Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses the crowd during the South Carolina Democratic Convention on Saturday, June 22, 2019, in , S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses the crowd during the South Carolina Democratic Convention on Saturday, June 22, 2019, in , S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

CINCINNATI (AP) — Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders will be the featured speaker at a black press convention that begins Tuesday evening in Cincinnati.

National Newspaper Publishers Association organizers expect hundreds of people to join in events that begin Tuesday evening with a parents’ town hall and education resource fair. There will be a Wednesday morning reception at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and entertainment capped by a Friday night party led by venerable funk music star Bootsy Collins.

Sanders’ Friday address to the group representing some 200 black-owned newspapers comes as the Vermont senator is trying to increase his appeal to black voters , after struggling against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 primary states with large black turnouts.

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Veteran civil rights activist Benjamin C. Chavis Jr., the association’s leader, says the nonpartisan group also invited the other Democratic presidential candidates and Republican President Donald Trump.

The Sanders campaign has been buying advertising in black newspapers. He recently ran full-page ads in black-oriented newspapers in South Carolina, a key early primary state.

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This story has been corrected to identify the civil rights activist as Benjamin C. Chavis Jr., not Benjamin C. Chavez Jr.

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Follow Dan Sewell at https://www.twitter.com/dansewell