The Alabama Democratic Conference, formerly known as the Black Political Caucus of Alabama, was established in 1960. Its leaders were African Americans who wished to encourage all voters, but especially other African Americans, to vote for the democratic candidate, who at the time was John F. Kennedy with vice president Lyndon B. Johnson. The founders of this influential group include Arthur Shores, Rufus Lewis, Dr. C.G. Gomillion, Q. D. Adams, Isom Clemon, and Beulah Johnson. All of these individuals held respectable positions in their communities and were looked up to by the people, especially by other African Americans.
Since the time of its establishment, the Alabama Democratic Conference has only gotten more influential. In fact, it now promotes the democratic party throughout the entire state thanks to having many chapters and other affiliated organizations.
The mission statement of the Alabama Democratic Conference is simple. It is to “organize” and to “unify” the vote of the African American population and also to make the African American vote and opinion appreciated and respected. The organization worked tirelessly for ten years after its inception before these results truly began to manifest themselves. It was a long, hard road, but the members were simply not willing to give up on what they thought as important.
Things really changed for this group in 1970 when it began to screen and endorse actual democratic candidates. This brought more attention to and knowledge of the group. The Alabama Democratic Conference also focused on having voter registration drives, monitoring voting, employing African Americans, and helping African Americans to be able to run for office and to hold high positions. Thanks to the group’s hard work, there are now more African American elected representatives in Alabama than there are in any other state. While this cannot be due entirely to the Alabama Democratic Conference, it certainly wouldn’t have been possible without its dedicated efforts and concern.