As lawmakers and Americans around the nation grapple with the effects of President Donald Trump’s elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion, attacks on Black history, and recent takeover of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) hopes this year’s Day of Healing on Sept. 27, will offer hope and inspiration, during a time of uncertainty.
“I am praying for protection but this prayer request seems odd because we are being occupied by those outside the city by those who say that they are here for protection,” said the Rev. Thomas Bowen, Earl L. Harrison Minister of Social Justice and Congregational Care at Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest D.C.
Despite disparities, repressive policies, and the federal takeover of MPD, this year’s Day of Healing, part of 54th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC), will work to uplift Black communities and feature the Rev. Dr. Howard John Wesley, pastor of the Alfred Street Baptist Church, in Alexandria, Virginia, as the keynote speaker, and a performance from Anthony Brown & group theraAPy.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to serve as keynote speaker at the CBCF’s 54th Annual Day of Healing Prayer Breakfast,” Wesley told The Informer. “In these challenging and divided times, I feel the weight and responsibility of discerning what the word from the Lord is to help us endure and survive.”
As honorary co-chair of this year’s annual conference, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D), Maryland’s first Black senator, emphasized the importance of healing during this challenging time for the nation and world.
“As an African American community we have centered our faith around everything that we do that we have done for so many years,” Alsobrooks said. “Bringing together, policy makers, community members, in fellowship and reflection is a source of strength for us.”
In her first year as a United States senator, Alsobrooks noted how all the workshops, programming and policy discussions are critical toward positive progress and combating racism, injustice and hate.
“It all works together,” Alsobrooks said, “to heal generational wounds that have hurt the Black family.”
As Republican lawmakers work to extend the takeover of MPD and introduce discriminatory legislation, the Rev. E. Gail Anderson Holness, senior pastor of the Adams Inspirational African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Washington, Maryland, and a former advisory neighborhood commissioner has a particular prayer leading up to the Day of Healing.
“My prayer is that God would release us from the hands of the enemy,” Holness told The Informer, adding that the annual Day of Healing emphasizes the importance of prayer to combat challenges. “The Bible says we must pray without ceasing unless our works are dead.”
