The Black Conservative Summit (BCS), March 24-25, casts a spotlight on America’s ‘crisis’ of ‘lack of fathers in the home,’ while honoring heroes in the movement committed to building strong families and communities – including Bob Woodson, Ken Blackwell, Dr. Shelby Steele, and Kay Cole James.
CHICAGO — Popular radio talk show host Larry Elder says fatherlessness — not racism — is the biggest problem facing the Black community and wider America.
His remarks come before the start of the fifth annual Black Conservative Summit — convening the largest gathering of influential Black leaders in the Midwest — in the Chicagoland area, March 24-25. Registration for the Summit is open to the public and the working press.
Seven out of every ten Black American children are born to an unmarried mother, according to Elder, who will be joined at the BCS by fellow cast members of Uncle Tom II: An American Odyssey, and a multi-ethnic group of U.S. conservative leaders, including four heroes of the movement being honored with the coveted R.I.S.E Award during closing ceremonies.
In Illinois last year, approximately 278,000 Black children — a whopping 72% — lived in a home without a father, compared with 40% of Hispanic children and 23% of White children, according to America’s First Policy Institute.
Several years ago, former President Obama also spotlighted the nation’s fatherlessness dilemma, telling a Chicago church congregation – located just 20 miles from where the Summit will be held at the Tinley Park Convention Center in two weeks – that “a child raised without a father is five times more likely to be poor and commit crimes, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and twenty times more likely to end up behind bars.”
‘Traditional Family Values Under Attack’
“The traditional, nuclear family in the U.S. is under attack from an extreme liberal agenda,” said Dr. Eric Wallace, co-founder of Freedom’s Journal Institute, a faith-based non-profit. At the summit, Wallace and his wife, Jennifer, director of Black Families Matter, will explore the “crisis” facing America’s families.
Like many Black conservatives, the Wallaces, who organized the first Black Conservative Summit in 2013, cite issues such as Critical Race Theory (CRT), Black Lives Matter (BLM), and the promotion of unrestricted abortion and gender fluidity as major threats to the traditional family — and the cause of many problems facing Black communities.
In 1965, the number of Black children born out of wedlock was only 25%. Unlike the narrative of their liberal counterparts, conservatives assert that the number skyrocketed when the U.S. welfare system ballooned.
“Many of the problems facing the Black community in America — including high crime and incarceration rates — stem not from racism; but from the rise of welfare and the disintegration of the traditional ‘nuclear’ family,” said Bob Woodson, founder of the Woodson Center, a non-profit organization, which promotes the economic revitalization of urban neighborhoods.
Woodson and conservative leaders, including The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell, chairman of the AFPI Center for Election Integrity; Dr. Shelby Steele, Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Sr. Fellow, Hoover Institution; and The Honorable Kay Cole James, secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, will be presented with awards at the Summit for their outstanding impact on and commitment to strengthening communities and families.
“Our earnest conviction is that many of the Black communities’ problems, as well as problems and struggles of other communities, could be solved if we gave more attention to building strong and healthy families,” Jennifer Wallace said.
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MEDIA: To arrange interviews with BCS speakers, contact Gregg Wooding, I AM PR, (972) 567-7660/ [email protected]. For onsite and/or coverage via live-stream, media reps should complete the following press registration form: https://form.jotform.com/222226553362148
About Freedom’s Journal Institute
Dr. Eric Wallace, an African American scholar, and his wife Jennifer are co-founders of Freedom’s Journal Institute (FJI), an Illinois-based nonprofit organization — inspired by the first African American-owned and operated newspaper, Freedoms Journal, dating back to 1827 — committed to addressing contemporary issues through socio-political education and engagement with a biblical worldview. FJI’s Kingdoms in Konflict program currently airs on Total Living TV Network and National Religious Broadcasters TV Network.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Religion News Service or Religion News Foundation.
