A swirl of red, black, and brilliance washed over the Salamander Hotel in Washington, D.C., during the “Building the Bond” sisterhood experience—an intimate, soul-stirring convening sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.—the day before the opening of the 57th National Convention. The gathering brought 200 women under one roof, creating a tapestry of legacy, excellence, and vulnerability. Fittingly, the venue is itself a nod to Black woman mastery, helmed by entrepreneur and philanthropist Sheila Johnson.
The guest list read like a masterclass in impact. Attendees included past national presidents of the sorority, current members across generations, and a dazzling lineup of honorary members like Daphne Maxwell Reid, Paula Madison Williams, Collette V. Smith, and journalists Abby Phillip and Joy Reid—the latter serving as host and spirit guide throughout the program.
The two-part exchange—a Sister Chat and a Table Chat—drew back the veil on resilience and connection. In the Sister Chat, Joy Reid welcomed Phyllis Newhouse, a tech entrepreneur and retired military officer, alongside voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams. Reid’s opening was deceptively simple: “How are you doing?” The responses, far from superficial pleasantries, laid bare the psychological undercurrents of modern Black womanhood.
Abrams was candid. “I’m fine,” she said. But what followed illuminated the complexity of that declaration. Financial strain, and moments of emotional reckoning. It was through counsel from Newhouse that Abrams recalibrated not only her finances, but her sense of forward motion.
Newhouse, too, revealed valleys—both public and private—in her journey. She had experienced loss of close friends and some personal business challenges, yet she offered a grounding phrase that rippled across the room: “We are in recalibration mode.”
What this gathering emphasized, perhaps more than any other takeaway, was the architecture of care. Reid urged attendees to curate a sacred inner circle—a group of seven confidants with whom one could share deepest truths and, perhaps metaphorically, even bank PINs. In a world often demanding invincibility from Black women, this was a radical insistence on intentional vulnerability. She praised the infrastructure of the Group Chat—a tech-enabled support group, and clapback command center rolled into one.
This connection continued in the second half, the Table Chat. Attendees were invited to forge new bonds over curated table discussions, each hosted by notable participants such as Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, physician Dr. Barbara Joy Jones, author Dolen Perkins-Valdez, journalist Abby Phillip, venture capitalist Jennifer [Jeremino], entrepreneur Vida Ali, just to name a few. These sessions brought theory into practice—turning abstract calls for connection into direct exchanges of ideas, aspirations, and stories.
The beauty of the Building the Bond experience lay not only in its attendees’ résumés but in the unguarded, unpolished truths they shared.
Produced by Brandelyn Anderson, founder of The Joybuilder, the event was a meditation on what is possible when community is cultivated with intention and honesty. It was also a call to action: to tell our sisters how much we love them, to remind them they are phenomenal, and to never let the pace of life erode our capacity to nurture each other.
It is easy to think of such gatherings as symbolic. But the Salamander Hotel event was substantive. It underscored that sisterhood is neither ornamental nor nostalgic—it’s survival strategy. And as we watched Abrams smile beside Newhouse, flanked by Joy Reid’s quiet fire, we understood that recalibration isn’t a retreat—it’s preparation for the next ascent.
