New York, N.Y. – July 20, 2004 – Former Detroit Mayor Dennis W. Archer and Reverend Jesse Jackson, Jr., will mark the 50th anniversary of the land mark 1954 Supreme Court school desegregation decision, Brown vs Board of Education, by participating in a National Education Summit, Friday, July 23 at 9:30 at the National Urban League annual conference in Detroit, National Urban League President & CEO Marc H. Morial announced today. .
The National Urban League 2004 Annual Conference takes place Wednesday, July 21 through Sunday, July 25 at the COBO Center. The Detroit Urban League, under the leadership of N. Charles Anderson, is the host affiliate. G. Richard Wagoner, Chairman, President and CEO, General Motors Corporation will serve as the 2004 Conference Chairperson. Roderick D. Gillum, Vice President/Corporate Diversity, General Motors Corporation is the Host Committee Chairman. .
The National Urban League is the nation’s largest civil rights and community based organization. With over 100 affiliates in 35 states, the National Urban League serves 2 million people in the African American and urban communities nationwide. .
A panel discussion: Brown v Board of Education: How Far Have We Come? How Far Do We Have To Go? sponsored by ExxonMobil will be moderated by Dr. Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, panelists include: Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jr., President & Founder, Rainbow Coalition/Push Coalition; Professor Derrick Bell, NYU School of Law; Dr. James P. Comer, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine; Ted Shaw, Director Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Dr. Beverly L. Hall, Superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools; Dr. Eric J. Smith, Superintendent, Anne Arundel Public Schools-Maryland; The Honorable Dennis W. Archer, President American Bar Association and former mayor of Detroit; and Stephen Morrison, Partner, Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough. .
Brown v Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas repudiated the nation’s segregated school systems. In a unanimous decision the Supreme Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren, ruled that the doctrine of “separate but equal,” violated the 14th amendment rights of America’s children by separating them solely on the basis of skin color. The court’s ruling struck down legalized school segregation in the South and overturned the “separated but equal,” doctrine of 1896’s Plessy v Ferguson. .
Conference highlights include the National Urban League President’s Keynote address, Wednesday, July 21 from 6:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m.; and an address by President George Bush, Friday, July 23 at 10:00 a.m. and Democratic Presidential nominee Senator John Kerry on Thursday, July 22 at 10:00 a.m. Other speakers include U.S. Secretary of Education
Rod Paige; Jesse Jackson, Sr., Founder & President, Rainbow/PUSH Operation; Ann Fudge, Chairman & CEO, Young & Rubicam Inc; Rosa Parks, mother of the modern-day civil rights movement; Dr. Charles J. Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Professor Derrick Bell, NYU School of Law District; the Honorable Dennis W. Archer, President, American Bar Association; Cathy L. Hughes, Founder and Chairperson, Radio One, Inc.; Linda Johnson-Rice, President & CEO, Johnson Publishing Company; Donna Brazile, Managing Director, Brazile & Associates; the Reverend Al Sharpton, Founder, National Action Network; Ted Shaw, Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; and Dr. Charles Adams, Pastor, Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, Detroit.
Other conference highlights include five new Empowerment Exhibit Zones on Health, Employment, Technology, Homeownership, and Fun (Education & Learning) that are free and open to the public; the Women of Power Awards luncheon; the Vote 2004: Hip Hop Voter Empowerment Rally & Voter Registration Drive to register youth and young adults; the annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Conference gala tribute to legends; the NULYP (National Urban League Young Professionals) Training Ground: A Next Generation Leadership Development Seminar; A NULITES (National Urban League Incentives to Excel and Succeed) Youth Summit; a Cultural Night featuring a Salute to Motown and performances by recording artists Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Ashford and Simpson and The Miracles. The nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Sky Show will also broadcast live from the conference. .
New additions to the conference include a 3-kilometer Wellness Walk targeting community health empowerment; an Urban League Book Drive for Detroit Youth; a Behind the Business Tour of Detroit’s African-American businesses; and a historic bus tour of Detroit, which will include the original Motown Studio and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African History. .
In addition, strategic vision forums will address empowering the black male, closing the achievement gap, best diversity practices, health disparities in the African-American community, America’s workforce crisis and reinvestment for urban communities. .
National Urban League conference activities open to registered guests include the President’s keynote address; and the annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Conference Gala Special Tribute to Legends. The free Career Fair, located in the Employment Zone, features more than 100 Fortune 500 and high-tech companies, as well as non-profit and government agencies with both local and national job opportunities. Job seekers can have face-to-face discussions and interviews with recruiters. .
