Afro-Netizen crashes CBC Weekend

Okay, so "crash" is probably not the best verb to use.

For the first time in 11 years, I have actually registered to attend ""CBC Weekend" -- Beltway shorthand for the 34th Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.

Actually, I registered, but didn't pay because this year I am attending this conference as a member of the press (even though 9 out of 10 people behind or in front of the counter have no clue what a blogger is.)

Off and on over the past decade or so, I have been "participating" in CBC Weekend, and every year is pretty much the same: the "Ebony/Jet Showcase" of the Black political elite, the who's who of the Fortune 500's top Black government affairs folks, lobbyists, policy wonks, a smattering of media folk, and a sprinkling of Black quasi-celebs du jour. (Apparently, Omarosa this year's who-gives-a-damn "celeb"). Oh, and let's not forget the CBC groupies -- the folks who make the pilgrimmage to DC every year to get their groove on, but say they're in town for meetings and to attend actual conference events (in the daylight hours).

Over the years I've attended countless CBC "braintrust" sessions and issue forums sponsored by various CBC members, and back in 1994, I even coordinated the former Sen. Braun's federal procurement fair that brought together top procurement officers from all of the federal agencies and vendors of color.

At these braintrusts, I heard highly expert panelists opine on all things political, civic and policy-related. I have met the charismatic and the catastrophically boring among these wonks, activists and pundits.

But one thing has remained the same: the template never changes. And perhaps that's what concerns me the most.

It seems that 95% of the panelists who speak at this sessions have participated in the same (type of) braintrust sessions and given the same talk for the past 34 years!

I see the same people at the same parties with the same type of corporate sponsors.

I see the same folks lining up at the open bars and shakin' it on the same dance floors in the same venues with the same gratuitously expensive wardrobes that could feed a family in Darfur for a month. More sad than this is the fact that the flossin' is often by junior Hill staffers who make far less than the average sanitation worker.

Indeed, the DC I know (and left) is the L.A. of the East Coast. And yet within this perhaps stinging indictment is another equally true reality: "we are an amazing people", to quote my late grandfather. Most of us are acutely aware of the plight of our people. We understand the mechanics of "the system" in which we have expressly chosen to work. We are not so deluded that we feel that we've "made it" and our work here is done. We have so much promise -- if only we can break out of this culture of conservative complacency. Instead of the highly ambitious tactic of "infiltration and subversion", over time, we've merely acclimated and acquiesed. Not exactly revolutionary or all that fruitful for the millions of Blackfolk on whose behalf many of us politicos we are supposed to being advocating.

My fellow CBC pilgrims and I are not inherently vapid, materialistic, or selfish people; we have merely bought into a paradigm that gives us the perception of comfort and stability, but is fundamentally flawed. The flaw it seems is the notion that we can insinuate ourselves into a system to the point where we understand it so well that we will ultimately be able to exploit it fully for our own collective benefit. The grim reality I'm afraid is discernably different.

The reality is that "power concedes nothing without a demand" -- but from an equal or greater power. And such power from our community will almost certainly come from without and well beyond the Beltway, executive suites, and new Black suburbia. It will come from the slums, schools, and streets. And if the Kerry-Edwards campaign continues to nickel-and-dime its most loyal core constituency, the re-election of Dubya will undoubtedly create a groundswell of street-level rage and protest 21st century America has seen.

But, hey, maybe I'm just bitter because I didn't get an invitation to whatever is tonight's "in" party.

Comments

[Envy]

Hey. I KNOW you got invites to the most exlusive parties during CBC week. But a little partying isn't that bad is it. I agree with you on the panels and the substance. But perhaps you may have minimized the "real" benefit of CBC week: the networking. Like it or not, business, political and personal connections are made during this week. And isn't it all about "who you know" when you are trying to REALLY get something done? Washington is VERY difficult to navigate without an inside guide and CBC week and give you that.

[Jan Smith]

OK. So, you didn't know that it would be this way? Did they really go there to accomplish something? I mean this thing must be like all other conferences that have been going on for year after year, just a glittery affair to meet, greet and do a few other things I'm sure will stay there at the convention, ehh?

Jan

Hey, I saw you at THE "It party". Wasn't that you bustin' a move to Public Enemy's "Shut Em Down"?