Commerce Secretary Locke to Discuss First "Majority Minority" Census at Black Journalists` Convention

2010 Census to Highlight the Growing Influence of Minorities in the U.S.
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) welcomes Commerce Secretary
Gary Locke to its annual convention to discuss the ramifications of one of the
most important censuses in U.S. history. The 2010 census will show that the
country is on a path to becoming a majority minority nation. This unparalleled
historic event will have wide-ranging implications including the impact on
minority political power.

"Gary Locke has been charged with overseeing the counting of people in the
United States at a crucial moment in our lifetime," said NABJ President Barbara
Ciara. "With this census, the evolving melting pot of our country reaches a new
chapter, and minority voices will be strengthened as a result."

Secretary Locke will lead a plenary, "The 2010 Census and a Majority Minority
Nation," on Friday, August. 7 at the Tampa Convention Center. This plenary will
give NABJ convention attendees a first-hand opportunity to analyze this historic
event with ideas for coverage on the Web, how to find and use census data, tools
you can use to see how neighborhoods have changed and will change in the future
and new ideas that will arise from the census.

"The census is about power and money," said Bobbi Bowman, the 2009 Ida B. Wells
Award-recipient and diversity director at the American Society of News Editors
(ASNE). "The more people a state has, the more political power it gets."

Governors and mayors across the U.S. will want to ensure that everyone is
counted, including undocumented immigrants, in order to ensure more federal
funds and, with them, political power.

"Secretary Locke continues in an NABJ convention tradition of top newsmakers
discussing the most important issues affecting the black community," said Ciara.
Past NABJ convention attendees have included then-presidential candidates Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton and U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Secretary Locke was unanimously confirmed on March 24, 2009 to serve as the
first Chinese-American Secretary of Commerce and the third Asian American in
President Obama`s Cabinet. A former two-term governor of Washington state, Locke
enjoyed widespread support in his state and easily won his re-election bid.
Though a democratic governor, Locke was widely recognized as embracing both
Republican and Democratic ideologies and gave his party`s response to George W.
Bush`s 2003 State of the Union address.

Also attending the NABJ Tampa Convention will be EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson,
who will speak about the interrelationship of environmental policy, corporate
America and jobs in black communities.

The NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair is the largest gathering of minority
journalists in the country. The 2009 Convention takes place at the Tampa
Convention Center Aug. 5 - 9, and welcomes hosts, speakers and sponsorship from
Google, Microsoft, ESPN, CNN, Disney, Bloomberg and many others. More
information is available at NABJ.org.

An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest
organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 3,500
members, and provides educational, career development and support to black
journalists worldwide.

NABJ
Abraham Mahshie, Communications/Production Manager
(866) 479-NABJ

Copyright Business Wire 2009