October 31, 2009

Dear Members and Supporters:

On October 11th, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women closed its 14th biennial convention in Atlanta. The convention was a celebration of 28 years of advocacy for gender and racial equity on behalf of African American women and girls. At this convention I had the privilege and honor of being elected the organization’s new National President.

I am proud to share there was overwhelming support for the plan-forward; a plan that will Link our past with our present to create the future we all want for the young women and girls who will follow. This plan will also Leverage the successful programs and local advocacy agendas of our chapters, like the Northern Virginia chapter that won a national award this year for its HIV-AIDS awareness and advocacy program, and the international mission in Liberia launched four years ago by our Metro Atlanta chapter. And, the plan will craft an agenda to Lead the efforts to ensure women-- who now, for the first time in American history, constitute over 50% of the American workforce-- are treated equally in terms of pay, reduction of gender specific medical disparities and with respect for their academic and professional accomplishments. I awakened this morning to find that Dr. Regina Benjamin, a black woman who has dedicated her life’s work to providing medical care to the indigent, had finally been confirmed as U.S. Surgeon General after a lengthy delay while members of Congress debated her ability to hold this post while “being overweight”.