County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and keynote speaker Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the national Children's Defense Fund, were joined Saturday by an audience of more than 1,500 people at the Second District's 18th annual summit of the Empowerment Congress.
The constituent-based partnership of neighborhood groups, business and religious institutions was founded by Mr. Ridley-Thomas when he was a Los Angeles City Councilman.
His objective: To increase community participation and to make government more responsive. The Congress is widely seen as the precursor to the city's Neighborhood Councils.
“We are the keys to change, but only if we are educated, engaged and empowered for action,” Mr. Ridley-Thomas told the enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowd in the packed Loker Student Union on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills. About 200 people watched his address on a live video feed in an overflow room.
The Supervisor cited several accomplishments during his recently completed first year on the Board of Supervisors that were traceable to mobilized residents of the Second District.
He mentioned a new Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital, scheduled to open in 2012, and a light rail system from Crenshaw Boulevard to Los Angeles International Airport that could be completed as early as 2016, a decade sooner than previously planned.
In introducing Mrs. Edelman, Mr. Ridley-Thomas cited her historic achievements grounded in activism, beginning in the mid-1960s when she was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar Assn., and directed the state's NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund during the height of the civil rights movement.
“She has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans for her entire professional life,” the Supervisor said. “Under her leadership, the Children's Defense Fund has become the nation's strongest voice for children and families.”
Mrs. Edelman, at the forefront of the effort to provide universal health care for children, said that this summer her organization will partner with Mr. Ridley-Thomas to open five “Freedom Schools” in the Second District.
Mrs. Edelman praised the Supervisor for making children and education a priority in his district, calling him a “do’er, not a talker.” She applauded him for building a grass roots movement.
“If you have communities that empower families, you will have communities that are empowered,” she said.
The Children's Defense Fund operates more than 100 of the schools nationwide. The six-week program is built upon the twin prongs of inspiring a love for reading and fostering an enhanced feeling of self-worth among children. Parents are required to participate in the program and encouraged to engage in social action.
Saturday's summit also included workshops on issues ranging from bridging health disparities in the Second District to economic development opportunities along the Crenshaw/LAX light rail system.
In addition, more than two dozen County departments staffed booths offering a variety of information and resources, and the Public Health Dept., administered free H1N1 flu vaccinations on site.
The Second Supervisorial District includes the cities of Carson, Compton, Culver City, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale and Lynwood. With 2.3 million residents, the district also includes, the unincorporated communities of Alondra Park, Athens, Del Aire, Dominguez, East Compton, El Camino Village, Florence, Ladera Heights, Lennox, View Park, West Athens, West Carson, West Compton, Willowbrook and Wiseburn.
For information on the Empowerment Congress: www.empowermentcongress.org
