ABOVE PHOTO: Copley Square, Boston
(Photo by Shutterstock)
WASHINGTON–The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) announced last week, the selection of Boston as the host city for its 2014 Convention and Career Fair, July 30- Aug. 3, 2014. This marks the first time NABJ will visit New England.
“NABJ is excited about going to Boston in 2014 for our 39th annual convention. It is a fabulous city with the right mixture of a prime location, hotel price, convention space and leisure activities to make a great convention for our members,” said Gregory Lee Jr., NABJ President. “NABJ has never held a convention in Boston. We look forward to this convention and partnering with a city that celebrates culture and tradition.”
In recent years, Boston has played host to other minority and journalism conventions, such as The National Urban League, Blacks in Government, the Online News Association, and the Asian American Journalists Association.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome the National Association of Black Journalists and their attendees to the City of Boston,” said James E. Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. “What better location to host NABJ than Boston, a city rich in journalism history and home to America’s very first newspaper (The Boston News-Letter). 2014 can’t come soon enough.”
The city of Boston is home to more than 600,000 residents, prominent institutions of higher education, some of the world’s best hospitals and numerous cultural and professional sports organizations and facilities, from the historic Faneuil Hall and Copley Square to the Garden and beloved Fenway Park. Boston is also home to great seafood, designer boutiques, eclectic galleries, and prestigious department stores.
Each of the city’s neighborhoods has a remarkably different style and tone. From the Back Bay’s cosmopolitan streets and ornate Victorian townhouses to the aromas spilling into the 17th-century streets of Boston’s North End to the spirited and funky neighborhood squares of Cambridge-all within easy distance from one another.
Boston is a city steeped in African American history. Attendees will have the opportunity to visit such sites as the Black History Trail, which traces the events central to the African American population that lived there in the 19th century, and the African Meeting House, the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States and also where Frederick Douglass delivered a seminal anti-slavery speech in 1860. The city has also served as home to Governor Deval Patrick, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as noted activist and scholars Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, Louis Farrakhan, Henry Louis Gates and others.
“The Boston Association of Black Journalists looks forward to serving as hosts to the national convention. This is a great vote of confidence in our chapter and our city,” said Gary Washburn, Chapter President and National NBA Writer for The Boston Globe. “The annual convention is always a great opportunity to connect with journalists across the country. We will work hard to ensure that NABJ has a enjoyable time when they visit Boston.”
The largest annual gathering of journalists of color in the nation, the 2014 convention in Boston anticipates upwards of 3,000 journalists to be in attendance. The convention annually attracts newsmakers such as Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton; Vice President Joe Biden; Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice; and Sen. John Kerry.
NABJ will hold its 2013 convention in Orlando, Fla., and its 2015 Convention in Minneapolis.
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