The National Urban League, one of the nation’s largest civil rights organizations, wrapped its 17th annual Legislative Policy Conference earlier this week. The conference, which brought together top Black thought leaders, elected officials, corporate executives, advocates and activists, was produced digitally for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The confab drew members of the Urban League Movement, leaders and staff from 90 affiliates and volunteer affinity groups nationwide to share their thoughts and concerns with the nation’s movers and shakers.
“The gathering [took] on a new urgency with the triple crises facing our communities—COVID-19, economic collapse and racially motivated police violence,” said Marc H. Morial, president of the National Urban League (NUL) and former mayor of New Orleans.
Topics ranged from conversations about how the NUL’s legislative and policy initiatives aim to protect generations of progress in the Black community to a session called Stop Killing Us: The Path to Police Accountability, which tackled the senseless loss of Black lives to police violence, the aftermath of sustained protests, and the path toward transformative social justice policies.
The conference was produced in partnership with Verizon, and supporting partners included T-Mobile, Lilly, Lyft, Wells Fargo and Walmart.