Honoring Parren J. Mitchell with a Panel of Legends: Clarence Bishop, Major Clark, & Anthony Robinson

Every celebration of a milestone has scores of unspoken people, sacrifices, and tough decisions made. Despite the hardships and the rocky bottoms, the thrill of a phenomenal achievement renders all the struggles meaningless. As the CRMSDC celebrates its 50th anniversary of advocacy for minority businesses, one of the strong pillars has been the late Congressman Parren J. Mitchell. In this Hotchat podcast, Sharon is joined by a panel of three legends who will recount the tireless work of the late Parren J. Mitchell and their contributions to and advocating for minority businesses across the DMV. The three panelists are; Clarence Bishop, Major Clark, & Anthony Robinson.

Clarence Bishop is a retired Federal and Local Government Leader and a Minority Business Enterprise Advocate. Major Clark is the Deputy Chief Counsel for Advocacy in the U.S. Small Business Administration. Anthony Robinson is the Founder of the Robinson Firm and the former President of the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defence and Education Fund (MBELDEF).

Tune in as we voyage into the life of this remarkable Congressman, his contributions, and the great milestones CRMSDC has achieved through him.

Here’s What You’ll Get In This Episode

[00:01] Episode intro and a quick bio of today’s panelists

[05:51] How Anthony Robinson chauffeured Congressman Parren and their aftermath 

[08:07] Reason behind Congressman Mitchell creating MBELDEF

[09:12] How Clarence Bishop joined the Congressman staff and his progress in the ranks

[12:18] Major Clark’s duty in the US. SBA and his involvement with Parren

[17:24] The business climate in the ’60s that necessitated Parren to run for Congress

[26:14] Why Congressman Mitchell’s vision became contagious

[30:55] Why Parren’s Brain Trust Network was (and is) Necessary

[42:19] The inevitable opposition to economic policies by Parren and what should be done

[49:54] Ending the show and call to action

Notable Quotes

• When Parren ran for Congress in 1968, he ran on the theme that the second phase of the civil rights movement was economic development for all.
• Parren Mitchell was not a businessman nor a business financier. His training was in sociology. However, he understood what was important in terms of the future progress of black people: money.
• Although Parren was not a businessman, he attacked the business environment from every single angle that was legally possible. And that was genius!
• The beauty of Congressman Mitchell’s vision was that he not only set the policies but engaged and engaged others in their implementation

Connect with the Panel

Clarence Bishop: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarence-t-bishop-86912313/

Major Clark: https://www.sba.gov/person/major-clark

Anthony Robinson: https://www.mbdadc.com/robinson/