# A New Challenge to the Congressional Black Caucus

What did Ossie Davis envision in 1971 when he proclaimed to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that "it's not the man, it's the plan"? In a special forum at the Library of Congress, Congressman Major Owens hosted a distinguished panel of U.S. representatives and political scientists in a discussion of his book, "The Peacock Elite: A Subjective Case Study of the Congressional Black Caucus and Its Impact on National Politics." The panel included U.S. Rep. Maxine Walters, a current member of CBC; two former members of CBC, Oakland Mayor Ronald Dellums and attorney Louis Stokes; Ronald Waters, author and University of Maryland professor; and Michael Eric Dyson, author and Georgetown University professor. Owens challenged the CBC to establish a national African American action agenda, stating "We must act now or our middle class will be shoved to the margins, while the Black masses are driven downward into a permanent underclass." Owens also challenged the CBC to assume greater leadership responsibility for the African diaspora.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2007
- By: John W. Kluge Center (library Of Congress)
- Genres: History
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687885/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021687885?play=1)