WS Chronicle

Front runner for DNC chairperson will be the keynote speaker

BY DONNA ROGERS

THE CHRONICLE

Psalm 133:1 says: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

That is the mindset for The Chronicle’s 2017 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day  Breakfast Forum. The Chronicle  and the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity will again unite to celebrate the civil rights leader and unify the community the morning of Monday, Jan. 16.

And the breakfast forum will feature the front runner for the Democratic national Committee (DNC) chairperson as the keynote speaker.

“the Ministers’ Conference prayer breakfast with The Chronicle serves as a means to galvanize our community,” said the Rev. Dr. Lamont Williams, president of the Ministers’ Conference. “It is more than just a breakfast. It brings a lot of cohesiveness.”

Last year was the first year the Ministers’ Conference joined The Chronicle in the prayer breakfast. Before that, the conference would hold a separate march at about the same time as the breakfast at Mt. Zion Baptist Church located on File Street, then hold a later religious service. This year, the conference will again hold a march after the breakfast and a later service to commemorate the life of Dr. King on Jan. 16.

“The partnership has certainly yielded some wonderful results,” Williams said.

In 2015, the conference donated six $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors.

Last year, with The Chronicle partnership, the conference was able to award 11 $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors.

The money for the scholarships come from money raised from the Ministers’ Conference’s religious service and matching funds from The Chronicle.

Williams said the scholarships let the Ministers’ Conference see “the lives we know we’re impacting.”

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the front runner for the DNC chairperson, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast Forum, 8 a.m. at the Grand Pavilion Ballroom in the Embassy Suites Hotel, 460 N. Cherry St., in downtown Winston-Salem, on Jan. 16. Ellison, 53, has been on national news networks lately as he makes his case to become leader of the Democrats as they reorganize for 2018 elections after the Electoral College defeat of Hillary Clinton for president in November. Clinton won about 3 million more votes than President-elect Donald Trump.

About 447 DNC members will decide the national chair during the weekend of Feb. 24. North Carolina has five elected by the state party, plus the state chair and vice chair.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota, lawmaker has a Winston-Salem connection in his younger brother, Eric Ellison, who is a lawyer and Forsyth County Democratic Party chair.

Keith Ellison converted from Catholicism to Islam while he was an undergraduate at Wayne State University. He became a lawyer and served in the Minnesota legislature. In 2007, he made history as the first Muslim member of Congress. He won his 2016 re-election for his sixth term with 70 percent of the vote. During the primary, he became one of the most prominent supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid and was appointed by Sanders to the committee that crafted the Democratic Party platform last year. He is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which champions things such as universal healthcare, civil rights and environmental protection.

Keith Ellison announced his bid for party chair in November and was endorsed by Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, incoming Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, and outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

For free ticket information call The Chronicle at 336-722-8624 ext. 100 or stop by 617 N. Liberty St. in Winston-Salem.