Statehood and Reversal of Black-White Migration Patterns to Headline CBCF Forums on Wednesday and Thursday
September 20, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will speak and preside at two issue forums this week during the 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference themed iLead | iServe. The lead forum, entitled Black Power & the 2010 Census: Changing Faces and Changing Places in Urban Communities, on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. in room 143-C of the Washington Convention Center, will address: the 2010 census results that showed a reversal in trends in some Black and White migration patterns in the Washington region, whether African-American political influence will be weakened by this trend, and what turn Black political power may take in the 21st century as Blacks migrate out of cities like other groups before them. Panelists will include Dr. Michael Fauntroy, author and Associate Professor of Public Policy at George Washington University, Dr. Roderick Harrison, Senior Research Scientist at Howard University, and Shani Hilton, Staff Writer at the Washington City Paper.
Norton will also join American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital Executive Director Johnny Barnes, Stand Up! For Democracy in D.C. President Anise Jenkins, and DC Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka at a second issue forum, entitled Statehood Is the Goal: How Do We Get There?, on Thursday, September 22, 2011, from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. in room 140-A at the Washington Convention Center. The forum will highlight the steps that have been taken and those that need to be taken to make the District of Columbia the nation's 51st state. Norton said both issue forums are of significant importance to D.C. residents. However, the forum on statehood is particularly timely as she circulates a Dear Colleague to House Democrats asking them to co-sponsor her statehood bill and her two other D.C. voting rights bills. All three bills have received strong support from D.C. residents. Norton has had to introduce three approaches to voting rights, reflecting which party controlled Congress and which bill could be achieved given the political climate. In 2010, the District's chance of getting a House vote was thwarted by an amendment that would have completely eliminated all of the city's gun safety laws.
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