Heads of several African and Caribbean nations, the founder of the #MeToo movement, Mayor Brandon Scott, and other Black leaders will gather in Baltimore for the fifth State of the Black World Conference on April 19-23 at the Baltimore Convention Center.
This year’s conference centers on the theme of “Global Africans Rising, Empowerment Reparations and Healing,” and will include an award ceremony honoring some of the world’s Black and African leaders.
The five-day event will also feature town halls on the state of Black people around the world; a hip hop summit; an African marketplace; and panels and sessions on issues such as global Black economic empowerment, gentrification, police reform, reparations, and more.
The conference is being convened by the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, which works to dismantle income inequalities; racial, ethnic, and religious violence; white supremacy; and other issues affecting Black people globally.
“This conference is not to be missed,” said Dr. Ron Daniels, president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century. “After all we have seen and experienced over the last three years, it is imperative that Black leaders from across the globe come together to plan our collective path forward. There is still much work to be done to right the wrongs of the vestiges of slavery that continue to affect our people around the world. All roads lead directly to Baltimore.”
Attendees can register for the conference on the Institute of the Black World 21st Century’s website.
Among those attending this year’s conference will be:
- Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, president of the Republic of Ghana
- Mia Amor Mottley, prime minister of Barbados
- Dickon Mitchell, prime minister of Grenada
- P.J. Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica
- Brandon Scott, mayor of Baltimore
- Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League
- Hilary Shelton, vice-president for advocacy and the director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau
- Dr. Julianne Malveaux, inaugural dean of the Ethnic Studies Department at California State University, Los Angeles
- LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter
- Dr. George Fraser, president and CEO of Fraser Net and Power Networking Conference
- Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement
- Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, lead sponsor of HR-40 to establish a commission consider a proposal for reparations for slavery
- Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, president of the University of the West Indies
- Dr. Julius Garvey, son of activist Marcus Garvey, a Global Pan Africanist
- Ras J. Baraka, mayor of Newark, New Jersey
- Haki Ammi, an author, investor, and networking specialist
- Kareem Aziz, chairman of the Local Host Planning/Advisory Committee
- Rev. Dr. Robert Turner, senior pastor at Empowerment Temple AME Church
