Norton to Address Responsible Fatherhood with Eric Holder at ACM Town Hall Meeting on Thursday

Norton to Address Responsible Fatherhood with Eric Holder at Town Hall Meeting on Thursday

February 18, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will address responsible fatherhood at a Town Hall Meeting on Fatherhood and Solutions to Youth Violence, co-sponsored with the Alliance of Concerned Men, Thursday, Feb. 18, 3-5:30 p.m., at the University of the District of Columbia, Blg. #46 East, UDC’s auditorium. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, whom Norton recommended to President Clinton to become the first African American U.S. Attorney here, also will speak. Norton said “I deeply appreciate the Attorney General’s continuing interest in his hometown, where he served as U.S. Attorney, particularly his understanding of the links between fatherhood, mentoring kids, and violence. Attorney General Holder’s willingness to give the keynote address at this critical town hall on fatherhood and solutions to youth violence is an important indication of the quality and significance of the work of Tyrone Parker and the Alliance of Concerned Men.”

Remarks will be followed by panel discussions on “Reentry and Youth Violence Prevention,” “Mentoring and Pathways to Success,” “Psychological Effects of Fatherhood Absenteeism,” and “Responsible Fatherhood.” Prior to the town hall, meeting featuring remarks by the Congresswoman, UDC President Allen L. Sessoms and Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will participate in panel discussions on “Youth Violence and Gang Prevention and Intervention,” “Fatherhood Programs” and “Juvenile Justice Policy.” Popular radio host Joe Madison will facilitate the panel discussions. A special video conference with men from D.C. incarcerated in the Rivers Correctional Facility in North Carolina also will take place. The event is free and open to the public. The Congresswoman, who in 2001 appointed a Commission on Black Men and Boys to address serious problems including single-parent families, chronic unemployment, gun violence, alcohol and drug addiction, HIV/AIDS infection, and incarceration, last month hosted a mentoring luncheon and a shopping spree for job interview attire to afford a group of young men a necessary experience some may not have had growing up.