By Jeffrey L. Boney, NNPA Newswire Contributor
After meeting in-person for the last time in 2019, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
(CBCF) will be holding the nation’s leading policy conference in Washington, DC from
Wednesday, September 28, 2022, through Sunday, October 2, 2022.
This year’s Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) theme is “Advancing Our Purpose. Elevating
Our Power.”
The ALC is extremely crucial this year, as this November is election season, and this 2022
midterm election will be a strong litmus test for the future of how public policy decisions will most
likely impact the African American community for years to come.
At the upcoming policy conference, the CBCF will be introducing a new hybrid ALC structure,
which will give interested attendees the option to attend in-person or with free virtual and on-
demand offerings.
With the rise of legislation, such as Critical Race Theory (CRT), there is a strong and
overexaggerated push by many to “white-wash” history and hype a false narrative that seeks to
turn a blind eye to racism and the barbaric institution of slavery.
To ensure we as a people never forget the horrific institution of slavery, U.S. Congressman Al
Green (TX-09) will be hosting a seminar at the ALC entitled “Designation of a Slavery
Remembrance Day” on Thursday, September 29th at 2 pm EST at the Walter E. Washington
Convention Center.
This session will discuss the importance of commemorating the lives and contributions of
enslaved Africans whose suffering and centuries of free labor provided the foundation for our
nation’s wealth period. The desired outcome is for more people across the United States to
solemnly commemorate August 20th annually as Slavery Remembrance Day and to thank
President Biden for his recognition of Slavery Remembrance Day.
Civil Rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton will speak and participate in this important dialogue.
Congressman Green states that he chose Rev. Sharpton to speak at the seminar primarily
because he is one of the great messengers and thinkers of our time.
“Rev. Sharpton has the unique ability to explain concepts in ways that resonate and make
lasting impressions on people,” says Congressman Green. “The ability to utilize mnemonics is
essential to the topic of Slavery Remembrance Day, given the central theme is to “always
remember.” We must optimize the opportunity for attendees to remember and recount the
message of the importance of Slavery Remembrance to others. We must always remember and
enumerate the horrors of our nation’s seminal sin to prevent replication of this horrific crime
against humanity.”
According to Congressman Green, it is important to remember slavery because having the true
history of it told will inspire African Americans to take pride in being the descendants of
enslaved Africans.
“Enslaved Africans were the very people who were the source of the centuries of suffering and
free labor upon which our nation’s wealth was acquired,” states Congressman Green.
“Currently, too many persons of African heritage are ashamed to be introduced as the
descendants of enslaved Africans. The truth is that enslaved Africans are our nation’s
foundational mothers and fathers. They are the greatest contributors to our nation’s wealth. As
such, we should be proud to be descended from them. They were most responsible for our
nation’s the prosperous agrarian economy and among its least beneficiaries. They built the
White House and the U.S. Capitol; two global symbols viewed as bastions of democracy. If the
truth be told, they were the greatest contributors to building the foundational American economy
and infrastructure. The enslaved deserve to be honored for what they suffered to build this
country. We must revere the enslaved as we revile slavery.”
Slavery is America’s Original Sin and for too many years, people of African descent were
subjected to this barbaric and legalized institution in America without barely even a mention of
them in school textbooks.
Congressman Green sponsored H.Res.517—The Original Slavery Remembrance Day—in the
117th Congress of the United States, to ensure that history and the memory of the millions of
victims of African descent who suffered the horrors of slavery will never be forgotten.
Congressman Green’s resolution has over 130 co-sponsors in Congress, and also gathered
support by pastors and organizations nationwide, including the National Action Network, the
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the Anti-Defamation League.
Congressman Green specifically chose August 20th as the day of remembrance, because it
was on that day in 1619, that the White Lion ship arrived at Point Comfort, near present day
Norfolk, Virginia, carrying the first enslaved Africans brought to the English-speaking American
colonies. He held his inaugural Slavery Remembrance Day Commemorative Breakfast and
Legislative Update on Saturday, August 20th, at the Power Center in Houston, Texas, where
nearly 1,000 people attended and expressed their unwavering support for the commemoration.
It has been over a century since slavery was abolished in the United States, yet the insidious
progenies of this horrific crime against humanity remain. They remain evident in areas such as
healthcare, lending, incarceration, homeownership, as well as our nation’s classrooms where
efforts to white-wash history and restyle slavery as “involuntary relocation” are afoot.
According to Congressman Green, everyone benefits from remembering the tragedy of slavery
because everyone benefits from knowing our true history.
“Maintaining an accurate account of our history, and history in general, is essential for the
present as well as for posterity, as it offers an accurate understanding of the worth of people and
society,” Congressman Green explains. “It explicates the present and provides the foresight to
sculpt the future. It allows for introspection and extrospection of our triumphs and tragedies. It is
the lodestar to unity and the lodestone for justice.”
Congressman Green also emphasizes that national days of remembrance are a means by
which to commemorate those impacted horrific events, as well as prevent tragedies from fading
from our memory.
“Currently, there are National Days of Remembrance for the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, and 9/11,”
says Congressman Green. “Each day honors the memory of the lives lost to these atrocities.
But now, America does not have an official day of remembrance to honor the millions of African
persons who were abducted and shipped to the Americas to be sold as property as part of the
Atlantic Slave Trade. Slavery Remembrance Day does the same as these other Days of
Remembrance by honoring the millions of enslaved Africans who were kidnapped, shipped to
the Americas, and sold as property.”
President Biden released a statement marking Slavery Remembrance Day, stating:
More than 400 years ago, twenty enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to the shores of what
would become the United States. Millions more were stolen and sold in the centuries that
followed, part of a system of slavery that is America’s original sin.
Great nations don’t hide from their history. They acknowledge their past, both the triumphs and
the tragedies. Today is a day to reflect on the terrible toll of slavery, and on our nation’s profound
ability to heal and emerge stronger. Despite the horrors they faced, these men and women and
their descendants have made countless contributions to the building of this nation and the
continuous effort to realize the American ideal. I was honored last year to declare Juneteenth a
national holiday, another moment to reflect and rededicate ourselves to becoming a more
perfect union. And it’s why my Administration will continue the hard, ongoing work to bring true
equity and racial justice to our country.
I’m grateful for the efforts of Congress—in particular, Representative Al Green and Senator
Elizabeth Warren—to recognize the significance of this day.
Congressman Green extended his sincerest gratitude to President Biden for issuing his
statement and complimented him on his willingness to acknowledge and believes that the
president’s statement further illustrates why we need to recognize August 20th annually as
Slavery Remembrance Day.
Those attending the ALC are strongly encouraged to attend the Designation of a “Slavery
Remembrance Day seminar on Thursday, September 29th at 2 pm EST at the Walter E.
Washington Convention Center.
photograph: Congressman Al Green (D-TX),