Agency seeks to sign up African-Americans for conference

The Iowa Commission on the Status of African Americans is seeking participants for its upcoming annual conference. Commission Director Travena Potter-Hall says the theme of this year’s two-day conference is “Black Families in Crisis.”She says the goal of the event is to empower African-Americans to do positive things in their communities to solve some of the extraordinary social problems in Iowa. She says blacks are a minority dealing with a big burden. Although black Iowans make up only two percent of the state’s population, they make up 25 percent of the state’s prison population. She says infant mortality rates among blacks are three times the rates of whites.Potter-Hall wants all African-Americans to try to attend the conference.Potter-Hall says they try to reach those across the spectrum from the wealthy to the poor. The conference, though, is not limited to African-Americans.The conference is March 9th and 10th. To register, call toll-free at: 800-351-4659.