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Building
Young Leaders
Congressional
Black Caucus
Conference Focuses on Youth
By CHRISTOPHER WINDHAM
WASHINGTON
- The economic, political and social well-being of
African Americans were key themes of the 39th annual
Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference,
one of premiers forums for debating the top issues
and concerns of minority communities.
Of
the dozens of workshops, seminars and information
forums held, many focused on today’s youth and
the issues consuming their lives. Such issues include
the dramatic high school drop-out rates among African
Americans, rising student loan debt among minorities,
the plight of black males, racial profiling and other
civil rights issues.
The
conference’s Emerging Leaders Series has served
as an outlet for connecting younger and older generations.
The fifth installment of the series, which targets
18 to 40-year-old campus, corporate and community
leaders, included sessions that helped young leaders
map out strategies for tackling community and personal
development challenges.
Organizers
say the sessions are designed to be a forum for young
leaders to share ideas with older generations, with
the hopes that both generations would disseminate
the information on college campuses and in underserved
communities in America.
“The
Emerging Leaders Series was started so that young
people who were emerging in their careers will have
the access to resources and prominent people,”
says Dr. Ivory Toldson, an Associate Professor of
Counseling Psychology of Howard University and lead
organizer of the CBC’s Emerging Leaders Series.
“We then want them to take this information
back home to their communities and run with it.”
Such
access to established professionals, who could offer
guidance from past experiences and resources, has
been a barrier for young leaders seeking to build
campus and community programs, Toldson says.
“It’s
very difficult to get access to people,” says
Toldson, who at 36, is one of the youngest tenured
professors at Howard. “A lot of kids don’t
get a chance to see successful people. It always comes
down to exposure. There needs to be other opportunities
for these kids to be around.”
A
roundtable panel featured during the Emerging Leaders
Series brought young elected officials and policy
professionals up close with a group of African Americans
leaders in the Obama Administration for a discussion
detailing how community leaders can access federal
resources, monitor use of stimulus funds and establish
dialogue with the White House and other federal officials.
In
an example of the Emerging Leaders Series’ growth,
one session sought to raise awareness among the youth
about mental health issues, a traditionally taboo
subject in African American community.
The
series’ signature town hall meetings brought
the conference’s young attendees together with
older political leaders, corporate executives, entertainers
and community activities to discuss the state of Black
America. A portion of the panel discussion was dedicated
to dispelling the notion of a brewing rivalry between
the civil rights generation and the Obama generation.
Events
that bring young and old generations together are
an effective way of repairing any perceived disconnect
between the groups, Toldson says.
“The only way to bring that gap is to create
opportunities for young and older people to get together,”
Toldson says. “If this series is just mostly
young people, like the MTV awards, the young people
are going to do their thing and older people won’t
understand.” 
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