State of the Black World Conference meets in N.O.

• By ALLEN M. JOHNSON JR.
• Advocate New Orleans bureau
• Published: Nov 20, 2008 - Page: 10A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — The first major meeting of black leaders since the historic election of President-elect Barack Obama opened in New Orleans on Wednesday — with words for those unable to attend.

“The message is the era,” Ron Daniels, founding president of the State of the Black World Conference said. “People have got to be extraordinarily uplifted by Barack Obama’s victory. He has illustrated what you can do when you organize in our community. You can effect positive change.”

The five-day conference promises an agenda of speakers and forums no less provocative than similar conventions hosted here since Hurricane Katrina, such as Tavis Smiley’s “State of the Black Union-2008,” and the Essence music festival’s increasingly deliberative “empowerment seminars.”

The Black World meeting includes headline appearances by actor Danny Glover, Essence Magazine publisher Susan L. Taylor, reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and National Urban League president Marc Morial.

Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers band leads the conference “cultural extravaganza” Saturday night. The meeting ends Sunday morning with an address by Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Described by founder Daniels as “African-centric,” the conference is unabashedly left-of-center and unburdened by corporate sponsors. The conference agenda stresses the importance of policy issues and legislative priorities, including: an urban policy to rebuild New Orleans and other American cities; criminal justice system reforms, and universal health care.

“We deliberately want to focus on that which is achievable and attainable — things that are within reach,” said Daniels, 66, a former deputy campaign director for Jesse Jackson’s presidential bid in 1988 and past executive director of Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition.

The conference also endeavors to hold Obama accountable to his campaign promises — “in a constructive spirit,” Daniels stressed.

In addition to governmental priorities, the conference will deliberate over ways to help strengthen black communities without government assistance, he said.

The agenda, which will be posted on a Web site, also recommends congressional bills worthy of support by conventioneers — as well as those unable to attend.

For example, to rebuild New Orleans and other American cities, the conference urges supporters to hold Obama to his campaign promise to create a White House Office on Urban Affairs.

The Cabinet-level office would fully fund Community Development Block Grants, support job creation, fostering a national network of “public-private business incubators” and by investing in improved infrastructure, the program states.

“Many of us think this is an ‘FDR moment’ (in history),” Daniels told a conference leadership forum Wednesday.