An estimate of more than 10,000 people filled the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the nation’s capital during the just completed five-day Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference (ALC).
This year’s ALC theme, “400 Years: Our Legacy, Our Possibilities …” observed 400 years of the first enslaved African to land in Jamestown, Virginia.
“Our Annual Legislative Conference is a gathering to develop solutions to the challenges facing black communities around the world through issues forums, brain trusts, a town hall meeting, networking sessions, and more,” said Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.).
This year’s conference included town halls on black men and boys and a Sojourner Truth Town Hall titled, “Bridging Pathways for Black Women in Leadership and Politics.”
“The contributions of Black women in shaping and changing the world for the better are often minimized. At every moment in history, black women have worked alongside their more famous male counterparts to advance political movements,” Bass said.
CBCF officials added that the goal of the Sojourner Truth Town Hall was to increase the significance of black women in leadership.
It’s also aimed at building a strong infrastructure of support for black women candidates and their role in bridging gender equity, voter participation, economic empowerment, access to health care, and criminal justice reform as they look to 2020 and beyond.
Among the highlights were discussions on closing the racial wealth gap; the state of housing in black America; Black money matters; a financial services brain trust; and a national town hall that focused on the possibilities in the black community as well as the challenges.