Professional Custom Accounting papers: Building a National Black Community: The Black Convention Movement and the Black Press

Professional Custom Accounting papers: Building a National Black Community: The Black Convention Movement and the Black Press

How did the black convention movement help black leaders connect in order to consider the issues facing their communities?

Explain the conventions’ agendas and how the black press became a vital element in the growing network of black leaders.

II. Forging a Black Freedom Struggle

A. Building a National Black Community: The Black Convention Movement and the Black Press

. In 1830, the first in a series of gatherings that constituted the “black convention movement” took place in Philadelphia at the Mother Bethel AME Church. Bishop Richard Allen called together black clergy and other leaders to meet about the issues that affected their communities. Forty black clergy responded, from nine states, including the slave states of Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland. They discussed and debated measures that should be taken to advance civil rights for free blacks. The group advocated educational opportunities, promoted economic opportunities (via the development of mutual savings banks and cooperative economic business plans), and emphasized moral and Christian education.