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[[Images - three images of attendees at lectern receiving awards]]
[[left-hand page of a two-page spread]]
[[Headline in bold - only half appears on this page]]
THE WORK OF
[[text]]
In developing a comprehensive legislative program, the Congres-
sional Black Caucus too step one in 1971, under the leadership
of its first chairman, Charles C. Diggs, Jr. The group initiated an
information-gathering project via a series of public hearings. Here, the burning issues affecting the lives of American's minorities and disadvantages were brought to the surface. Chaired by individual
members of the caucus, the hearings covered such relevant and
diverse topics as Racism in the military, Black business develop-
ment, the mass media and the Black community, the development
of a national Black political agenda, the delivery of health and
medical services, and education.
  These hearings were far more than data-gathering vehicles.
They provided a platform from which the tone and mood of the
national Black community could be assessed. As a direct link to
Black communities and other formal organized bodies' action on 
their behalf, the hearings gave the Caucus some idea of what
Black and poor people expected from them.

Mrs. Whitney M. Young Jr., Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr.