Continental African Leadership Council Hosts First ’13 Community Event in MD

President Obama with CALC Director, Dr. Okere
File Photo, September 28, 2012

Hyattsville, MD
February 19, 2013

By Frederick Nnoma-Addison

The Continental African Leadership Council (CALC) has hosted its first 2013 community event in the state of Maryland. The workshop attended by a cross section of the African immigrant community focused on immigration, homeowner relief and foreclosure prevention. Some of the subjects covered at the event included immigration fraud, Loan modification, refinancing and new bank servicing standards. Representatives of Maryland’s Attorney General, Doug Gansler, housing counselors, immigration attorneys from the African Diaspora community and other experts provided information and conducted free one-on-one counseling sessions for attendees of the workshop.

Continental African Leadership Council (CALC) is a branch of the Maryland Democratic Party Diversity Leadership Council. The council provides their constituents vital information through such events and seeks to create opportunities through engagement with public officials. The council represents Maryland’s African-American, Latino, Asian & Pacific Islander American, Continental African, Veterans and Military Families, Women, and LGBT communities.

In an interview with Dr. Sylvester Okere, Director of CALC, he explained that one important goal of CALC is to organize Africans to engage in the political and democratic process in the United States. According to him, “Politics is about numbers and the more numbers we can show the better represented we will be.” He cited the impact that Hispanics have on the immigration debate in the country and explained that African nationals in the United States would have a louder voice in the same debate if only they were better organized. At the end of the session CALC’S Anta Sane (Chief of Staff) announced an upcoming International Women’s Day scheduled for March.
CALC was created in 2010 when Maryland’s Governor Martin, O’Malley established the Diversity Leadership Council to encourage individual ethnic groups to get involved in the democratic process in the state. For more information about the CALC and its activities send an email to – calccommunity@gmail.com

Watch VOA News interview with CALC Director www.youtube.com/watch?v=V46KvbgO80E