U.S. Black Chambers ends convention with renewed support from the White House

by Hamil Harris

For New Pittsburgh Courier (TriceEdneyWire.com)—

The members of the U.S Black Chambers Inc. recently concluded their national convention in Washington, DC, bolstered by a meeting with President Biden and strengthened ties forged between business, Civil Rights, and Faith leaders.

The White House Office of Public Engagement and National Economic Council also held a June 21st meeting with the leaders of the USBC to discuss the President’s plan to expand economic access to African-American businesses across the US.

But then President Biden walked into the room and greeted Ron Busby Sr. President and CEO of the Black Chambers Inc and other leaders in the organization that represents 120 Chamber of Commerce chapters across the country.

“This is an exciting time for the US Black Chamber and for our members across the country,” said Busby in an interview on the eve of the White House visit. “The US Black Chamber is about advocacy, access to capital. contracting opportunities and chamber development.”

The White House statement talked about the meeting between Biden and the African American business leaders, which comes at a time when Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris has been rallying the party’s African American base as the 2024 Presidential election heats up.

“The President emphasized that, despite the progress being made, there is still work to be done to ensure equitable growth and wealth creation for communities of color,” the statement read.

President Donald Trump said this week that people who help people get into this country should get the death penalty and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spent the last week talking about the merits of slavery.

But at the White House, Biden announced on Tuesday that monuments will be erected to remember Emmett Till, murdered by White supremacists at the age of 14. Today, July 25, would’ve been Till’s 82nd birthday.

In April, Carolyn Bryant Donham, the White woman whose allegations resulted in Tills brutal death, died of cancer in a Louisiana hospice. She was 88.

During the USBC National Conference, Donald R. Cravins Jr., the first African American to serve as Under Secretary of the Department of Commerce for Minority Business Development signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to enhance economic opportunities for African American-owned businesses through capital and contracting opportunities.

On July 20, Rev. Frederick Haynes, the new President of the Rainbow-Push

Coalition, spoke at the US Black Chambers convention where he said the Montgomery Bus Boycott was effective because of Civil Rights activist “tree shakers,” and business leaders, “Jelly makers,” who work together for 381 days.

“The tree shaking changes the system, but have you forgotten about the jelly-making,” Haynes asked during his keynote speech. “While they did tree shaking in boycotting the buses they did some jelly making. They refused to ride the buses so they organized a carpooling system. The carpool system was over before it was Uber.”

In an interview, Haynes said, “If we can build a Black Wall Street back then (In Tulsa) we can build a Black Wall Street from San Francisco to DC and from Harlem to Houston as a sign of the future of Black Business.”

Earlier this month, the USBC honored two of the three living survivors of