SENATOR WILKERSON TO CONVENE
FOURTH ANNUAL 21st CENTURY BLACK MASSACHUSETTS CONFERENCE http://www.downtimeonline.net/dte/21stcentury_conference.htm

(AANEWSWIRE)BOSTON- Senator Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston) will convene this year’s 4th Annual 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts on Friday, June 3, and Saturday, June 4, 2005. Organizers anticipate over 2,000 people from across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will participate in the 2-day conference.

This year, conference participants will tackle the condition of Black boys in Massachusetts. The focus, “The Pampers to Prison Pipeline: the Ms. Education of Black Boys," will focus our energies on the stark reality of the educational, social, health, and economic status of Black boys in Massachusetts.

Speakers will include 2006 gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick, Educational Consultant and Author Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, Dr. Rosa Smith, president of the Schott Foundation, Kevin Cohee, President and CEO of One United Bank, and Dr. Jeff Howard, Founder of the Efficacy Institute. Kirk Sykes and Thomas Welch, Co-Developers of the Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel, will both receive a 21st Century Black Massachusetts Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference was inspired by the national conference on the State of Black America with the purpose of creating a forum for Black residents from across the Commonwealth to discuss, plan and strategize their place and role as residents of Massachusetts in the 21st Century.

To register, visit http://www.21blackma.org or call 617.445.8683. New England's only Black-owned hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites, Boston Crosstown Center is the official Conference Hotel. Book your reservations now.Please ask for 21CBM conference special rate by calling (617) 445-6400.

The Conference Sponsors include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Citizen’s Bank, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Coca Cola Bottling Co., The Gillette Company, Mass. Convention Center Authority, and Hampton Inn & Suites.