The increasing age of Black members of Congress was on the minds of attendees at the conference, a multiday event that started on Sept. 24. Many said that they felt that fresh blood is needed, but it’s unclear how that would happen without veteran lawmakers stepping aside.

Younger voters are thought to be the keys to future electoral success, and some members of the Democratic Party have argued that attracting them will require electing younger members. They feel that seasoned lawmakers are out of touch, and don’t have what it takes to lead some of the most pressing civil rights battles of today.

This tension came to a head this month. Robert White, a third-term member of the D.C. Council, announced that he would challenge his former boss, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s longtime nonvoting representative, for her seat in the Democratic primary next year. Norton’s campaign team didn’t respond to Capital B’s request for comment.

Norton has served since 1991, and at 88 years old, she’s the oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lauren Ishmael, 67, said that veteran lawmakers are “very smart, very well-informed, and very well-connected.” But she also believes that they need to make room for the perspectives and contributions of younger generations.

“We need some younger voices, younger faces, younger experiences,” Ishmael, a first-time attendee, told Capital B, clad in a crimson and cream Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. jacket. “We need young blood.”

Jumping in, Ishmael’s friend and sorority sister Sandra Caldwell, 77, elaborated a bit further and said that younger people “just think differently.”