Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Conference dispensed navigable tools for Black entrepreneurs. Shea Carlberg and Vanessa Muturi.

As first-time attendees of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the workshops were inspiring. We witnessed the mobilization of advocates, teachers, and entrepreneurs to name a few. Seeing Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) speak to her mega fanbase was moving, including the moment when a ninth grader asked how she could make a difference at her age and how the representative kept going through it all (to which Crockett herself was touched and swiftly answered she has the will to fight on for young people like her).

Civic engagement was at the heart of the weeklong, jam-packed conference from impelling Black youth to lead skill-based job sectors to standing strong with Black women in the prevention of further maternal mortality rises. A major toolkit supplied to attendees was the Black political playbook. Wealth builds wealth, and wealth comes from wealth. This was a repeated point of discussion during the “Forward Together” equity panel and similar talks dedicated to building Black wealth.

Black business owners, topping every other racial group, face barriers for credit availability—one proven reason for this (according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) being the correlation between neighborhood-level characteristics such as low education attainment. The program, featuring Congressional Black Caucus Executive Director Vincent Evans, delivered metrics for creating and raising capital for Black entrepreneurs who are at a higher risk for subprime credit scores.

We also attended a session about Black men’s mental health and the importance of positive masculinity. It was extremely refreshing to hear and see older Black men talk about these topics that were once regarded as taboo. They had amazing points about how it’s okay to go to therapy, that it’s okay to check up on people even if it might offend them, and how to draw strength in being a good role model as a father, brother, and even grandfather. The room was packed with older Black people and the active listening in the room was palpable. It felt good to know that the next generation of Black children are growing up with such informed parents.

Overall, what really stuck out were the panelists who discussed AI literacy. Representative Gabe Amo, for instance, highlighted his bipartisan Literacy in Future Technologies (LIFT) legislation. Training Black youth to become “intuitive” in new systems like AI allows an equitable chance at enhancing their digital assets using cryptocurrency and other online financial systems. Without the involvement of real workers, these systems would otherwise produce racially biased and regressive algorithms.

The CBCF taught us critical lessons about how building community means empowering Black content creators. As we all navigate changing technologies, panelists across the board helped us walk away with one nonnegotiable: to find restorative methods to take a step back from the emotionally charged internet that encapsulates so much of our professional creative spaces today.

Credit Links:

https://www.nationalbankers.org/_files/ugd/c4fe82_829eb63991694d4db64dbc9b86aefef0.pdf

https://issuu.com/congressionalblackcaucusfoundation/docs/forward_together_the_black_policy_playbook_for_an?fr=sNjVmZDgzNzg4MzA