Heads of State from Africa and Caribbean to Attend
Baltimore, MD – Mayor Brandon Scott will join Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century at a news conference on Monday April 10, at 10:45 AM at the Baltimore Convention Center to formally welcome the State of the Black World Conference V to the city of Baltimore. The five-day conference is scheduled for April 19th-23rd.
Organized around the theme “Global Africans Rising, Empowerment Reparations and Healing,” heads of state from Africa and the Caribbean, and the who’s who of Black America, are slated to attend including:
H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President, Republic of Ghana
Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados
Hon. Dickon Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada
Hon. P.J. Patterson, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica
Marc Morial, President/CEO, National Urban League
Hilary Shelton, Vice-President for Advocacy, Director of Washington Bureau NAACP
Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Inaugural Dean, Ethnic Studies Department Cal State LA
LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter
Dr. George Fraser, President/CEO, Fraser Net and Power Networking Conference
Tarana Burke, Founder #METOO Movement
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Lead Sponsor, HR-40
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, President, University of the West Indies
Dr. Julius Garvey, Son of Marcus Garvey, Global Pan Africanist
Hon. Ras J. Baraka, Mayor of Newark, NJ
Haki Ammi, Author, Investor, Networking Specialist
Kareem Aziz, Chairman, Local Host Planning/Advisory Committee
Rev. Dr. Robert Turner, Senior Pastor, Empowerment Temple AME Church
WHO: Mayor Brandon Scott; Dr. Ron Daniels, President, Institute of the Black World 21st Century; Rev. Kobi Little, President, Baltimore NAACP; Kim Poole, Founder/Director, Teaching Artist Institute
WHAT: News conference to officially welcome the State of the Black World Conference V to Baltimore
WHEN/WHERE: Monday, April 10th at 10:45 at the Baltimore Convention Center (1 West Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD)
Gentrification as a State of Emergency in Black America – SOBWCV to assess crisis of displacing Black people and Black culture
Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century announced today that Assata Richards, Director of the Sankofa Research Institute from Houston and Damien Goodmon, Executive Director of the Crenshaw Subway Coalition in Los Angeles will facilitate the Issue Area Tract on Gentrification at State of the Black World Conference V, April 19-23 in Baltimore.
This results-oriented tract will focus on developing a national network comprised of community organizers, community economic development specialists, city planners and elected officials committed to combating gentrification. The goal is to augment the Network with a Resource Center which can provide technical assistance to local community organizers and anti-gentrification campaigns.
“Gentrification is destroying Black neighborhoods and communities across the country,” Dr. Daniels stated. “We anticipate a large number of Participants from around the country and the Pan African world will choose to engage in this vital Issue Area Tract at the Conference. We must compel the federal government, state and local governments and the foundation world to understand that gentrification is a State of Emergency in Black America,” Dr. Daniels concluded.
The Hon. Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell Will Deliver a Tribute to the Late Grenadian PM Maurice Bishop
The Prime Minister of Grenada and the Grenadines, Hon. Dickon Mitchell, will address the State of the Black World Conference slated for Baltimore, MD from April 19-23. PM Mitchell will make a Statement in the Opening Session of the Pan African Institute and will deliver a Tribute to Maurice Bishop at the National/International Town Hall Meeting on Building the Global Reparations Movement. He will also participate in the Global Black Leaders Summit Breakfast.
“Under the leadership of Maurice Bishop, the Grenada Revolution was an inspiration to progressive Pan Africanists around the world. It is inspiring to know that Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has called for a National Commemoration honoring the life and Legacy of Maurice Bishop this fall. God willing, as President of IBW, I plan to organize a delegation of African American leaders to attend this historic commemoration”, said Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and Convenor of the State of the Black World Conference”.
“We are delighted and honored to have PM Mitchell, speak at the SOBWCV, especially to pay tribute to one of his predecessors, PM Maurice Bishop, a Pan-African icon and revolutionary who gave his life for the advancement of the Grenadian people in October 1983,” said Don Rojas, director of communications and international relations at the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and former press secretary to Maurice Bishop.”
PJ Patterson Will Speak on first Day of the State of the Black World Conference
Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Hon. PJ Patterson, will deliver a keynote address on the opening day of the State of the Black World Conference (SOBWCV) slated for Baltimore, Md. from April 19-23. He will focus on the mission to transform post-colonial societies in the Caribbean and Africa and to enhance democracy and development in those parts of the Black world.
Patterson holds the distinction of being the longest serving prime minister in the history of Jamaica. Currently he is “Statesman in Residence” at the PJ Patterson Center for Africa-Caribbean advocacy at the University of the West Indies. The Center coordinates public policy and advocacy in fostering development relations between the Caribbean and Africa and promotes dialogue at the level of Heads of Government.
“From our history, we gain an insight,” said Patterson, “and we define a challenge. The insight is an understanding that the modern pursuit of democracy and development reflects nothing more than the yearning of our Ancestors for freedom and agency. The challenge is for us to build inclusive societies, encompassing social, economic and environmental progress, fully cognizant that this is nothing less than a sacred trust from the past.”
Commenting on Patterson’s participation in the SOBWCV, Dr. Ron Daniels, Convenor of the conference and President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century said, “we are honored and delighted to have this prestigious global statesman be engaged with the conference. Former Prime Minister Patterson will bring an unprecedented depth of experience, wisdom and guidance to this historic gathering that will help the global Pan-African movement set a course for the rest of the 21st Century.”
Patterson is credited with having laid the groundwork for the economic growth of modern Jamaica, presiding over massive infrastructure development including the construction of highways, modernization of airports, telecom liberalization and expansion, as well as significant foreign investment inflows to the country’s tourism industry.
“Those who were engaged in the anti-colonial movement several generations after Emancipation, fully understand that the political departure of the colonial masters at independence was an important step, but only a solitary step on the journey to inclusive societies genuinely responsive to the needs, interests and aspirations of each inhabitant,” added Patterson.
