Summit's Theme is 'Defending the Natural Family: R.I.S.E. to Rebuild the Foundation of Black America'

Contact: Don Feder, 508-405-1337, don@worldcongress.org; The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society, 815-964-5819, media@worldcongress.org

CHICAGO, Aug. 27, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- Allan C. Carlson, president of the Howard Center for Religion and Society and International Secretary of the World Congress of Families, will speak about the natural family at the Black Conservative Summit on Saturday, August 31.   Dr. Carlson will address the questions, "What is the natural family?" and "Why is it important?"

On August 29-31, several hundred conservative leaders, pastors, activists and concerned citizens will gather at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Illinois (in the Chicago area) for the region's first Black Conservative Summit (BCS).  The Summit has also been designated a World Congress of Families Regional Event.

WCF Managing Director Larry Jacobs stated: "We're honored to be involved with this historic conference, particularly because of its emphasis on the natural family." Organizers explain: "Both historical and biblical precedence bears witness to the fact that the 'natural family' is the foundation of our society."

They further note, "As a matter of fact, married families themselves greatly benefit society as a whole because, generally speaking, these families are better off financially, socially and health-wise than any other family structure."

Jacobs said it was encouraging to see family issues addressed forthrightly by leaders of the black community during the week of the "50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights March on Washington" when all of America should be honoring and remembering the pro-family leadership and faith of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  "In the United States, no demographic has suffered more from the decline of the family than African-Americans. In the early 1950s, the out-of-wedlock birth rate was the same for black and white Americans. By 2009, 70% of black children were born out-of-wedlock. This has impacted every social pathology, including poverty, crime, drug use and school-dropout rates."

Unfortunately, the civil rights establishment has focused almost exclusively on "institutional racism" -- always an easy political sell among the uninformed -- instead of on the destruction of black families and children (by programs intended to help them) starting with the Great Society in the 1960s.

The Black Conservative Summit will focus on a number of critical issues, including education and economic policy. The Summit is being organized by the Freedom's Journal Institute for the Study of Faith and Public Policy.

Confirmed speakers include Ken Blackwell (former Cincinnati Mayor and Ohio Secretary of State), Ben Kinchlow (former co-host of CBN's "700 Club"), Kay Coles James (Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under President George W. Bush), and syndicated columnist and commentator Star Parker.

Freedom's Journal Magazine is a World Congress of Families partner.  Dr. Eric Wallace, PhD., publisher and chief editor of Freedom's Journal, was a member of the WCF International Selection Committee, held at the Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary that chose Sydney as the site of World Congress of Families VII 2013.

GrasstopsUSA, a World Congress of Families Partner, is a sponsor and exhibitor at The Black Conservative Summit.

Click here www.blackconservativesummit.net to register now and for more information on the Black Conservative Summit (August 29-31, 2013).

For more information on World Congress of Families, visit www.worldcongress.org. To schedule an interview with Allan Carlson, Larry Jacobs, Eric Wallace or Chris Carmouche, contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337 or dfeder@rcn.com.  World Congress of Families VIII will be held in Moscow, the Kremlin, September 10-12, 2014.

The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society (www.profam.org) is located in Rockford, Illinois and is an independent, non-profit research and education center that provides sound scholarship and effective strategies to affirm and defend the natural family, thus renewing a stable and free society.  The Howard Center is the publisher of the journal, "The Family In America" and is also the organizer of the World Congress of Families (WCF) project which is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and inter-faith people of goodwill from more than 80 countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Dr. Allan Carlson, President of The Howard Center.  To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families -- Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw, Poland (2007) and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009).  World Congress of Families VI was held in Madrid, Spain in May 25-27, 2012.  World Congress of Families VII was held in Sydney, Australia, May 15-18, 2013, www.wcfsydney2013.org.au.  WCF VIII Moscow 2014 will be held September 10-12 in the Kremlin. www.worldcongress.ru.