WASHINGTON — Among the more than 100 policy forums and brain trusts at this year’s Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference was a conversation about influence itself: who has it, and what they do with it.

"Platforms & Purpose: A Conversation With Black Men Leveraging Their Reach" brought together actor and activist Kendrick Sampson, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, media personality Jason Lee, singer Eric Benét and rapper and radio host Yung Joc. The session looked at how entertainers, creators and elected officials can turn public attention into real-world change.

The panel took place at the 55th Annual Legislative Conference, a five-day event in Washington that began Wednesday. This year’s theme is "Rooted, Ready & Rising," and the conference coincides with the CBC Foundation’s 50th anniversary. CBCF President and CEO Nicole Austin-Hillery has said the gathering is meant to "combine celebration with purpose," while taking up issues including voting rights, economic opportunity, education, health disparities and criminal justice.

That mix of celebrity and policy is a long-running feature of the conference, which brings lawmakers, advocates, entrepreneurs, students and entertainers into the same rooms. The panel’s premise reflects a broader question as creators reach audiences that rival traditional media.

A career built on both stage and street

Sampson is a natural fit for that conversation. The Houston native is known for television and film work, including HBO’s Insecure, and for his activism off screen. He co-founded BLD PWR, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that combines entertainment, education and activism.

The organization says its mission is to "reimagine and realize the liberated future we know our people deserve." It works to mobilize entertainment-industry figures and organize communities around racial, gender, immigration, economic and environmental justice, mental health and wellness, and opposition to state violence. BLD PWR emphasizes storytelling and community healing, and it centers the voices of Black, Indigenous and other marginalized communities.

What to watch

The conference runs through Sunday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Details on sessions and registration are available through the CBC Foundation.

Based on reporting by Columbus Times.

Author: Eriq La Salle, Copyright: c.2026, Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, SRP: $18.99, Page Count: 304 pages

Finally, after so much work, you’ve left your past behind.

That’s what you tell yourself: what’s done is done and you can’t undo history. It’s over. You try not to think about last month, last year, a decade back because what does it matter? As in the new novel, “Laws of Solomon” by Eriq La Salle, remembering is too full of pain.

The monsters that came to him early in his sleep were the easy ones. It was the later demons that stole Solomon Nangobi’s sleep, the spirits of all the people he killed when he was a child soldier in Uganda, and when he was a fixer in New York as an adult. Their ghosts called to him with urgent voices, though he left that life behind long ago.

Now, his days were filled working the soil in gardens near Malibu, and he loved the quiet life.

Still, he kept his guns.

And he was glad: when Solomon recognized two Zeta gunmen stalking a well-dressed man, woman, and child through the gardens, he couldn’t walk away. He stopped the gangsters with bullets, but not before the adults and their bodyguards were dead. The child, an 8-year-old boy named Gaby, was safe, but Gaby couldn’t tell Solomon what was going on.

What became quickly certain, however, was that Solomonwas now Gaby’s guardian, and the Zeta crime boss wanted them dead, too.

When he was the same age as Gaby, Solomon saw unspeakable things, the murder of his parents, the destruction of his homeland, and the atrocities that Uganda dictator Idi Amin’s soldiers committed. He learned to kill, he observed, and he was hardened, understanding as a small boy that revenge was often necessary and needed, and that blood would shed at those times.

But Gaby was pure, an innocent, a child.

Solomon reached out to his contacts to try to get the boy to safety, but being a contact of a marked man was likewise a dangerous thing: the monsters outside were worse than the ones inside him.

Two words for you: ‘Whoo weee.’ That’s what you’re going to say when you close the back cover of “Laws of Solomon,” knowing that you’ve just been taken on a wild up-and-down, around-and-round ride.

La Salle makes it impossible not to like Solomon, an African man who has, over time, lost nearly everything dear to him and who has no faith in much of anything. Readers get that part of the story eventually, and there’s historical authenticity in some of it, but we never really get to know Solomon, which makes the book feel dark and dangerous. Along the way, we meet and get to know his helpers, which buoys Solomon’s chase to find safety for the boy, and your heart won’t stop pounding.

Keep in mind that this is a thriller partially set in 1970s Uganda, so expect lots of violence but don’t expect a lot of people to live. If you’re up for that, find “Laws of Solomon.” You won’t be able to leave it behind.

By Dr. Y’Anad Burrell

“Fashion vs. Fascism” (FVF) is a visually immersive evening of fashion, music and political theater exposing the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the need to resist. Democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses, organizers say.

Called a live “runway revolution,” FvF premieres Oct. 3 at The Rotunda, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.

A play that is part fashion show, part protest, part performance art, FvF stages five runway collections spotlighting the pillars of contemporary fascist politics and the urgent need to resist: the myth of a “glorious past,” the manufactured emergencies used to justify surveillance and crackdowns, and the oligarchs and grifters profiting from it all. Runway fashion shares the stage with political theater and live music, with a closing call to action.

“We need lawsuits, ballots and mass protests, but none of it lands if we’re not also fighting for people’s imagination,” says Linda Burnham, co-producer of the show. “People are exhausted and scared. FvF will expose the absurdities of fascist mythology and ideology in ways a news headline cannot and spark new ideas about how to resist.”

“Fascism doesn’t win by policy alone. It wins by telling a story. A myth about a ‘Golden Age.’ A permanent emergency that makes cruelty seem necessary. That’s not an accident, it’s a strategy, and it works on the same terrain as culture: image, spectacle, emotion,” says Aya De León, the show’s playwright.

“Every piece on this runway translates what is happening under fascism into a feeling,” explains Erica Furlong, the FVF creative director. “One designer’s trench coat is covered in pockets stamped ‘TRUTH,’ ‘MEMORY,’ ‘HOPE,’ ‘VOTE,’ ‘FUTURE,’ because that’s literally what gets seized first, pocket by pocket, under fascist decline. Fashion can hold grief and hope in the same silhouette, and that tension is exactly what this moment needs.”

At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent.

FVF was created, organizers say, because democracy should always be in style.

Featured designers include Erica Varize, Rickie Lee, Tianna Charity, Julie Wong, and Maria Flores. The evening features a script by lead playwright Aya De León, musical performances by Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation, and other special guests.

FvF is designed to travel. Following the Oakland premiere, FvF will extend its reach through a documentary short, a curriculum on contemporary fascism in the U.S., and a full replication playbook — design templates, script, and curriculum — so organizers in other cities can stage their own version of the show.

Get more details at www.fashionvfascism.org.

“Fashion vs. Fascism” (FVF) is a visually immersive evening of fashion, music and political theater exposing the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the need to resist. Democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses, organizers say.

Called a live “runway revolution,” FvF premieres Oct. 3 at The Rotunda, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.

A play that is part fashion show, part protest, part performance art, FvF stages five runway collections spotlighting the pillars of contemporary fascist politics and the urgent need to resist: the myth of a “glorious past,” the manufactured emergencies used to justify surveillance and crackdowns, and the oligarchs and grifters profiting from it all. Runway fashion shares the stage with political theater and live music, with a closing call to action.

“We need lawsuits, ballots and mass protests, but none of it lands if we’re not also fighting for people’s imagination,” says Linda Burnham, co-producer of the show. “People are exhausted and scared. FvF will expose the absurdities of fascist mythology and ideology in ways a news headline cannot and spark new ideas about how to resist.”

“Fascism doesn’t win by policy alone. It wins by telling a story. A myth about a ‘Golden Age.’ A permanent emergency that makes cruelty seem necessary. That’s not an accident, it’s a strategy, and it works on the same terrain as culture: image, spectacle, emotion,” says Aya De León, the show’s playwright.

“Every piece on this runway translates what is happening under fascism into a feeling,” explains Erica Furlong, the FVF creative director. “One designer’s trench coat is covered in pockets stamped ‘TRUTH,’ ‘MEMORY,’ ‘HOPE,’ ‘VOTE,’ ‘FUTURE,’ because that’s literally what gets seized first, pocket by pocket, under fascist decline. Fashion can hold grief and hope in the same silhouette, and that tension is exactly what this moment needs.”

At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent.

FVF was created, organizers say, because democracy should always be in style.

Featured designers include Erica Varize, Rickie Lee, Tianna Charity, Julie Wong, and Maria Flores. The evening features a script by lead playwright Aya De León, musical performances by Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation, and other special guests.

FvF is designed to travel. Following the Oakland premiere, FvF will extend its reach through a documentary short, a curriculum on contemporary fascism in the U.S., and a full replication playbook — design templates, script, and curriculum — so organizers in other cities can stage their own version of the show.

Get more details at www.fashionvfascism.org.

By Post Staff

Mayor Barbara Lee stops by to support vendors, Winky Dinky Dogs owner Tyranny Allen

A streamlined Oakland Black-Eyed Pea Festival took place on Sat. Sept. 12 in the lower Temescal neighborhood on the blocked off street that connect Shattuck and Telegraph avenues.

An early start brought together vendor regulars from festival partner, the Freedom Farmers’ Market, and vendors who have supported the festival at its previous location at Marston Campbell Park.

Wanda Ravernell, the festival producer/director was on the verge of cancelling the festival because of funding limitations in May before reaching out to Elaine Smith, president of Farms to grow, Inc., which supervisors the market.

From its start in 2014, the festival has focused on the traditions of African American culture through music, food and art. That emphasis included fresh food vendors, particularly growers of African American legacy crops like black-eyed peas, yams, watermelon, collard greens and okra, which all originate in Africa.

To Fresno farmer Will Scott of Scott Family Farms, the Freedom Farmers’ Market allows him to bring those crops to the inner city – and support the nutrition of African Americans.

Shortly after the festival opened Saturday morning with prayers and salutes to the ancestors by Wakan Wiya Two-Spirit Drum and Awon Ohun Omnira, led M. Zamora and Otobaji Stewart respectively, 86-year-old Scott, the son of a sharecropper, announced that he will put other endeavors aside to dedicate the rest of his life to raise those foods.

Smith shared that Farms to Grow assists Black farmers in helping them overcome one of their main impediments to success – distribution – while creating alliances to help Black people maintain farmland and make it prosperous for younger generations to keep farming and farmland in the family.

As the morning progressed to afternoon, a steady stream of visitors drifted from booth to booth, chatting with vendors and each other.

Scott noted that a market day like this was what he was accustomed to in his youth, where the market was not just about buying things but also a place for valuable social exchange.

The social aspect became even pronounced shortly after midday when Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee stopped by to shop and visit with some of the vendors, including Ellen Bimpeh of Sankofa, and Ravernell who was selling T-shirts designed by Stewart.

Lee is also a fan of Winky Dinky Dogs, an eatery owned by Tyranny Allen whose second brick-and-mortar venture further anchors a hub of businesses at that corner.

As he has in previous years, Andre Thierry of Accordion Soul, closed the festival with a 90-minute set that brought young and the young-at-heart on their feet to dance in a line or as impromptu couples.

And, surprisingly, the man Allen refers to as the mayor of 45th Street, came out on cane and chair to sit by the curb in the sun and listen to music reminiscent of his Louisiana roots. His appearance seemed to echo Scott’s observance about the market: to bring people together.

The Freedom Farmers’ Market is located at 4521 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland and is open on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month until Nov. 14. For more information and to apply to be a vendor, go to https://www.farmstogrow.org/freedomfarmersmarket

By Dr. Y’Anad Burrell

“Fashion vs. Fascism” (FVF) is a visually immersive evening of fashion, music and political theater exposing the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the need to resist. Democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses, organizers say.

Called a live “runway revolution,” FvF premieres Oct. 3 at The Rotunda, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.

A play that is part fashion show, part protest, part performance art, FvF stages five runway collections spotlighting the pillars of contemporary fascist politics and the urgent need to resist: the myth of a “glorious past,” the manufactured emergencies used to justify surveillance and crackdowns, and the oligarchs and grifters profiting from it all. Runway fashion shares the stage with political theater and live music, with a closing call to action.

“We need lawsuits, ballots and mass protests, but none of it lands if we’re not also fighting for people’s imagination,” says Linda Burnham, co-producer of the show. “People are exhausted and scared. FvF will expose the absurdities of fascist mythology and ideology in ways a news headline cannot and spark new ideas about how to resist.”

“Fascism doesn’t win by policy alone. It wins by telling a story. A myth about a ‘Golden Age.’ A permanent emergency that makes cruelty seem necessary. That’s not an accident, it’s a strategy, and it works on the same terrain as culture: image, spectacle, emotion,” says Aya De León, the show’s playwright.

“Every piece on this runway translates what is happening under fascism into a feeling,” explains Erica Furlong, the FVF creative director. “One designer’s trench coat is covered in pockets stamped ‘TRUTH,’ ‘MEMORY,’ ‘HOPE,’ ‘VOTE,’ ‘FUTURE,’ because that’s literally what gets seized first, pocket by pocket, under fascist decline. Fashion can hold grief and hope in the same silhouette, and that tension is exactly what this moment needs.”

At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent.

FVF was created, organizers say, because democracy should always be in style.

Featured designers include Erica Varize, Rickie Lee, Tianna Charity, Julie Wong, and Maria Flores. The evening features a script by lead playwright Aya De León, musical performances by Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation, and other special guests.

FvF is designed to travel. Following the Oakland premiere, FvF will extend its reach through a documentary short, a curriculum on contemporary fascism in the U.S., and a full replication playbook — design templates, script, and curriculum — so organizers in other cities can stage their own version of the show.

Get more details at www.fashionvfascism.org.