Former President Barack Obama spoke to Congress saying “…we meet at an urgent time for our country. We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that has made things worse…” the day after, Obama laid out his plan to kick-start job growth and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) took his vision to the nation.
Then CBC Chairman Emanuel Cleaver was joined by Congresswomen Maxine Waters, former Congresswoman Laura Richardson and Congresswoman Karen Bass in Los Angeles on August 30 and 31 of 2011 on the final stop of the national jobs initiative effort.
The CBC “For the People” was a month-long jobs initiative nationwide that came to Los Angeles. The initiative, which had featured at least 100 employers with real and available jobs, had seen large turnouts in Miami, Cleveland, Detroit and Atlanta.
Held at the Crenshaw Christian Center, thousands showed up to find jobs in an economy that was struggling. It was reported that up to 4,000 people showed for the job fair for 2,500 jobs with over 160 employers including Wells Fargo, U.S. Coast Guard, Fox entertainment, Disneyland and Los Angeles Fire Department to name a few.
“It’s most important leaving Washington and coming to L.A. and hearing from people who are hurting, and taking their stories back to Washington and demanding that we have the resources to take the jobs back to these communities,” stated Bass.
The CBC estimated that up to 20,000 people attended the job fairs, town halls and workshops in total.
Locally, members of the California Legislative Black Caucus represents and advocates for the interests of Black people throughout California. It seeks to increase African American participation and representation in all levels of government.
For more information, on the The California Legislative Black Caucus, please visit http://blackcaucus.legislature.ca.gov/
