The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC) hosts its 21st Annual Clergy and Lay Leadership Conference, February 19 – 22, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois, at the Palmer House in downtown Chicago. Reverend Dr. Iva Carruthers, General Secretary of SDPC, invites the Chicagoland community to join this continued ‘journey to justice’. According to Dr. Carruthers, “the demands of this season require the best of Black faith leadership to engage beyond civil rights to global human rights”.
To launch the conference SDPC has partnered with the Smithsonian Institute-National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Pew Research Center to host the Chicago premiere of “gOD Talk: Black Millennials and Faith Conversations” on February 18, 2024 at Malcolm X College. This event is free to the public and immediately following the screening a Talk Back session will be facilitated by Rev. Julian DeShazier, (University Church of Chicago) with other key Chicago personalities of varying faiths from the film. The “gOD Talk” screening is free to the public via registration: bit/ly.gOD-TalkChicago.
MSNBC host, Joy-Ann Reid, and New York Times bestselling author of “Medgar and Myrlie” will be featured at the General Secretary Luncheon on Wednesday, February 21st. The “Beautiful Are Their Feet” award program Wednesday, February 21st will honor Ms. Myrlie Evers, Rev. Dr. Janette Wilson, Rev. Dr. Dionne Boissiere, and Rev. Dr. Ossie Smith for their years of uncompromising service to the community. A concert by Emmy award-winner and 3x Grammy nominee Adrian Dunn Singers and the Rize Orchestra at the “Beautiful Are Their Feet” award program. The conference will close on Thursday, February 22nd.
SDPC was co-founded by Rev. Dr. Iva E. Carruthers, who has served the organization as its General Secretary since its inception in 2003; Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr, renowned preacher, scholar, and charter member of the SDPC Board of Trustees; and Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, who served as a co-chair of the SDPC for 20 years and is now President and CEO of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. SDPC’s current co-chairs are the Honorable Rev. Wendell Griffen, and Bishop Leah Daughtry, National Presiding Prelate of the House of the Lord Churches.
The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference information can also be found on the SDPC website, https://sdpconference.info/2024-conference.
SDPC is committed to resourcing African American networks and congregations across the nation and the African diaspora as they work for social justice in their communities. Currently, the SDPC network includes thousands of congregations, inclusive of all denominations, nationwide, in the Caribbean, West and South Africa. Additionally, SDPC has formed relationships with over 70 seminaries and historically black colleges and universities across the country enriching their seminary and college experience by meeting with, and taught by, some of the most distinguished scholars and progressive ministers in the country. Seminary students receive academic credit from their home institutions as conference attendees. SDPC has maintained a strong relationship with labor unions, recognizing that organized people have the power to fight and advocate for “the least of these.” Labor unions have supported the SDPC throughout its existence and will be well represented at this gathering. Proctor holds consultative status as a non governmental organization of the United Nations
