects people of color,  U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) argued during a forum titled “Mandatory Minimums: New Opportunities for Criminal Justice Reform” at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference on Sept. 17.

“Judges and others deserve the opportunity to look at each individual and their case, understand something about them, and make the decision based on the facts that have been presented to them,” Waters said. “There should be no ‘cookie cutter’ in justice, …when you have to look in the book and be ‘OK, and this is what we’re going to do.’ If you can do that you don’t need a judge.”

Waters was assisted by attorney, author and professor Charles Ogletree, of Harvard Law School; and the panel that included Nkechi Taifa, senior policy analyst for the Open Society Institute; Marc Mauer, of the Sentencing Project; David Keene, of The Washington Times; Sarah Godfrey, research director of the FAMM Foundation; and Kemba Smith, founder of the Kemba Smith Foundation.

Group picture of panelists. (Photos by Linda Poulson)

Waters called Smith her “poster child” due to her personal story of going from a Hampton University student to a drug dealer’s girlfriend, an association that landed her in federal prison. Smith was given a 24-plus-year sentence but served only six-and-a-half years due to worldwide advocacy on her behalf.  Former President Bill Clinton reduced her sentence and she was released in December 2000.

Smith comes to Washington every year to lobby for the reversal of the disturbing trend in the rise of lengthy sentences for first-time nonviolent drug offenders.

Gwen Carr, mother of the late Eric Gardner and husband Bernard. (Photos by Linda Poulson)

“She’s someone who has suffered unfairly and was incarcerated…but came out swinging, who came out fighting, and continues to fight,” said Waters.

Also present was Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Gardner, who was killed in a chokehold by White New York policeman Daniel Pantaleo on July 17, 2014. Carr and her husband, of Staten Island, N.Y., received a standing ovation from the audience.

“I wanted to come because this all involves us,” Carr told the AFRO. “We don’t know when we will have a loved one or ourselves involved in minimum incarceration.”

Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree with attendee (left) and Sarah Godfrey (FAMM Foundation). (Photos by Linda Poulson)

Waters said she has set up forums for mothers and families across the country whose relatives were killed by police. Her goal is to get real personal input rather than what has been said in the media.

“Police are using the power of the gun and the badge to kill Black males,” Waters said.  If you’re Black, African-American, a minority, you stand to be arrested more than anybody else.  There has to be a revolution in the criminal justice system.”

The congresswoman said in addition to reforming the laws, more money is needed to hire lawyers for unfairly targeted and punished defendants. She urged attendees to continue advocating on behalf of those swept up in the system.

“Let’s not give up on our people; let’s not give up on our young people, in particular,” Waters said. “We cannot afford to keep losing our folks and our young parents to this senselessness. We cannot continue to keep our families broken up and separated and have them locked up for long periods of time.”

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Congressman Danny Davis (D-Ark.) addressed the need for more comprehensive re-entry programs for those formerly incarcerated. (Photo by Shantella Y. Sherman)

While several panels during this year’s Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference convened to discuss how best to keep African Americans from being disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system, U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ark.) sought solutions for those reentering society after incarceration.  Davis’ forum was titled, “Returning Citizens: What Really Works in Reentry?”

“Prison reform and reentry are the most pernicious issues facing this country and African Americans are at the center of the debate.  Though making up 5 percent of the global population, they make up 25 percent of the prison population,” Davis said.  “Initially, these numbers didn’t mean a whole lot, but all behaviors have meaning. And, I am convinced that as long as I can walk down the streets where I live and run into three young men and one in three has been incarcerated it does not speak well of equal justice or portend well for a nation that says all men are created equal.”

Davis hosted several stakeholders in the criminal justice system on his panel, including leaders of several organizations that work exclusively with training returning citizens to reduce recidivism.  Among them were Victor B. Dickson, president and CEO of Chicago’s Safer Foundation, whose organization helps people with criminal records get employment.  According to Dickson, new legislation introduced by Davis has the potential to end multigenerational poverty and the “derivative” crimes associated with it.  

Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) was an audience member in Congressman Danny Davis’ “Returning Citizens: What Really Works in Reentry?” panel. (Photo by Shantella Y. Sherman)

“Dr. King spoke about derivative crimes born out of the racism and poverty people experience as the result of not having physical or economic mobility,” Dickson said. “The average woman who has been incarcerated is making less than $15,000 a year, so our focus has to be on reinforcing education and the skills she needs to re-enter either the same community with economic mobility, or into a new community that better supports her new skills.”

Linda McGrew, assistant director for Reentry Services Division of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said that building reentry skills has always played an important role in the history of incarceration, but has only recently gained a momentum through new reforms.  

“The Bureau of Prisons has a twofold mission: protect society and provide an environment that is safe, humane and cost efficient, but also to provide those reentering society with tools they need to survive once they are released,” McGrew said.  “We have a saying that reentry begins on the first day of incarceration because we have unit teams and reentry affairs coordinators assigned to each person to assess their risks—whether they face anger management issues, mental health problems, or histories of abuse.”

Panelists spoke of thousands of jobs, particularly within the medical field, that go unfilled each year because companies exclude those with felonies from application pools.  Davis said one of the biggest problems facing reentering populations is the inability to get employment.

“We need to get back to helping one another as well.  I found that there were churches that were as pious as the days were long, but they would not hire an ex-offender to sweep the grounds because they believed he would steal all the Bibles,” Davis said.  “They would pray for him, and they would talk about him, but they would not offer him the second chance he needed.”

Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who made an impromptu visit to Davis’ session, concurred, saying that ending recidivism has a lot to do with simply giving people a second chance.  In the interim, bipartisan support has grown for second chance legislation because incarceration has begun to drain the budgets of many states.

“Mass incarceration is not free—Texas found that they needed $2 billion for prison construction and someone said let’s spend a couple of million on second chance programs and education instead.  Not only did they not have to build those prisons, but they were able to close some of the ones they already had,” Scott said.  “Suddenly we are on the same page – bipartisanship – not for the same reason, mind you, but support for second chance programs are cost effective.”

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President Barack Obama speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, about black women’s role in helping shape American democracy, calling them “the thinkers and the doers” who made things happen at the height of the civil rights movement half a century ago. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama paid tribute Saturday to Black women for their role in helping shape American democracy, calling them “the thinkers and the doers” who made things happen at the height of the civil rights movement half a century ago.

Obama said Black women did the behind-the-scenes work of strategizing boycotts and organizing marches while others got the credit. He said they have been part of every great movement in American history, and that every American has benefited as a result.

“Women were the foot soldiers. Women strategized boycotts. Women organized marches,” Obama said in a keynote address to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual awards dinner. “Even if they weren’t allowed to run the civil rights organizations on paper, behind the scenes they were the thinkers and the doers making things happen each and every day, doing the work that no one else wanted to do.”

“Women made the movement happen,” he said.

But Obama said that while Black women and girls have made progress and are opening more of their own businesses and graduating from high school and college at higher rates, they are still overrepresented in low-paying jobs and underrepresented in management.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, where the president spoke about the challenges facing black women, particularly in the areas of education, employment and criminal justice. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

He even invoked his wife, Michelle, as an example of the attitudes about black women that he said persist. The first lady, a lawyer with degrees from two Ivy League universities, has spoken on numerous occasions of being told by her teachers that she was setting her sights too high.

“Those stereotypes and pressures, they still affect our girls,” said Obama, the father of two teenage daughters. “So we all have to be louder than the voices that are telling our girls they’re not good enough, that they’ve got to act a certain way.”

Obama has had the dinner spotlight to himself during all but one of his nearly seven years in office. But with the campaign to succeed him in full swing, he had some competition for attention at Saturday’s gathering sponsored by a major Democratic Party constituency group.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton looks to President Barack Obama as he speaks on stage at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. The president spoke about black women’s role in helping shape American democracy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, who wore lipstick red, attended the dinner to mingle. Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering a late entry into the Democratic race, attended a caucus prayer breakfast.

This year’s dinner honored Fred Gray, a civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Juanita Abernathy, a civil rights activist who helped lead the historic Montgomery bus boycott in her home state of Alabama in the mid-1950s.

Posthumous honors went to Amelia Boynton Robinson, an organizer of the Bloody Sunday march to Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1965. She celebrated this year’s 50th anniversary of the march by crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, while holding hands with Obama.

Boynton Robinson died late last month at age 104.

___

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In this Sept. 27, 2014 file photo, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk across the stage at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 44th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington. Obama has had the spotlight to himself at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual awards dinner during all but one of his nearly seven years in office. But on Saturday, with the campaign to succeed him in full swing, Obama will face competition for attention at the gathering sponsored by a major Democratic Party constituency group. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton planned to attend the dinner being held at Washington’s convention center to mingle. She was not expected to take the stage. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has had the spotlight to himself at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual awards dinner during all but one of his nearly seven years in office.

But on Saturday, with the campaign to succeed him in full swing, Obama was certain to face some competition for attention at the gathering sponsored by a major Democratic Party constituency group.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton planned to attend the dinner at Washington’s convention center — to mingle, but not give a speech.

Vice President Joe Biden attended a caucus prayer breakfast before heading to his home in Delaware for the weekend.

Biden has been consulting with family and advisers and traveling across the country as he considers a late entry into the 2016 White House race.

Clinton, the early front-runner, has slipped in the polls against a strong challenge by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and controversy over using a personal email address during her tenure as secretary of state.

Obama intended to use his sixth address at the gala to highlight African-American women and the role they have played in shaping American democracy, the White House said.

He was expected to note the challenges facing Black women, particularly in the areas of education, employment and criminal justice.

This year’s dinner is honoring Fred Gray, a civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Juanita Abernathy, a civil rights activist who helped lead the historic Montgomery bus boycott in her home state of Alabama in the mid-1950s.

Posthumous honors are being given to Amelia Boynton Robinson, an organizer of the Bloody Sunday march to Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1965. Earlier this year, she celebrated the 50th anniversary of the march by crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, while holding hands with Obama.

Boynton Robinson died late last month at age 104.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com

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Dr. Iva E. Carruthers and the Rev. E. Terri LaVelle talk on a panel during the CBC Annual Legislative Conference about the Black church in America. (Photo by Shantella Sherman)

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) is no stranger to the pulpit – he is an ordained minister – or civil unrest, as a former member of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

In hosting the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference forum, “The Black Church in the 21st Century: Victorious, Vigilant, Viable?” Rush asked participants and the audience what had changed in the relationship between the Black Church and America’s political and social arenas.

“I’ve been both a Panther and a preacher and this is the only institution in the land that we still have that is authentically ours and that is still powerful,” Rush said.  “It was the church as an institution, and our faith in the Church, as its body, that helped us face down the inhumanity that characterized our citizenship.”

But with God and the Church removed from public spaces, including schools, many churchgoers have come to view their faiths and the church as hindrances to their social and economic progress.

“As a young person, I see comedians making fun of the church ladies and televangelists, who seem more interested in building personal wealth than the characters of the members,” said Anwar Mohammed, a college sophomore who attends Rankin Chapel Church on the campus of Howard University.  “When the reverence for the church as an institution is missing, it makes it difficult to lean on it when in crisis.”

Dr. Charles Steele, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said that part of the problem is that too many people outside of the Black Church have attempted to define it for the people inside it.  In the process, they have overlooked the sheer power of the faithful.  One of the first Black state senators in the state of Alabama since Reconstruction, Steele said the Black Church is internationally recognized and celebrated.

“We don’t know how powerful we are,” he said, who was the only American to receive an invitation to the 25th commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, by Mikhail Gorbachev.  “Once there, I asked Gorbachev how did he have the courage to knock down the Berlin Wall, and he said it was Martin Luther King and the Black Church… that he’d heard King say years ago while visiting Russia that ‘no man-built wall can separate God from His children.’  It was the Black church and Dr. King, who brought that message home to him.”

Marcel Jackson, a church advocate, said that since the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Church has lost a considerable amount of its power through neglect.

“The Black Church has been the foundation of the Black community in the past and today we have too many superstars in the church and not enough workers.  Collaboration is nonexistent and everyone has own agenda, so it dilutes the power of the Black Church,” Jackson said.  “They knew the power of cohesiveness and collectiveness.  It was not, ‘I am doing this and you are doing that….’ It was, ‘We are doing this to make things happen.’  The Black Church has lost some power – the Holy Ghost power is one thing, but they have no community power anymore.”

Still others insisted the Black church is too diverse to paint with a broad stroke.

“The Black Church is not monolithic; it is very diverse.  There are many myths about the Black Church and the Civil Rights Movement, including that the church was the movement—the people were actually the movement,” said Anna Wingate, an audience-member from Baltimore.  “We have had episodic victory, but not sustained victory, and it’s the sustainability that we are struggling with today.” 

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Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s resurfaced in public memory in March during the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, a seminal march that resulted in passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. On Sept. 17, at the Annual A. Leon Higginbotham Voting Rights Braintrust, U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) acknowledged a new group of voting rights advocates.

Guest panelists at the Annual A. Leon Higginbotham Voting Rights Braintrust (Photo by Christina Sturdivant)

“We need to hear from the people who are featured in this room today; they really are the next generation of leaders in this country,” said Rep. Fudge as she opened the event, which was part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference.

The first half of the discussion engaged millennial elected officials, including Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, New York City Councilmember Jumaane D. Williams and Ohio district representative Emilia Sykes.

Getting young people involved in the voting process requires getting them in office, said Sykes, who urged senior legislators in the room to open doors for millennials. “We want you to help us learn and get the information we need to know. If they see us do it, they can model our behavior just like we’re trying to model your behavior so we can get more people involved.”

Once a young activist or grassroots organizer makes the decision to run for office, they should not discount their experience or background, Sykes continued. “If you’ve been a sincere community volunteer, you know what the issues are, you know what the people are thinking on the ground level— are the best for these positions.”

Youth who may not be inclined to run for elected office are just as integral to the political process. “We are at a very unique time in American history,” said Mosby, “We have to capitalize on that by showing how people’s lives are directly affected.”

In New York, connecting means everything from speaking with constituents about police brutality in regard to the Eric Garner case to housing issues such as broken elevators in apartment buildings, said Williams.

To broaden the discussion, the event turned to panelists who mobilize youth across the country, including Sammie J. Dow, national director of the NAACP’s Youth and College Division; Ashley Spillane, president of Rock the Vote; and Aunna Dennis, national coordinator of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Legal Mobilization Project.

In the past, entities like Rock the Vote were able to tie-in popular culture to policy issues. However, in the age of the Black Lives Matter movement, youth are more astute and less likely to listen to entertainers for their celebrity status alone. “You want someone who is passionate about a particular issue,” said Spillane, who referenced John Legend as a partner with Rock the Vote because of his genuine concern for criminal justice reform.

If groups are not strategic about their spokesperson, things can go bad, quick, said Dow. “If has some jacked up issues on whatever I care about, I’m going to check him when I get to your event,” he said. “I think we have to get away from this notion that we patronize young people with food and celebrities and the babies will do whatever we need them to do. We’re at the point where we want to engage with people who are serious about our issues, who are moving in the direction that we’re moving in and who are talking about something other than the fact that they are a celebrity.”

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U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson is a Democrat that represents Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District. (Courtesy Photo)

Repairing the fractured relationship between communities of color and law enforcement continued to be a central topic on the third day of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference.

On Sept. 18, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D), who has represented Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District since 2007, convened the braintrust, “Do Black Lives Matter in the Congress?: Activism and Action Restoring Trust Between Community and Police” at the Walter A. Washington Convention Center. Throughout the session, Johnson reminded attendees that they have a responsibility on their end to stop police brutality.

“People need to register and vote,” Johnson said. “If people voted, we could have people in the Congress and in state legislatures that will be sensitive to the concerns of those who have been mistreated by the police.”

The braintrust was organized into two parts. The first dealt with how to foster constructive dialogue between the police and the community, while the second focused on what could be done legislatively and politically to make law enforcement and people of color allies instead of adversaries.

In the first part, Texas State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) said that while Republicans seem to be insensitive to minorities’ concerns about police misconduct, they aren’t the only ones.

“We are also being hindered by the Democratic Party,” West said. “The Democratic Party has been slow to have this conversation about police brutality because many Democrats think that these same issues are being discussed over and over and there is never a resolution.”

West and Johnson were joined on the first panel by Justice League, NYC leaders Angelo Pinto and Carmen Perez; Brittany Packnett, of Campaign Zero; Benjamin Ndugga-Kabuye, of New York City’s branch of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration; Angela Rye, principal and CEO of IMPACT Strategies; and Faye Cofield, an Atlanta-area human right activist.

Packnett said that people must be politically and civically active. “What is really hurting Black people is our lack of access, lack of knowledge and lack of engagement in the criminal justice system,” she said. “Too many times, Black people just accept what is given or said to them and that shouldn’t be the case. If we understand how the process works we can use it to our benefit.”

One of the byproducts of the Black Lives Matter movement is legislation that requires police officers to wear body cameras. West understands that there is federal legislation on that topic, but he offers another viewpoint.

“The truth is that body cameras are a state and local initiative,” the senator said. “People must understand that body cameras are more effective when they are implemented on the state and local levels. People must understand the game and how it is played.”

Another tool for fighting police misconduct are citizen review boards that are charged with investigating and sometimes, punishing rogue police officers. However, Pinto doesn’t see that much value to them.

“In New York, we have a civilian review board but it is useless,” he said. “I know of instances where a police officer will get as many as 20 complaints and they do absolutely nothing. That is why people become cynical about government and politics.” 

Cofield said her experience with police citizen review boards is that they are often political tools of the mayor or county executive and are designed to address police issues.

“A real citizens review board would have people from all over the community and those who have undergone civilian training,” Cofield said, talking about programs that offer citizens training in what police work entails.

In the second part, former New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, who presently serves as editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project that writes and distributes articles about criminal justice issues, participated in the panel with Georgetown University law professor Paul Butler; Tanya Clay House, of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law; Michele Jawando, of the Center for American Progress; and Daryl Parks, who has served as the attorney for slain Black young men such as Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

Jawando noted that when African Americans enter the criminal justice system, they rarely see someone in the process that looks like them.

“Ninety-five percent of all prosecutors in the United States are male and 90 percent of them are White,” Jawando said.

Butler, who used to work as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District, said he got out of being a prosecutor because “ got tired of locking up Black and Brown people.”

“If you go to D.C. Superior Court, you don’t see any White people,” Butler said. “One could get the impression that White people don’t commit crimes and that’s not true.”

Parks said that Black male incarceration is “a systemic problem” but the good news is that the world is watching.

“The incidents about Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown and the others are known throughout the world,” Parks said. “The United States government is aware of this because they are sensitive about their image.”

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David K. Owens, executive vice president of Business Operations, Group and Regulatory Affairs at the Edison Electric Institute.

It is expected over the several few years that utility companies across the United States will spend between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion on infrastructure investments. Those investments and the projected growth of the energy industry could potentially translate into jobs and ownership, investment and partnership opportunities for African Americans. But African-American industry officials, regulators and entrepreneurs fear that unless there’s a radical shift, Black people will miss out on the myriad opportunities.

“A multi-trillion industry is evolving before our eyes and we’re getting peanuts,” said David K. Owens, executive vice president of Business Operations, Group and Regulatory Affairs at the Edison Electric Institute.  “There are evolving opportunities for high-paying jobs. We have an aging infrastructure … and an aging workforce. The energy industry has 520 million employees. Currently, 9 percent are near retirement, 14 percent will retire in five years, and an additional 42 percent will move out of the industry in the next eight years.”

Collette Honorable, Commissioner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Collette Honorable, a commissioner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, agreed. “This is a new never before opportunity for the United States to export natural gas,” she said. “This is a really incredibly dynamic time but I’m concerned about the diversity of employees. Forty percent of the energy sector is eligible for retirement. We need people with IT and cybersecurity experience. We need not just engineers and attorneys, but human resources, administration and people who can stage after a weather event. “

Honorable and Owens served on a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference with two other colleagues who discussed the new energy economy and the prospects for African Americans to secure a foothold and enhance their presence in that particular space.

Charles Rice, president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, Inc.

The renewable energy sector includes solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and energy from the ocean. President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan encourages energy businesses to use more renewable energy, said Charles Rice, president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, Inc., a $750 million-a-year electric and gas utility.

For the first time in history, said Honorable, the United States is producing prodigious amounts of shale natural gas that’s being exported oversees. She and Owens said America is enjoying a natural gas manufacturing renaissance that bucks previous downward trends. Between 2009 and 2014, gas production increased at a rate of 4 percent a year.

“There are new techniques to draw natural gas, with about 100 major industrial projects slated to spend $90 to $100 billion through 2019,” said Owens. “There will be an increase in natural gas demands for the next 25 years.”

Gilbert Campbell, founder and CEO of Volt Energy in the District.

Gilbert Campbell, founder and CEO of Volt Energy in the District, represents one of a marginal fraction of African Americans who own or have invested in the solar energy business. Volt finances, builds, owns and operates solar assets, but he acknowledged the difficulties of minority entrepreneurs “taking advantage of the new frontier.”

“There are challenges. Worldwide in 2015, according to Bloomberg, $270 billion was invested in renewable energy, half of that in solar energy,” he said. “And $38.5 billion was invested in clean energy investments in the U.S. The percentage of African Americans who own assets is less than 1 percent.

“The ship hasn’t sailed yet,” he continued, “but we need to get involved before it sails.”

All too often, Rice said, minority companies lack the scale, cash flow and financing to compete against the power players in the industry, but if a company has a power purchase agreement like Volt Energy does, that can be a game-changer.

All of the panelists spoke of the importance of exposing young people to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.  They stressed the importance of partnering with corporations; greater federal oversight, regulation and enforcement; ensuring that the federal government enforces, and coaxing energy businesses to adhere to minority set-asides of at least 35 percent.

Owens said those interested in closing the energy divide and increasing minority numbers are struggling to catch up.  

“We’ve got to get better organized,” he said. “We’re pulling together consortiums to produce a powerful voice.”

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Youth panelists discuss the flaws of the juvenile justice system at the 45th Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference. (Photo by LaTrina Antoine)

Part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference included a Sept. 17 forum on ending the system of youth imprisonment, which overwhelmingly affects the Black population’s sense of progress and justice, according to panelists.

According to the National Center for Juvenile Justice in the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, African Americans comprise 17 percent of all juveniles, but 31 percent of all arrests.

The session, part of the “With Liberty and Justice for all” conference theme, included two panel discussions: one with young adults, who have become advocates fighting for youth rights in the criminal justice system, and the other of seasoned professionals from the medical, nonprofit and legal fields.

The panels, moderated by Donald Cravins Jr., the National Urban League’s senior vice president for policy, and Jenny Collier, of the Robert F. Kennedy Juvenile Justice Collaboration, respectively, were spearheaded by Rep. Lacy Clay Jr. (D-Mo.)  The Kennedy Foundation hosted the event.

“I believe that incarceration is not the key,” said Quwanisha Hines, a volunteer with the Virginia Department of Justice as an advocate on the committee for juvenile justice, during the first panel.

She was joined on the panel by Jim St. Germain, Preparing Leaders of Tomorrow; Jabriera Handy, Just Kids Maryland and Alton Pitre, Anti-Recidivism Coalition. All of the panelists in the first discussion had complications with the law and, at one point in time, were detained in the juvenile correctional system.

One inadequacy of the juvenile system, according to St. Germain, was the lack of resources to provide young people with the tools they need to readjust to society after their period of incarceration.

He also spoke of a policy in New York that tries 16- to 18-year-olds as adults, which his organization is fighting to change. To highlight the severity of the situation, St. Germain spoke of a young man who committed suicide after spending time in Rikers Island Correctional Facility, where he was subjected to daily physical abuse and routinely placed in solitary confinement.  

The panelists also pointed to poverty and the lack of adequate education as the main contributors to Black children getting stuck in the system.  St. Germain said that the best way to overcome so many Black youth being trapped in the criminal justice system is by giving them opportunities to make a living in positive ways through job training and mentors.

Handy agreed with St. Germain, adding, “A lot of kids, they have the hopes and dreams, they just don’t have the exposure behind them.”

Pitre noted that a prevention method to keep youth out of the system was investment. “I believe that positive youth development is the key,” he said.

All panelists agreed that the funds currently being used in the system need to be redirected to new programs that involve mentors to keep youth from being trapped in the system or to help them readjust back into society, such as youth employment or education programs.

The second panel, comprising Robert L. Listenbee, of the Department of Justice; Donald Cravins Jr., National Urban League; Christopher Scott, Open Society Policy Center and Dr. Jennifer Woolard, Georgetown University, expanded the first panel’s conversation, focusing on the mental health help that incarcerated youth are not receiving.

According to Listenbee, the society needs to figure out how to bring both the mental and educational services together to reach troubled youth. He said that a child needs to know that someone believes in their progression.

“What I’ve learned is that one model doesn’t fit every kid,” Cravins said.

The panelists suggested two possible solutions to completely stopping the system of adolescent incarceration: creating a program to send children to Africa to learn of a different way of doing things while being productive; and helping youth get access to needed resources through nonprofit programs, such as the Urban League’s Project Ready, a mentorship program specified for Blacks and other urban youth in the eighth to 12th grades to get them ready for college, work and life.  

“We have an obligation, in our programming, to put together programs that kind of catch some of the issues that our young people are talking about, some of the things that they are not getting home because their parents may not know, may not be financially savvy enough to know about college and the cost,” Cravins said.

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U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (left) and News One television talk show host Roland Martin. (Twitter and Courtesy Photo)

The trade association of Black-owned newspapers in the United States convened Sept. 17 in the District, coinciding with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference, to honor political leaders and high-achieving African Americans that support their cause and businesses.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) held its annual leadership awards reception at the Marriott Marquis Washington DC Hotel with dozens in attendance. The organization’s chairman, Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of the Washington Informer, said honoring allies of the Black press is crucial to its survival.

“The annual leadership award reception aims to bring our readers, partners and supporters together to pay homage to our dedicated and hard-working publishers and to salute others who have graced our pages and expanded our cause through an evolving Black-owned media,” Barnes said.

Benjamin Chavis, president and CEO of the NNPA, said the organization is celebrating its 75th anniversary and this year is the 188th year since the first African-American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal was published in 1827.

“We’re now involved in all types of digital and social media,” Chavis said. “We have approximately 205 newspapers across the country telling the story of our people.”

During the event, Black publishers came to the podium to announce their names and publications and how long they have been in business. 

U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), who is a 2016 candidate for the U.S. Senate, was one of the honorees. News One television talk show host Roland Martin, social activist and communicator Rahiel Tesfamariam, ballet dancer Misty Copeland and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation President and CEO A.  Shuanise Washington were also fêted.

Edwards said throughout her career, she has shown respect for Black newspapers. “For me, the newspapers of record are the Washington Informer and the AFRO,” she said. “No one can tell our story the way we should tell our story. The big papers don’t tell people about job fairs or college fairs.”

Edwards’ colleagues, U.S. Reps. Al Green (D-Texas), Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), attended the event.

Martin said that his first paycheck as a news professional came from a Black newspaper and he prefers working for the Black media. “I have never allowed the White media to validate my skill set,” he said. “We  still have a validation mentality and I am unapologetically Black.”

Tesfamariam thanked Barnes for helping to develop her career and spoke strongly about the need of Black media. “The Black press is a tool for liberation in this country,” she said. “To hold a pen is to be at war.”

Copeland, the first Black principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, didn’t attend the event.

Washington also didn’t come to collect her award, but Shrita Sterlin-Hernandez, the vice president for communications for the CBCF, spoke on her behalf.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) praised the work of Black newspapers during the uprising that took place in her city a few months ago. “I want to thank you on how you treated Baltimore,” the mayor said. “The riots weren’t the whole story. Baltimore is more than riots and unrest and you got it.”

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Panelists at the Annual Legislative Conference’s forum on Black women and the criminal justice system. (Photo by Shantella Sherman)

With more than 12 percent of Black girls subjected to seclusionary discipline – including suspension, expulsions, and arrests – in America, their numbers within the criminal justice system have reached epidemic proportions.  In areas like Orange County, Fla., arrests of 5- to 10-year-olds is up to 60 percent, and those arrested are predominately Black.

The Sojourner Truth Legacy Project’s “Black Women & the Criminal Justice System: We, Too, Sing America” forum, held Sept. 18 during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference, offered a sobering examination of the systemic practices that disproportionately usher Black girls into prisons and the challenges to these practices citizens need to undertake in order to end them.

According to panelist Brenda V. Smith, project director of the Project on Addressing Prison Rape and a professor at American University, there are currently more than 100,000 Black women currently incarcerated, and the common denominators to their detainment are race, poverty and victimization.

“Many of these women experience victimization as children, as adults, and while they are in custodial settings – like girls’ homes.  They quickly, then, come into contact with abusive people,” Smith said.  “Abused in residential placement and sexually victimized in custody, what is created is a pathway of disinvestment in Black girls – at home, in school, and while in custody.”

Smith said that the girls and women are often charged under “Girlfriend Laws” that automatically charge the wives, lovers, and other female relatives of male offenders as co-conspirators – whether they are proven to be involved or not.

“Most of these girls and woman are non-violent, afraid, and victims of the men in their lives.  Despite being close to these men, they are major players in offenses and have little to no information to provide prosecutors in order to levy their own release,” Smith said.  “These women may have carried drugs, but not known for whom, they may go to work every day not knowing their homes are being used by boyfriends as a place where drugs or weapons are stored. Even without a specific offense, with no prior convictions, these women are getting 12- to 20-year minimums.”

Fellow panelist Maj. Charlene L. Hinton, chief of staff for the Petersburg Bureau of Police, said that while a lot of Black girls have issues at home that warrant mental health and medical evaluation, rather than incarceration, most would benefit from having officers and legal counsel who more closely resemble themselves.

“When White male officers arrive on the scene, they are not looking at a woman as a person but as an incident, and they are not always equipped to handle her as a victim,” Hinton said.  “The question that needs to be raised is ‘How do they make a change there or occupy that space in a conducive way?’  As someone who oversees recruitment and training, I believe that it often takes a female officer to break down that barrier when she encounters a distraught mother or a victimized girl on a call.”

However, said Natalie A. Jackson, managing partner of the Women’s Trial Group, the “old-boys” network of police unions had a chokehold on politicians and city officials that allowed them to arrest children as means of social control.

“The police is a government entity that has the right to take your life, not individual people, who are having a bad day or have a bias against you.  That culture of nepotism – fathers, grandfathers, and sons, who make up law enforcement officers – is what needs to be addressed,” Jackson said. “It is through the bias of these unions that mandatory sentencing laws and guidelines for arrests are championed.”

Barbara Williams-Skinner, former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, told the standing room-only crowd that the culture of police fraternities and unions had the power to create real havoc for city officials.  Citing the show of NYPD officers who turned their backs to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio after he challenged them on their chokehold methods, she said said it signaled who was in charge of the city.

“That type of culture perpetuated within the police fraternity was the equivalent of the U.S. military turning their backs on President Obama.  How much power do people have when the mayor is met with this level of resistance in changing 21st century policing?” Williams-Skinner asked.  “We need to better understand how these unions were founded and how they operate today.”

Suggestions by the panel for average citizens included: knowing who the police chief is and interacting with his or her office regularly; increased recruitment of minority women into the ranks of law enforcement and the judicial system; and outreach into communities through schools and churches to ensure that Black women know their neighborhood officers by name.

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From saving for college and retirement to accumulating assets, building wealth is an arduous task for many African Americans.

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson moderates panel on money and wealth for African Americans (AFRO Photo/Christina Sturdivant)

Leading experts on wealth-building, financial planning and money management participated in a panel discussion on Sept. 17 entitled “Money, Wealth and Disparities: Mastering the Game,” during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference.

Moderated by author, professor and commentator Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, panelists shared methods that African Americans of all ages can develop to improve their knowledge and money-management principles.

The growing millennial generation of African Americans has their entire lives ahead of them, said panelist Troy Simmons of Nationwide Insurance. “The decisions you make today will have an impact on how your life turns out down the road.”

From a professional perspective, this generation must seek out mentors, he said. They must also treat each day as if it’s “interview day,” he said. “People are watching you, evaluating you, and taking notes—make sure you come dressed to impressed.”

In terms of wealth building, Simmons encouraged involvement in equity markets such as purchasing stocks.

“There are so many of us who are concerned about not losing money that we don’t want to make money,” he said.

Goal-setting is also imperative, said Simmons. In order to plan ahead, panelist Pamela Everhart of Fidelity Investments in Boston encouraged getting organized.

“Know how much money is coming in and what you’re spending money on,” said Everhart, speaking particularly to women, whom she said often lack the confidence to speak about money.

“And then you need to own your future and take control of it,” she said, adding that women should not be afraid to engage financial planners, online tools and other resources for assistance.

The first half of the discussion also included panelist Reginald E. Humphrey of General Motors who offered tips on purchasing a vehicle such as building relationships with lenders, understanding your credit score and understanding what incentive programs actually offer.

Susan L. Taylor of the National CARES Mentoring Movement, detailed how she made smart financial decisions as editor of Essence for more than two decades.

“I took my lunch to work and saved my money over 27 years,” she said.

The discussion concluded with tips for mastery of wealth from Gloria Mayfield Banks, who is among the top 10 in sales in the country and the number one African-American sales director in the world for Mary Kay, Inc.

“Make strong decisions and have confidence,” she said. “Confidence is dynamic so you have to regain it at every single level.” Confidence must be enforced by belief in oneself, people skills and work ethic, she added.

If you want money, you must see it first, so “have vision and imagination.” Management is also important—not only of money, but emotions and skills, she said. Then, take stock of your image, “You have 7 seconds to make a good impression.”  

Passion is also important, she continued.

“You either live in pain or passion—if your money is pain, you better find you some passion,” she said. “No matter how educated you are, you must have discipline and always hustle. And lastly, be willing to sacrifice, “how many of you are willing to stay ‘stop’ for one year?”

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Four members of the Congressional Black Caucus, a noted television judge, a former police chief, a top official of a union and a leader of the national movement to help African Americans become first-class citizens recently met to discuss criminal justice issues.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, with the support of the Service Employees International Union, sponsored a National Town Hall titled “Black Lives Matter: Ending Racial Profiling, Police Brutality and Mass Incarceration” on Sept. 17 at the Walter A. Washington Convention Center before a crowd of thousands. 

U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) participated in the town hall with celebrity Judge Greg Mathis, former Orlando, Fla., Police Chief Val Demings, SEIU leader Alphonso Mayfield and Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, with News One talk show host Roland Martin as the moderator.

Butterfield, who serves as the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that the town hall addresses a timely topic that Black America is dealing with.

“We are here today to say that the criminal justice system in America is broken and needs to be fixed,” he said. “We are not organizing for rhetoric. We are organizing for action.”

The town hall is a part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference that will feature over 70 issue forums and braintrusts and other social events that will end on Sept. 20.

Jeffries said that the deaths of African Americans such as Trayon Martin, Jordan Davis, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Freddie Gray highlight the need for a robust discussion on how the criminal justice system negatively affects people of color.

“We are in a battle for the well-being of our communities,” Jeffries said. “We are confronting such problems as police brutality and a prison-industrial complex. We are making it clear in the streets and in the suites that Black Lives Matter.”

Garza said that her movement is substantive.

“Black Lives Matter is not just a hashtag,” Garza said. “We are fighting state-sanctioned efforts against Black people. We are not just for reforming the criminal justice system but also want to improve education and job opportunities for Black people and stop police brutality.”

Garza said that her organization is working for change peacefully and politically on the local and state levels. Contrary to what has been reported by some commentators on Fox News, she said “we are not a hate or terrorist group.”

Butterfield agreed.

“We have met as a caucus and individually with members of the Black Lives Matter movement,” the representative said. “It is a serious movement and it will stay until it gets the job done.”

Cummings said that the Black Lives Matter movement played a positive role in the recent uprising in Baltimore and that it is viewed as a powerful force in his city.

“Black Lives Matter has turned pain into passion and purpose,” Cummings said. “They have turned protest into policy.”

One of the policies that Black Lives Matter is advocating is the disciplining and prosecution of rogue police officers. Demings supports that contention.

“Evil only happens when good people sit back and are silent,” Demings said. “It is time for good police officers to stand up and call out bad officers. Bad officers make it bad for everyone and good police officers are excited about Black Lives Matter.”

Mathis said that legislation requiring police body cameras in many states and municipalities are an example of the organization’s effectiveness.

The panelists offered solutions to counter the harsher aspects of the criminal justice system. Mathis said that people need to divest their personal funds from corporations that profit off of cheap prison labor.

Jackson Lee agreed with Mathis on divesting from corporations that support prison labor and added that the U.S. Department of Justice needs to prosecute civil rights case more vigorously.

Mayfield said that Blacks being mistreated by law enforcement officials “happens every day” and a floundering education system, homelessness and high Black unemployment interlock with an insensitive criminal justice system.

One of the criticisms of the Black Lives Matter movement is that it should be more inclusive or embrace the all lives matter mantra. Garza said that all lives do matter—but that slogan and philosophy would negate the concerns of Black people.

“All lives matter wouldn’t deal with 15 Blacks transgender have been killed in recent years,” she said. “All lives matter would not address that Black women make less than White women who make less than White men. All lives matter is a distraction and we will fight like hell for Black lives.”

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Between 8,000 and 10,000 attendees are expected to convene for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference Sept. 16-20 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest Washington, D.C. This year’s theme, “With Liberty and Justice for All” is drawn from America’s Pledge of Allegiance and its inherent, but still unkept, promises.

The ALC has become an annual pilgrimage for many activists and leaders looking to address issues of social injustice and economic inequality that continue to plague Black communities.

“This conference is really the epicenter of dialogue and action oriented solutions,” said Menna Demessie, CBCF’s vice president for policy analysis and research. “You go to so many conferences and you hear all about the problems. But we really want to push the solutions part of this.”

The Annual Legislative Conference seeks to bring people to the table to help erase the notion that the Black community cannot produce solutions to its ills, Demessie said. For example, the conference promotes stories of activists already working in communities to make change.

“Instead of reinventing the wheel, we want to uplift examples of people already making changes in their communities and put a focus on leadership that is often unseen and unappreciated,” Demessie told the AFRO.

For example, as a direct result of the ALC’s focus on disparities in education and employment opportunities for minorities and women in STEM-related fields, Edwards and other CBC members introduced legislation—some successfully— meant to increase STEM opportunities for those underrepresented groups.

And, the Caucus has also visited Silicon Valley and had “extensive” dialogue with tech companies about their lack of diversity, added CBC Chairman Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.).

“To our surprise they have apologized and acknowledged their shortcomings and all of them have committed to changing,” he told the AFRO. “We have cultivated a strong working relationship and I believe over the next five years we will see a shift. Our challenge, , is to ensure our young boys and girls get into STEM education.”

The issue of improving opportunities for STEM careers among Blacks will continue to be addressed at this year’s conference, but the foundation hopes to see similar progress in other areas—mainly in criminal justice reform.

“This year is quite important because of all the attention being paid to criminal justice and because of the ways in which people of African descent have been targeted by law enforcement,” Demessie said, referencing the death of dozens of Blacks while in police custody. “We are creating a space to engage the youth and for officials, policymakers, grassroots activists, to create solutions to end these injustices and bring law enforcement and communities together.”

The issue will take center stage during the Sept. 17 National Town Hall Meeting headlined, “Black Lives Matter: Ending Racial Profiling, Police Brutality, and Mass Incarceration.” The panel includes co-founder of the BlackLivesMatter Movement Alicia Garza, Judge Greg Mathis and several members of the CBC.

There will also be an estimated 70 public policy forums focused on myriad matters, including economic empowerment, minority business expansion, statehood for the District of Columbia, job creation, Haiti’s ongoing recovery, increased education opportunities for incarcerated felons, health equity, environmental sustainability in Black communities and many more.

The need for civic engagement will be a major thrust given the fast-approaching presidential elections.

“We always have a voting registration and engagement as a solution so it always comes up in these conferences,” Demessie said. “But during an election year it takes on even more precedence. We want to get people registered but we also want to inform policy.”

Among those policies supported by the CBCF is passing an amended version of the Voting Rights Act, since the Supreme Court in 2013 invalidated a key provision of the law that protected minority communities from voting discrimination. There have been sustained, Republican-led efforts to suppress the votes of communities of color.

“Voter suppression has always been on the African-American agenda, regrettably… will always be front and center of the CBC’s agenda,” Chairman Butterfield said.

Through networking and meaningful discourse at the conference, individual advocacy efforts can be strengthened, leading to concrete change, said Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.).

“Every year, the conference is a great way for people to get together and focus on those issues that are important to their communities, and it’s also a great way for people of like minds who are doing similar work to connect and strengthen the work that is being done in communities across the country,” she said.

This year’s ALC will also feature moments of levity and entertainment, notably, the Phoenix Awards Dinner, which caps the conference on the night of Sept. 19. This year’s honorees include civil rights attorney Fred Gray; North Carolina NAACP President Rev. Dr. William Barber II; Montgomery Bus Boycott organizer Juanita Abernathy; Bloody Sunday organizer Amelia Boynton Robinson; and leaders in the movement for the MLK National Monument and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. President Barack Obama will offer the keynote address.

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WASHINGTON D.C. — Even though the Black community has gained several liberties over the years, there is still much more to gain. And, in order to do that, the Black community’s need to vote is essential, which is what several speakers – including President Barack Obama – emphasized during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) 44th Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner Gala Sept. 28 at the Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) held in Washington D.C..

President Obama gives his keynote speech at the Phoenix Awards.

“Our work is not done, when too many children live in crummy neighborhoods, cycling through substandard schools, traumatized by daily violence,” Obama told attendees at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest D.C. “We’ve got unfinished work, and we know what to do. That’s the worst part. We know what to do.”

He said that even though there was a 30 percent decline of uninsured African Americans, high school graduation rates are at a record high, dropout rates are declining, crime is declining and incarceration rates have dropped by 10 percent, Americans still have to work on investing in infrastructure and manufacturing and research and development that creates jobs.

“So, that’s the world we got to reach for, the world where every single of our children has the opportunity to pursue their measure of happiness,” Obama said. “That’s our unfinished work and we’re going to have to fight for it, got to stand up for it and we have to vote for it.”

Chaka Fattah introduces President and First Lady Obama at the Phoenix Awards.

The Obama White House has launched a much-touted program meant to address the particular challenges faced by young Black men called My Brother’s Keeper. In his address, the president mentioned a companion program called My Sister’s Keeper, which is intended to help African-American women and girls achieve success.  First Lady Michelle Obama heads the initiative.

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), chairman of the CBCF board of directors, said the Black community’s concerns on justice, education, health and economic development are both “timely” and “timeless.”

“So much is at stake,” he said.

Getting out the vote was a common topic at the dinner and conference, themed “It starts with you.”

Judge Greg Mathis and Sheryl Lee Ralph share encouraging words and support to the CBC.

The dinner awarded the CBCF Chair’s Award to Radio One founder Cathy Hughes; the Ralph Metcalf Award for Health to legendary boxer and activist Muhammad Ali; the ALC Co-Chair’s Phoenix Award to journalist Susan L. Taylor; the CBC Chair’s Award to civil rights leader Wade Henderson and the ALC Co-Chair’s Phoenix Award to chairman and CEO of FE Holdings Robert L. Wright Jr.

Judge Greg Mathis and actress Sheryl Lee Ralph emceed the event.

The dinner also acknowledged the work of Attorney General Eric Holder who announced his resignation Sept. 25.

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), chair of the 43-member Congressional Black Caucus, told attendees that Holder “has never hesitated to remind us that our pursuit of justice is a fundamental one and critical to the divide of our democracy.”  She wished him the very best in his next endeavors.

The resignations of Del. Donna Christensen (D-V.I.) and former Congressman Melvin Watts were also acknowledged.  Christensen is running for governor in the Virgin Islands and Watt is the new director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

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The AFRO-American Newspapers is considered the No. 1 African-American newspaper among Black consumers nationwide, according to the results of a survey released this week.

Nielsen, a leading provider of ratings and other measurements, recently teamed up with ESSENCE magazine to conduct a customized assessment of African-American consumers. Among the categories they polled was media consumption, and the most popular publications in the Black Press were part of that evaluation.

The AFRO rose to the top of the heap among Black consumers, followed by the Chicago Defender and the Amsterdam News in New York. And, rounding out the top five were the St. Louis American and The Call andPost in Cleveland, Ohio.

AFRO Publisher and CEO John J. Oliver said he believes the ranking reflects the newspaper’s pioneering efforts with regards to digital media.

“I am elated about the recognition,” he said. “I believe it confirms our belief that the digital evolution inside the African-American community justifies our continued use of various ambitious, non-traditional digital strategies to provide timely and often ‘real time’ coverage of news the Black community is interested in receiving.

“Through our Facebook, Twitter and growing Instagram strategies, we are quickly becoming a ‘staple’ news outlet for growing numbers in the Black community,” he added.

The AFRO is part of The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a 73-year-old federation of nearly 200 Black community newspapers from across the United States with a long history of influencing and engaging the African-American community.

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The Rev. Charles O. Butts III, pastor of New York’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church.

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Rev. Charles O. Butts III, pastor of New York’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, pressed the issue of non-violent direct action in his address before the nation’s African-American leaders during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) 44th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) Prayer Breakfast on Sept. 27.

Building upon the theme, “The things which make for peace,” Butts challenged audience members to court peace as power in fighting against the temptations of natural and spiritual enemies.

Citing a move among many upwardly mobile African Americans of choosing personal ambitions above collective need, Butts admonished, “Beware, beloved, of rabid ambition. We do not believe that anything comes above the forward progress of our people. Sacrifice on behalf of the masses is greater than self-interest, and whether we stand in pulpits or whether we stand before legislative bodies, our ultimate allegiance is to that power which has empowered us in the first place.”

Equating the temptation to move away from collective racial uplift with those enticements faced by both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, Butts said that the greatest temptation is to do a right thing for the wrong reason… only to realize one has fallen down and worshiped the temptation of the beast.

Butts cautioned attendees to not be swayed into abandoning the very tenets that secured the social progress they now enjoyed.

“They’ll put you to the test, but you must hold your spirit intact. Stay with God and don’t let them play with your spirit. Look what they’ve done across the centuries and now with social media and with the slickness of media by making you doubt yourself.  Remember when they used to tell us you’re too Black to be anything, your hair is too nappy, or your lips are too thick? They were messing with your spirit.  They wanted you to doubt yourself,” he said. “You don’t need Black colleges anymore, you don’t need the Howards and Morehouses anymore.  They are making you doubt yourselves, Beloved, and why would you ever question the relevance of those bridges that brought you over?”

Attacks on African-American integrity by outside forces, Butts believes, has fostered much of the violence, hostility, and lack of humility within the race.

“Why are we fighting each other? We have been led to believe that somehow we are different because of where we come from, because of how we worship, or because of our political party. We are not different. In fact, as Malcolm X said years ago, ‘They don’t hate you because you’re Baptist, they don’t hate you because you are Democrat or Republican, they don’t hate you because you are Methodist or Buddhist; they hate you because you’re Black.’ I submit that the unity of who we are unites us in our struggle to bring about peace firstly among us,” Butts said.

“We have to engage people where they are and build a larger foundation for where we intend to build this more perfect union.  It is with this event this year that the CBCF introduces The Permanence Project – a virtual community where you can have an ALC ever day of the week and know what bills and legislation are coming up and know how to intelligently act on that information.  This is not a fight we can win one week out of the year,” Fattah said.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The facilitators of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Emerging Leaders program decided not to have a traditional panel of speakers for its 44th Annual Legislative Conference forum on Sept. 26 named “Power to the People: Training up the Next Generation of Leaders.” Instead, they opted for an approach that allowed participants to speak on their experiences as African Americans. During the event, a robust discussion ensued about what it means to be young and Black.

“It is very important that young people of color feel that they can express themselves,” said Ciara Taylor, political director for the Dream Defenders, a Florida-based activist group. “There was no space for that in the past legislative conferences and we don’t need someone to tell us what our experiences are. We have our own power.”

The CBCF’s Emerging Leaders program is designed to train and organize youth and students in civic engagement and action. It is one of the most established entities of the foundation.

Topics at the forum included the murder of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman; the problems that Blacks face in the country’s criminal justice system and the unfairness of patriarchy in the American society.

Devon Douglass, a graduate of the University of Tulsa School of Law and a St. Louis native, told a moving story about facing racism at her own school.

“My mother left me off at the law school one time, and there were several cars backed up,” she said. “When I went into the building, a man harshly told me that I had held up the line and asked for my identification.”

Her mother tried to engage him in a friendly way but the man did not let up. She walked away and he called six police officers and the dean of the law school to talk about the situation.

“What I remember about that experience is that the dean, who is a female, yelled at me in front of my law school colleagues, saying, ‘If you didn’t do anything wrong, why were six officers called?’ I could not say anything to that. No suit, no pumps can protect me from the color of my skin,” Douglas said.

While females constitute the majority of the American population, they still continue to suffer gender discrimination. Brittany Claybrooks, who works on Capitol Hill, said that she was advised not to work for the female members of Congress because they were harder on their employees.

“In Congress, as a woman, sometimes you have to prove yourself more than if you were a man,” she said. “I want to be a leader someday but I want to be just who I am, not taking on a role as a man.”

Dante Daniels, another participant, explained that he had a different experience with patriarchy.
“I was running track in high school and in a race, a girl came out ahead of me,” he said. “I remember my coach telling me that I shouldn’t have been beaten by a girl. The girl who beat me was well-trained and very athletic but I still was yelled at because she beat me.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Spouses recognized the contributions of three icons in the arts during its Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts, held at the Newseum in N.W. D.C. Sept. 24.

Honorees, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, Phylicia Rashad, and Bill Withers.

This year’s honorees, Phylicia Rashad, Bill Withers and Dr. Alvin Poussaint, epitomized respectability, grace, and uncompromised talent.  Each provided insight into the impact the arts had on their personal and professional lives.

Poussaint, a psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School has written more than 100 articles and professional publications, including “Why Blacks Kill Blacks.”  He spoke of wanting to deal specifically with the crippling mental and emotional impact racism had on African Americans during the mid-1960s, when he had no Black patients.

“I finally got one Black patient and he was thinking he had been assigned to me as a means of segregation, but I told him, ‘No don’t say anything about it because I need a Black patient.’  And right around this time in 1965 the Watts riots broke out in Los Angeles and I’m a psychiatrist and these Black people are burning down the city and so they come and ask me ‘why are they doing it?’”

Poussaint’s work also included serving as a consultant for “The Cosby Show,” the television sitcom featuring Bill Cosby and fellow honoree, Phylicia Rashad, as a professional couple managing successful careers and five children.

Rashad, who is probably best known for her role as the ever-supportive “Claire Huxtable” on “The Cosby Show”; has also garnered theater accolades, earning a 2004 Tony Award for her performance in “A Raisin in the Sun.”  With that award, Rashad became the first African-American woman to win the award in a dramatic leading role.  A long-time supporter of the arts and art programs in schools, Rashad addressed her concerns over arts programs in public schools.

“I grew up and went to school in America during a time when there was segregation and I attended segregated schools.  In my school, though, there were instruments that students could borrow and take home with them to learn and practice.

Withers, the legendary singer-songwriter, whose nearly forty-year-career made household themes of songs like “Lean on Me” and “Grandma’s Hands,” and who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, paid homage to his relatives and the manner in which they embraced education as a means to uplift.

“My mother’s father was born in 1854 — that means that despite my vibrant, youthful appearance, I am the grandson of a slave.  My brother would have been 100 years old this year and I saw my brother study for the post office exam because he had gotten crushed in the coal mines and couldn’t work there anymore.  He studied for that mailman’s test like it was finals at Princeton. I felt so bad for him because he’d only gone to the third grade and I wanted to take the test for him.  But on his third try, he passed and he was the happiest mailman I’ve ever seen.  What I’m trying to say is that he educated himself out of the coal mines.  The sum total of what you know, is your education,” Withers said.

Vice President Joe Biden was on hand to thank the honorees for their years of inspiration.

The Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts raises scholarship funds for students pursuing visual and performing arts. Past honorees include B.B. King, Quincy Jones, Tyler Perry, Alice Walker, Robert Townsend, the O’Jays, and most recently, critically acclaimed Artist Carrie Mae Weems, award-winning Director/Producer Antoine Fuqua, and visionary Educator and Novelist Tananarive Due.

“Any discussion about African-American history and culture must include African-American artists,” said A. Shuanise Washington, the president and CEO of the CBCF. “Through the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts, the CBCF and the CBC Spouses pay homage to those whose creative bodies of work convey the rich and diverse African-American experience. CBCF is proud to support the next generation of great artists with scholarships to pursue their education and hone their crafts.”

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Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s National Town Hall meeting.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—“Voting has to be important 365 days a year. If we are to realize the changes we want to see in our leadership, in education, and our quality of life issues, we must vote,” said A. Shuanise Washington, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation president and CEO.

Such was the sentiment and tone of urgency during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s National Town Hall meeting Sept. 25 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in N.W. D.C.

At the event, attorney and civil rights icon Elaine Jones joined co-chairs Reps. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), and John Lewis (D-Ga.).

From the suspension of voting rights for those convicted of felonies, to the inability to answer the increased abuse of police power against African Americans across the nation, panelists collectively pointed to securing social justice and equality through voting.

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s National Town Hall meeting.

While moderator Jeff Johnson spoke on the lack of resources set aside to educate Black voters and ensure they register and participate in local and national elections, the panelists largely pointed to the historical roadblocks they and their parents faced in not only seizing the ballot but also ensuring they maintained any footing they gained through active electoral participations.

“Black people have been losing the vote and trying to hang on to the vote ever since they gained it in 1870. This is nothing new,” Jones said. “When did this country decide it wanted to challenge the Voting Rights Act? Three days after Barack Obama was elected. We must educate ourselves and our children constantly on maintaining the right to vote or we end up with legislation that slowly chips away from it until it is gone. The problem is that we vote for people, rather than for issues.”

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The National Newspapers Publishers Association recognized four individuals for their leadership skills in the Black Community and also highlighted the significance and need that the Black Press still has in America at their Leadership Awards Reception Sept. 25.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel speaking at NNPA 2014 Leadership Awards. (Photo Credit: LaTrina Antoine Washington, AFRO D.C. Editor)

The event, which was hosted at the Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel, was held in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 44th Annual Legislative Conference.

Speakers at the event included several congressmen, the award recipients, NNPA chairman Cloves Campbell Jr. and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the new president and CEO of the NNPA.

“We have made progress,” Chavis said, thanking the news publishers and writers in the room.

Award recipients included, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), civil rights leader; Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer, award-winning Hip Hop artist; Margaret Fortune, president and CEO of Fortune School of Education in Sacramento, Calif. and Melvin Foote, founder, president and CEO of the Constituency for Africa, an Africa support group.

“Thank you for telling the story when no one else would tell the story,” Lewis said, in reference to the news articles on the death of Emmett Till, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the freedom rides, the March on Washington and other occurrences in the African- American community’s struggle for freedom.

“May all you brothers and sisters find a way anyway. Thank you for using your pen to find trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble we need to use it more,” Lewis said in reference to voting.

Lewis announced he was going back to Montgomery, Ala., for the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.

“We’ve invited all of the living presidents to come,” he said.

All of the speakers, including Chavis, highlighted the strength the Black Press and stressed that there is more work that needs to be done.

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Congressman John Conyers

DETROIT (AP) — Longtime Michigan Congressman John Conyers is being honored for his advocacy of jazz.

The Detroit Democrat receives the first-ever Jazz Advocate Award Thursday from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. The performing rights organization is honoring Conyers for public and legislative efforts to support jazz.

Conyers will be honored at the 44th Annual Legislative Conference Jazz Issue Forum and Concert at Washington’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center. He’s the honorary host of the event presented by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Conyers also presents the foundation’s Jazz Legacy Award to Geri Allen. The educator, pianist and composer has taught at University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan and Howard University.

Allen has assembled a group of artists for the concert that draw on her Detroit roots and Howard connections.

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Baltimore, Maryland (September 24, 2014-Updated 9/24/2014) – Today, one of the oldest and most prestigious minority newspapers companies in the nation, the AFRO American Newspapers Company, has made a move to further increase its social media influence within the African-American market.  The AFRO American Newspapers Company announced that it has retained Global Social Media News Service to assist in providing “real time” social media coverage of the 44th Annual Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Legislative Conference, Sept. 24-27, in Washington, D.C.

Global Social Media News Service, a Washington, D.C. based company, will provide a cadre of dedicated social media news reporters to supplement and assist the AFRO’s news team in covering the extensive number of legislative and social CBC events that take place during the four-day CBC conference period. Such coverage will span the CBC conference’s opening press briefing and conclude with the gala Phoenix Awards dinner that will feature remarks from President Barack Obama.

“We have begun to establish a significant presence within the realm of social media when it comes to African-American readers and followers,” said AFRO publisher, Jake Oliver.  “In expanding our social media news services, we can provide our audience with an enhanced real time sense of the exciting and relevant activities taking place during the CBC conference.  This puts our newspaper on the cutting edge of digital news gathering and dissemination; and way ahead of our competition.”

The AFRO currently has more than 345,000 “Likes” on Facebook, significantly more than any other African-American owned news publication in the nation.

“We are both excited and honored to work with the AFRO to provide social media coverage of such an iconic activity as the Congressional Black Caucus conference,” said Global Social Media News Service founder and CEO, Lon Walls.  “The AFRO has already proven itself to be one of the most influential Black newspapers in the nation, so it’s only natural that they utilize social media to have an even greater impact on our community.  We are happy to be part of this effort.”

Founded in 1892, the AFRO American newspapers is one of the oldest Black owned newspapers in America.

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The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 44th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC), one of Black America’s most signature events, will offer thousands of attendees a wide range of subjects and social and networking events designed to stimulate minds and encourage action. It takes place from Sept. 24-27 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the District and its theme is “It Starts with You.”

A. Shuanise Washington is the president and chief executive officer of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

“The ALC is the place where we challenge people and ourselves to engage in the difficult conversations about social justice and economic empowerment, among many issues, and begin the hard work of creating sustainable solutions to the issues Black people face every day,” A. Shuanise Washington, the president and CEO of the CBCF, said.

Washington said a new communications program will be announced at the conference. “We will be launching the Permanence Project,” she said. “It is a digital platform on public policy issues that are important to African Americans. The Permanence Project will engage African Americans at the conference and eventually people across the country and around the world.”

Technology will be an important aspect of the conference, Washington said. She said that issue forums and braintrusts will focus on the country’s racial digital divide and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-Texas) annual forum on science and technology will be a highlight.

Washington said Radio One, TV One and Interactive One have joined in a partnership with the CBCF to broadcast certain events live, such as the prayer breakfast on Sept. 27 at the convention center.

Radio One will be involved in the conference at another level as its founder, Cathy Hughes, will be honored at the Phoenix Awards Dinner on Sept. 27 at the convention center along with Wade Henderson, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Washington said that President Obama has been invited to attend the dinner. Obama and his wife, Michelle have attended and spoken at the dinner in the past few years.

The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, will lead the prayer breakfast. The CBCF and the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses will recognize the contributions of three leading Blacks in the arts, actress Phylicia Rashad, singer-songwriter Bill Withers, and Dr. Alvin Poussaint at the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts, Sept. 24 at the Newseum in Northwest D.C.

The unrest in Ferguson, Mo., will be an underpinning of discussion at the conference, Washington said. “On Sept. 26, we will hold a braintrust on ‘Our Brother’s Keeper’ and will address the opportunity gap that exists for young Black males,” she said. “On that day also, there will be another braintrust on racial profiling. While there is no specific forum for Ferguson at this time, our other forums and braintrusts will deal with the lack of Black male teachers and the problems of Black youth in the juvenile justice system.”

The annual legislative conference grew out of the first Congressional Black Caucus Dinner that took place in 1971. The CBCF was founded in 1976 and the conference grew from several forums on the day of the dinner to a nearly week-long activity that it is today.

The conference’s co-chairs are U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio). Bishop is proud of the way the conference has grown since he joined the Congress in 1993.

“Over the years, the conference has evolved from a modest number of issue-based brain trusts meetings held in House Office Buildings to a full swath of legislative and social events covering four full days in Washington,” Bishop said. “As the CBC membership has grown in number and seniority, so has the conference grown in scope and depth.”

When the Republicans took control of Congress in 1995, they made it difficult for the Congressional Black Caucus and other advocacy caucuses to have conference-like activities in House Office Buildings. In response, the CBCF started having its activities in hotels and at the District’s convention center.

Beatty, a freshman member of Congress, said she is proud to be a leader of this year’s conference and hopes participants take advantage of its opportunities. “This is particularly so when we have our first African-American president and our first African-American attorney general,” Beatty said. “The connections made at the ALC have moved the African-American community to action in past conferences. I hope that people would leverage their new connections and use them to promote a more just and fair society for all Americans.”

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