Community Corner
Salute to Black Families: Realizing the Beloved Community
The History of the Salutes to CBC’s
SALUTE TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY
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Concerned Black Clergy (CBC) of Metropolitan Atlanta was officially chartered in 1983 in response to the problems emerging in the city related to the missing and murdered children. The founding leaders, both clergy and lay, were concerned about the negative black male images that were prevalent and being internalized by back children and especially black boys. The idea emerged that CBC needed to aggressively tackle the problem of negative black male images prominent in the black community. As a result, the salutes to the black community, to its heritage, to its leaders, and to its achievements were launched. Since the beginning of CBC, it has sponsored yearly salutes to the fathers, to black mothers, and to the black heritage as a way to promote positive images not only for black boys but also for black girls.
Historically, CBC sponsored two salute events. Around fathers' day in June, there was the salutes to black fathers. In October, there was the salute to black mothers. Beginning in 2010 the salutes to black mothers and fathers were combined, and it became the salute one yearly salutes to the black heritage. In 2011, the salute was to the "Civil Rights Bus Riders." In November of 2012, the salute will honor leaders who uplift the black family.
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Part of the salutes to the black heritage has been the effort to recruit black churches into the process of honoring black people who have made significant contributions to the positive uplift of the black community. Consequently, individual black churches select several people from their congregations who will be publicly honored at the salute as well.
Finally, the salutes have become the signature fund raising event for CBC. It mobilizes its members to solicit church, corporate, and government contributions to the efforts to contribute to addressing the needs of underserved populations in the Atlanta metropolitan area.