Set to the backdrop of a now official government shutdown, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) 54th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) – held Sept. 24-28 – brought a roaring nation to the heart of Washington united in a plea for democracy and civil rights.
Guided by the theme: “Made for This Moment: Power, Policy, Progress,” the conference mobilized legislators, community officials, influencers, celebrities and concerned constituents with the beginnings of what many likened to a continued legacy of civic resistance.
“From education, to health care, to [affording] everyday costs that are mounting on [families]…this is not just the agenda of Black Americans, it’s the agenda of America,” Rep. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told The Informer, after convening a panel on Sept. 24. “This is a time, as [the late Georgia Rep. John Lewis] said, for all of us to think how we can cause ‘good trouble.’ When so many things are going wrong, we have to make a difference.”
Throughout the ALC – or as many have coined it, “CBC Week” – the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest D.C., set the stage to amplify the power of Black networks and organization, while strengthening a collective call for equity throughout the diaspora.
Highly anticipated signature events such as the Day of Healing Prayer Breakfast, and later culminating, Phoenix Awards Dinner on Sept. 27 honored the strength of ancestral values of faith, courage and storytelling in challenging systems of oppression.
In addition to speeches from CBCF leaders, the Phoenix Awards also featured bold remarks from former Vice President Kamala Harris and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
“I’m not interested in talking about how powerful the president is, or how powerful he thinks he is. I’m interested in talking about how powerful we are,” Moore declared. “I’m interested in talking about how the Congressional Black Caucus was built for this moment, because the Congressional Black Caucus was built in moments like these.”
From keynote addresses at events, to informational panels merging culture with policy, the days of programming tackled inequities and communal concerns with candid, actionable solutions, discussing: health care and criminal justice, environmentalism, immigration and occupation, mid-decade redistricting, the purge on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and how to navigate these attacks on constitutional liberties.
“This is a defining moment for Black America,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), chair of the CBC, at Day of Healing. “To secure our democracy, we have to put on the mantle of our power. We have to mobilize our communities and overcome the challenges that threaten our freedom.”
Among the array of marching orders and tactics explored, two rang high in popularity – building coalitions and increasing civic engagement, particularly in the realm of voting.
During her remarks at the Phoenix Awards, Harris didn’t shy away from boosting either method.
“A time such as this demands that we win the midterms and enforce checks and balances on this unchecked, incompetent, unhinged President,” Harris said Saturday evening.
She directly addressed the 62 members of the CBC, the largest caucus in Congress, as she implored the policymakers to recognize the power within their own leadership, and remind “the people” of theirs.
“You are the leaders who are up for the fight. You are leaders who have courage,” the former vice president continued. “You are the leaders who will speak truth…who know that at a time such as this, it demands one thing for sure: we must fight fire with fire.”
In the New-Age ‘Don Crow,’ Voting Rights Are on the Ballot
A longtime ALC attendee, Dr. Catherine Rowell, District 1 Councilmember of South Fulton, Georgia, put this year’s theme into practice as she spent some of CBC Week on Capitol Hill.
Rowell, who served as the city’s first mayor pro tem, says unreleased funding on her Fiscal Year 26 earmarked projects has stalled efforts to implement major infrastructure improvements, adding to a list of challenges that stem from the Trump administration’s cuts to federal jobs, agencies and funding that affect municipal governments.
“And of course, that’s the detail of it – the inter-connectedness of all levels of government,” Rowell told The Informer. “Unfortunately, many of these cuts have been wholesale, not looking at… how they’re affecting communities in a very real way.”
With the government shutdown in effect, the future of congressional spending – and subsequently, the ability for Rowell to afford stormwater repairs and safe road initiatives in her city – remains in a growing state of uncertainty.
For the councilwoman, this demonstrates why residents need to understand the nuances of government functions, and more importantly, recognize how votership can directly impact inner cities.
“When we hear about federal shutdowns or freezes in the budget, [constituents] don’t understand that some of the projects that we fund in a local community come through the federal appropriations process,” she explained. “This stuff is very real.”
Rowell was in attendance for a Sept. 25 “Braintrust” that featured civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley and Missouri Congressional Rep. Wesley Bell (D). Much of the discussion centered around the role of the judiciary branch in what some panelists called a Republican-led ploy to “neutralize minority voting power” through mid-decade redistricting.
“If partisan mapmakers can redraw districts whenever it suits them, then we are sliding backwards as a nation,” Bell said, speaking ahead of the panel. “Backwards to a time when Black voices were systemically locked out, backwards to a time when democracy was a name only.”
With key states like Texas, Louisiana, and Florida among the few already implicated, the process criticized as political gerrymandering also risks wiping out at least 10 members – though some panelists argued two-thirds–of the CBC, which currently holds the title of the largest Black Caucus in congressional history.
Additionally, Wiley pointed out that, on Oct. 15, SCOTUS is set to hear arguments on a Louisiana redistricting case with potential to create rippling effects across the country, as well as limit the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“This isn’t about one map or one election,” Bell said, “it’s about the future of this country and who it belongs to.”
Faith and social justice leader Bishop William Barber, founder of Repairers of the Breach, spoke in a separate panel about a need for processes that put people before politics.
Joining Wiley and award-winning journalist and moderator Joy-Ann Reid, the reverend referenced a history of presidential debates that never addressed the poor and low waged Americans (60% of Blacks and 40% of the voting population), which he cites reports attributing as a top factor in the 19 million voters lost between the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
“This is not just a crisis of democracy, this is a crisis of civilization,” Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, declared. “Fascism and authoritarianism depend on people not taking things seriously.”
Barber denied the trend of voters disconnecting from politics out of feeling discouraged by today’s “lethal mix of barbarism and fascism,” or as Reid coined it that morning: “the age of Don Crow.”
The North Carolina native went on to candidly call out his own home state–where 950,000 of African Americans, and more than 1.5 million poor and low-waged people didn’t vote in the last election. To that point, he pressed all Black folk to wrestle with the actualities of “what’s being stolen and what we’re giving away.”
“If you get 15% of [non-voting] poor, low-waged people around an agenda, that 15% could shift the country,” he explained. “Stop acting like we’ve put forth our best fight – we’ve not put forth our best fight yet.”
For Rowell, conquering what looks to be “a troubling couple of years ahead” insists upon more than a win, but an overwhelming participation of voters in the 2026 midterm elections. She pointed to a desire to see politicians on a local level do more to educate people “that their vote matters,” and not just during the national elections.
Meanwhile, CBCF President Nicole Austin-Hillery touts the ALC mission to the beat of a sounding drum that she trusts will be heard throughout the nation.
“Our coming together this week is not just about having a wonderful conference – it is about all of us having directives and marching orders,” the president told the room during Saturday’s Day of Healing breakfast. “We fully expect that you will take everything that you’ve learned and heard…you will make the difference and empower the people in your own communities to come together in unity to ensure that…we’re going forward.”