Transcripts For CSPAN3 Congressional Black Caucus Holds Town Hall On Civil Rights 20170922

Sisters. From the faith that the dark past have brought us. We will, we will, we will march on. Until victory is won. I welcome you on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus foundation. You have at the 47th annual legislative conference, a conference you could not afford to miss and be reminded and still i rise. I welcome you again and delighted that you have come for the focus of todays discussion is fighting the systemic destruction of our civil rights, it is very timely, it is urgent and i am confident that well have a productive discussion. Early this morning, i was account one of our missions for homeless men here in washington, d. C. Along with the Congressional Black Caucus foundation spouses. I said to them, we must live with hope, but when you see individuals where the system has failed them, where there is no future, then you know that we have to stand in the gap. I did not leave them with that thought. They are deserving of dignity like everyone else, but when you deny a man, a woman civils rights yourks take away their life, their dig nity and their future in the Congressional Black Caucus foundation and the black caucus, we are not going to allow that to happen. Im pleased to see we have a multigenerational audience this morning. The folks from my generation, young, understand firsthand what it means to gain representation in our democracy. We are painfully aware of the sacrifices that remain to bring our nation closer to making real its values of freedom shlg equality, value and justice for all. We do not deny those many the a millennial generation will not be embed wd the source of soleness they will understand, too, but it is our challenge to make it real. Right now, theres a dangerous you arent cur runt in this nation in which some would like to roll back out of process. From muslims to immigrants to africanamericans hispanics, women, people of different view, different orientation. Different faith. That will not stand. And we should not arow lou it to stand. These ideas derived from fear, ignorance and the short sided notion that pros pperity for on group must be maintained for other groups. We as a people are not going backwards ever, ever again. Further more, we as a nation can do better than this. If youre listening, attorney general sessions, you hold the post of the person who is supposed to be the man of justice, but we will determine the justice of ourselves and we will determine and ensure and make that you do not undermine the justice we deserve. You will not snatch our civil rights and blood right away from us, ever, ever again. No matter which southern democracy you claim you may have come from. We can build an American Society that supports the needs and aspirations of everyone within it. As africanamericans, we have had to make moral leadership during critical points in the nations history. During the civil rights movement, for example, we had a Peaceful Movement that forced this nation to begin to live up to its stated principles. No one will ever start to say that we are not lawabiding, that we do not respect, that we are abide iing by the law, but want to laws to abide by us. If necessary, we can and we will do that movement again. As has been done by so many movements that have stood up and stood in the gap. You will hear from two of our pioneers who have put in their work and continue to serve us to this day. Young people, we are excited about your energy and your commitment to propel the next phase of government. We know youre coming and you will move government forward. Im asking thatter one of you in the room and those watching on tv and online to engage your peers, to get involved and amplify your voices. Loudly and clearly. Did you hear subcommittee amplify if your voices loudly and clearly . Are you going to amplify those voices . [ cheers and applause ] now, the only must be pushed back against the assaults on our rights and frankly, the the almost deadly effort to everything we know to be good and right. We must keep driving this muchlt movement forward. All of us together. We cannot take for granted the blood or the blood. Or the blood. Sweat and tears. Of our elders and ancestors that endured so we cannot only survive. That we would one day begin to drive. We cannot take for granted. Brothers. That weve in the streets. Through the hands of those who wish to take away the life of our Young Brothers and leave mothers mourning. We know the role call. We cannot let them down. Im optimistic. That our participation in this town hall will be well spent for well give you the tools to em bolden and strengthen you. I know that this will be the catalyst for the collective action in months to come. Legislation that is being driven by the Congressional Black Caucus and those who think well all throughout the congress of democratic leadership and others. That will make a difference. We have assembled here this morning. I want to take swrus a moment to acknowledge and thank them for being here with us. It is of course youll have two very special guests that will be eppley introduced in just a few minutes. Im so excited about that chat, but on our panel, we have miss vennita, the president and ceo. We have miss tomeka fwr the womens march on washington and formally with the National Action network. Clayola brown of the a. Phillip randol Randolph Institute and clarence e. Cox who will tell it like it is. Thank you, all of you, for making the time to participate in this very timely discussion. I look forward to joining you on this panel. Congressman bc, who is the cochair along with robin kelly. On the related note, i want to give special thanks to our sponsor of this event, very want to give them thanks to the Service Employees international union. Would you give them a hand, please . Organized labor movements have taught us over decades as i said to them backstage about the power of unity, the necessity of fairness. The values and compromise and collaboration, so we are so very happy to have your support but also to have the seiu as our thought partners. I want to make sure we bring to the stage the leader of the organization who is brought all together and as i bring her to the stage, let me say special note of thanks from those of us impacted by hurricane harvey. We are so grateful that the alc has dedicated this alv annual time for all of you to the survives of hurricane harvey. Before i left, i buried one of those valiant service of the people who left in nidst of the storm and said i ive got to get to work and never made it. We lost so many, but i am grateful one an unit ued and we wont forget them, ever. That is because we have worked together with the woman who is leading the change and the charge to build and maintain the pipeline of leaders that will give voice to our agenda. Les warmly welcome the president and ceo of the congressal black Caucus Foundation, mr. A. Shanice washington. Thank you all. Stand in the gap. Thank you, mad dam chairwoam and good morning to each of you. Good morning. And welcome. So grateful for your presence here this morning. For what i predict will be a passionate and thought provoking series of discussions over the next two hours. The National Town hall is an important part of the annual conference as it brings change makers for a state of the black community, our agenda and the steps it must take to move it forward. The mission of the congressal black Caucus Foundation is to advance the Global Black Community by developing leaders and forming policy and educating the public. One of the foundations most important is providing leadership opportunities to the next and now generation thought leaders and innovators. Our study abroad programs which provide access t. O the halls of congress, as well as learning about the policymaking progress in other countries. There is no other pathway to this kind of access and at this time, in our countrys history, theres hardly been a greater need to see a new generation of public servants. Since the inception of the foundation, we have placed thousands of interns, hundreds of Public Policy fellows and we have dispersed tens of millions of dollars in scholarship funds. Thank you for supporting this conference as it enables us to continue the important work we understand take to include convening nearly 10,000 people each september to discuss those issues most critical to the Global Black Community. It is now my pleasure to introduce you to the 2016, 2018 cohort of Public Policy fellows. Priscilla barber, whos ser evering on the House Committee of energy and commerce. Energy and environment subcommittees. Zoe kador, serving with the American Petroleum institute. Aledrene serving on the house subcommittee on communications and Technology Democratic staff. Abd abdul, United States agency for international development, power africa division. Ronald matlock. Serving on federal management. Erin robinson, House Committee on education and the workforce. And kimberly toots, House Committee on education and the workforce as well. I encourage you to connect with them on the conference and learn about the institute and their experiences and i ask you consider supporting these programs by making a contribution to the foundation through one of our giving programs and id like to tell you about it. Theres an opportunity to contribute thats a win win opportunity and its with one of our partners, uber. The ride sharing app. They are supporting the annual legislative conference by offering a discount to users who use the cbcfalc 2017 discount code. Cbcfalc 2017 discount code. Each time you take uber using the code, they will make a donation, so put it in your phone now and have it ready when you leaf the Convention Center and that will be active through sunday. I would also like to express a heartfelt appreciation to seiu their sponsorship of this event, which not only helps us bring all of us together, but also supporting the foundations program. And importantly, thank each of you. Thank you for investing your time and resources to be here this week and for your participation in the discussions. It not only signals you understand your civic responsibility, but you have a sense of what is at stake and importantly committed to driving our collective mission. Enjoy the rest of your day, thank you. It is now my pleasure to bring up the chair of the congressal black caucus. He is indeed a champion for the policies and actions that enable our community to thrive. He hails from new orleans, louisiana, a city that understands too well how crisis devastate communities but bring t out the courage and selflessness of people. He is a well seasoned pardon the pun, to lead in face of the challenges we face as a political collective. We are all thankful for his leadership and bold voice in congress. Please give a warm welcome to cedrick richmond. Let me say thank you for your kind introduction. I believe i can say on behalf of thank you to miss washington for your kind introduction. I believe i can say on behalf of all the members of the congressal black caucus, we appreciate your leadership and the partnership we enjoy. To my colleague, Sheila Jackson lee, we watch with special appreciation your strength and perseverance alongside your Houston Community during and after devastation of hurricane harvey. You know the folks from my hometown of new orleans. Weve been there, weve done that and we thank you if your generosity and we thank you for the people of houston and taking care of our victims of hurricanes katrina and rita, so we really appreciate it and were here for you and good morning and welcome to all of you. Im always excited to be with our constituents, all of you, who have come from near and far to share, to listen, to network and to strategize around our National Agenda. This annual conference and events like this National Town hall are so important because think offer a unique opportunity for the Congressional Black Caucus to bring together our heroes and our thought leaders to focus our hearts and minds on our collective agenda. The alarming rise in hate rhetoric and crimes and attempts to normalize White Supremacy language, but more importantly, related policy, will not be left unchecked by us. We must treat these occurrences in the same way we rerespond to other crisis. We must ban together. Leverage our allies and activate our resources, including but not limited to getting everyone to committed to vote in every election. Our unified participation in policymaking can move us closer to access and equity that we must have in order to progress. We are aware of that when we have equity and opportunity, public health, safety, justice, education and economic justice, when we are free to prosper and thrive, our nation will also thrive and reach its full potential. Im looking forward to the many discussions, ideas and inspiration that will come from todays town hall discussion. And from the b events to follow all over the weekend. We are listening. We are learning. And we will undoubtedly be energized to keep fighting the good fight on behalf of you, our constituents and to uphold our responsibility as the conscious of the congress. Our ancestors and elders have invested a great deal in the nation and our young people should multiply the fruits of that labor m im eager for us to get the conversation started, so im going to get out of the way, but first, i want you to hear briefly from two of my colleagues. Also the cochairs of this annual conference. They have been instrumental in putting together the agenda for this conference, bringing us all here to address the myriad of issues that need our focus and our attention. So at this time, please help me bring up the chairs of the 47th annual legislative congress, congresswoman robin kelly, representing the Second District in illinois and mark representing the 33rd district in texas. Thank you and give them a round of applause. Good morning. Thank you chairman, richman for your work and thank you for your commitment in empowering communities of color and confronting the powers and obstacles that stand in the way of e quillty and justice for people of color. Welcome and good morning to all of you attending the 27th annual legislative conference. Whether youre here in person or watching online, thank you for caring enough to get involved. As my friend and our former president barack obama once put it, we are the change we seek. And thats exactly why we are here today. We are the sparks of resistance and resilience. The annual legislative conference is and will remain for architects of change. It is where we can convene on behalf of our respective communities and make a difference to the strength of our ideas. Thats what this nation needs. Strength, ideas, and change. Elections matter. Ideas matter. And right now we can see, feel, and hear how big of a difference an election can make. The alc is going to feel a lot different than last years alc. But this country feels a lot different today than it did last year. But we are the change we seek and no matter what obstacle, what policy, what presidency we face yet still we will rise. There is a fierce urgency right now. We have a new mission that begins this week. Lets be bold. Lets be purposeful. Lets not let an opportunity pass us by or a moment go to waste to make the change that we need right now. In this mornings National Town hall, its the perfect beginning to do just that. Let me thank my cochair for this year. Mark vessey from texas. I am thankful for your partnership as my cochair of this conference. Is there anything youd like to say this morning . Absolutely. Thank you, robin. Its so energizing to be here with you, our colleagues, constituents, and Community Leaders to focus on a National Agenda thats very important to us. The fact that all of you are here this morning full of energy, full of energy, right . Full of energy and ready to engage tells us about your mindset and your commitment. Youre ready to put yourself in tough conversations and places so that you can be part of the solution. Im lucky to be among you and inspired to do more and push harder on those days when the fight for justice is a steep uphill battle. As cochair of this years conference, i encourage you to fully engage in the sessions and Network Opportunities and to think strategically about the fire that we can spark here in 2017. Im asking you to believe in our goal and process. That you will not let that spark die when you go back to your neighborhoods and cities. We are counting on you to support us. And hold us accountable until we achieve the future we collectively envision for all of our communities. Thank you. Having a moderator is important. And our moderator for this panel is going to be jeff johnson. That was the intro. Good morning. Good morning . It is fantastic to be here with you. For those of you that dont know ma me, im a communications activist, journalist, a servant that has worked with many of you in the room and supported many of you. And more than anything, i am honored and privileged to be able to guide you through this conversation this morning. Where do i start . Because were talking about fighting the systemic destruction of our civil rights. And if we didnt know that was timely, many of us can be reminded. When we talk about civil rights, were talking about africanamerican access to criminal justice, public health, representation through Voting Rights among other issues. But when we talk about civil rights, i think even today we need to deal with an through the lens of work that we should already have been things wed already been given power. If we dont talk about power through ownership, equity, through the ability to leverage that which this country has through prosperity, then were still begging people to give us what we have helped this country earn. And so lets be clear. We will talk about equity as it relates to issues of policy. If were not talking about policy, were still be pimped even in the name of moving towards what we want. I know that makes some of you uncomfortable. I dont care. This morning were going to tackle questions about voting participation, and the strategies and solutions to ensure that black voices are heard and their interests are addressed. Still i rise. Which comes from the port laureate of the late maya angelou speaks to the fact we still have the ability to rise. But the question is what are we going to rise to . Why wha are we going to rise to do . Where will we rise to do it . If were rising to being comfortable or rising to be complacent, then we might as well stay down. I hope that we would merge because there is a poet laureate some of you know or may not know that hails from chicago by the name of chance the rapper. And i just want to say, you dont want no problems with me. And if we rise and say you dont want no problems with me and show up at state legislatures and show up in washington, d. C. And show up in our communities, then the enemies that were fighting in White Supremacy and the tenants of White Supremacy understand that not only are we talking about rising, but were mobilizing when we do. So before we bring out the full panel, id like us to engage two long serving iconic leaders in the congress. Theyre both universally respected. If you dont know them, youve been under a rock. I think what is key is that both of these representatives are not only present when on the hill and in their district but theyre recognized all over the country. Their years of service is not just about what theyve done in the halls of congress, but about young people that they have developed. About businesses theyve helped support, about people theyve helped push along the way. About what they did when nobody was watching. And that is the true testament of leadership. What do you do and who do you help when there is no press release or press conference and no cameras . These two represent leadership in the Congressional Black Caucus. First he is an American Hero whos been fighting for human dignity, liberty, and equal opportunities since he was a teenager on the front lines of the american sil rights movement. Hes a Ranking Member of the overrights subcommittee, the ways and means committee, and the fifth Congressional District. I dont know if we need to give him a warm round of applause. I think we need to give him a level of honor. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome congressman john lewis. [ applause ] congressman lewis, the most challenging part of this conversation is that we have 15 minutes. And i know that could be one question for you. With all respect. Thats okay, brother. Im so thankful to be here sitting with you. I hope we can have a conversation in that short time and then take some questions from the audience. But i think whats interesting in this time is is that events in charlottesville and other parts of the country awoke people to the term White Supremacy in a way like they forgot it existed. Can you talk to me not about the fact this is White Supremacy that ever went away, but we have to recognize there is an evolved White Supremacy. What are the variances and differences you see between this mechanism of White Supremacy were fighting in 2017 versus that that you and many of your cohorts fought nearly 40 years ago . Well, thank you very much for being you. Thank you for never, ever giving up or giving in but for keeping the faith. Thank you. You know, some people really thought and maybe some of us really dream that when president barack obama was elected, it was the end of racism. That it was a new day. A better day. But when we had this most recent election, it helped create a climate, the environment to bring out something that had been a little asleep and people feel like now they can just get away with doing everything. What happened in virginia made me very sad. We faced mobs. We faced the klan. We faced overt open racism during the 60s. During the freedom riots. In 1961, black people and white people couldnt be seated together on a Greyhound Bus traveling through d. C. To the south. We were beaten. Attempted to burn us on the bus. We were left bloody and unconscious by angry mobs. When we attempted to march to montgomery just for the right to vote to protest in a peaceful orderly fashion, we were beaten by the state police and left bloody and some unconscious. And some of our people died. After the march on washington in 1963, there was so much hope and optimism. 18 days later, a church was bombed in birmingham where girls were killed on a sunday morning. And what we see happening now is not new. The man that some people voted for just made it very comfortable for people to put on those hoods, put on those sheets. And i tell you, if were not mindful or watchful were going to go back. Weve come too far. We made too much progress to go back. I dont want to go back. I want to go forward. And we must go forward. Absolutely. When you mention that, that he made people brazen enough to put sheets back on, but theres a whole lot of people with suits on. And so when we look at the Prison Industrial Complex and the fact that private prison stock went up 600 the day after trump was elected, that speaks to more than folks marching through the streets with hoods on. That speaks to a systematic, marketdriven slavery and White Supremacy system. And so how do we fight that because theres a way to combat words in the streets. But when you talk about prisons that gave 500,000 to trumps campaign. And another 500,000 to the inauguration, thats institutional at its highest level. And all of the profits are on the backs of our folks. So how do we want to address that not just the prison piece but the broader corporate piece and what are the tools we have at our disposal to fight it . We must organize. I think some of us have been asleep. Too long. We need to wake up. We need to use everything in our power. Economic resources, but use the vote also. On election days, too many of us are staying at home. People died for the right to vote. The vote is precious. Its almost sacred. Its the most valuable tool in Democratic Society and we should use it. It doesnt make sense for us to have private prisons. Not at the state level, the county level, or the federal level. They must be abolished. Shouldnt be making money, profits off of the suffering and pain of people. It is wrong. You just mentioned that people sit home on election day. Especially when we look at municipal races, you have mayors being elected at single turnout numbers. Which should be illegal. But the challenge i have is when the electorate either one, isnt excited about their options. Number two, theyre being asked to vote based on the past versus the future. And so i agree with you about how much was given for us to vote and the lives that were lost. But when i go to the polls, im voting for this children, not for this grandparents. How do we change the narrative where we dont discount all of the work that was done by you and many others to get us here, but we cast a vision of whats possible with that vote and what our vote is worth versus asking young people to vote for a history that often we havent taught them. We must vote for the present and for the future. We have to use it. Weve got to inspire people to stand up. I said to my colleagues and it doesnt matter whether theyre black or white or Asian American. You have an obligation to do something when you see something not just. Were just too darn quiet. And i believe in the philosophy. But sometimes i feel like taking a bull whip and just saying to people you get your butt up. You go out there and you do what you must do. More young people, more women. More young men and women must get involved in the political arena and go out for office. Become fighters. Become warriors. We didnt wait until we were 50 and 60 and 70 years old. There were Young Children marching in birmingham. In selma and all across the south. And they were saying things like im not old enough to register the vote. Let me teacher register to vote. Let my mother and father. We all can do something. Again, were too quiet. I spoke at the march on washington. I said, i was 23 years old, had all of my hair and a few pounds lighter, but i remember saying to that crowd that day, you tell us to wait. You tell us to be patient. We dont want our freedom gradually. We want it and we want it now. We need to use everything we have at our disposal to help liberate all of our people. Let me ask you this because you might be the best person to answer this question. You talk about the powers that be telling black folks during that time to wait and to be patient. But i see old black folks and im going to quantify this. Old black folks telling young black folks the same thing in 2017. You got to wait. You got to be patient. How do we in our community navigate helping young people fight old people and revere elders . You can have all of the respect and you can revere your father and your grandfather and great grandfather and great grandmothers group. But you got to push. But how did you do it . We just got out there and did it. Yall fought some old folks. There were some elders that helped you all that were advisers, that were mentors, that were guides. But yall fought some old folks to get you out of the way of blocking a youth movement. Im curious what advice would you give . How did you fight old folks even as you revered elders . Even in this room right now is some old folks scared of young people in their movement. They want them to talk the way they do, move the way they do. Im curious. Because you did it at a time that in many cases pivoted what the ultimate outcome of the movement was. How did that happen for you . I remember in 1961 when we were released from prison and the riots in mississippi, came back to nashville, tennessee. And the race relation institute was meeting at the university. Thurgood marshall was there. My first time meeting him. He said Something Like, john lewis, you dont need to continue the freedom riots. Too many of you have been arrested. Going to jail and being beaten. Lets just take one case to the United States Supreme Court. I said mr. Marshall, thank you for all that youre doing. Thank you for fighting the battle in the courts. But we need a mass movement. And we need it today. We got to make some people uncomfortable. It doesnt matter for these parents and grandparents and older leaders, we got to get out there and really push and pull. Pick them up. Put them down. And sometimes you put what some of us did on the house floor about a year ago to try to do something about gun violence. Trying to get the speaker of the house to bring a bill to the floor. And we organized a sitin. Never in the history of our country did a group of members took seats in the well of the house. We got to do some things that may seem radical. May seem extreme. Sometimes you have to get in the way. When i was growing up and asking my mother, father, grandparents about white men, colored men, white women, colored men they said boy thats the way it is. Dont get in trouble. But rosa parks and others inspired me to get in trouble. What i call good trouble, necessary trouble. Its time for black people, white people of good will, Asian American and native american, hispanics, all of us to get in trouble and lead this country in a different direction. Before we take questions from the audience and weve got about maybe five minutes to take questions from them, you talk about getting in trouble and you talk about being disruptive. But there is a real fear. And im curious how you fought your fear. Because you risked a lot on the front lines of that movement, sacrificed potential jobs, sacrificed education. And just to say go out there and do it which i agree with you is important, but navigating and managing the fear of repercussion is something else. What do you say to young and seasoned alike that will be risking something by being disruptive . How do they change that fear . Well, we study. We study the way of peace. We study the way of love. We study the philosophy in the discipline of nonviolence. And we made up our minds. And it was better to live free. Than to die as a slave. I got arrested 40 times then. Ive been arrested five times in the congress. Ill probably be arrested again for something. You just cannot be at home with yourself. I lost friends. I loved Martin Luther king jr. I wrote him a letter when i was 17 years old. He wrote me back and sent me a round trip Greyhound Bus ticket to come meet with him. He inspired me to get involved. I met rosa parks when i was 17. And made me a better human being. We all have to come to that point where we respect the dignity of every human being. I tell you, things are going to get a little worse. But daylight is going to come and it wont be long. Thats why we must still rise. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, congressman lewis. [ applause ] a conversation with congressman lewis can easily be a course. I thank you so much. Theres no way were getting to every question. But what i would love for you to do is three things. Number one, ask a question. Number two, ask a question. Number three, ask a question. If you have not asked that question within 15 seconds, i will ask you to ask a question. Longtime leader of the Washington Bureau of the naacp. Thank you for what youve done for us and fruition of the movement weve been able to move Voting Rights as we have. With that being said, i get the impression that after experiencing the 2008 election where more africanamericans turned out in the history of the nation and the only thing that beat that was in 2012 led by our young people 18 to 24 we saw a continuous growth in which we delivered the first africanamerican president to the white house. And so lets see your question. The question being, it appears to me that its being chiselled away. Supreme court voted to pass in the shelby versus holder decision to eliminate one of the most important protections of Voting Rights. And your important requestqu . And the important question is, what do we do now . We must get out and work and organize and mobilize like we never done it before. I think were too patient. I think some of us feel that were so down. We need to just stand up, be behave, be bold, and push. We all can play a role. We all can do something. We all can make a contribution. And were too solemn. We need to get our young people, our children to read the literature, the books w, watch e films, tell them the story. Inspire them to push and pull. In alabama, School Teachers left a classroom in 1963 and 64. And walked to the courthouse to attempt to register to vote. How can we be at home with ourself when we have someone serving as attorney general as Jeff Sessions . How can we be at home with ourselves when we see whats happening to so many of our young people, to our brothers and sisters . We need some fire under us. Yes, maam . My question is basically this. Where the sheets are off, the hoods are off, theyre putting on suits. Is it possible now for us to start looking at the systemic problems as it relates to extremism, White Supremacy when these people are working in Law Enforcement, in the correctional institutions. Is it possible for us to now start looking in the backgrounds of the people that are abusing our young individuals now by looking into their jackets, Excessive Force of those people that are doing this . How do we do that . What do we do . We need to do what you suggested and more. In recent weeks in the state of georgia not too far from the city of atlanta, a white Police Officer stopped a car. A young white woman was driving the car. And the Police Officer said to her in so many words, dont be afraid. We only kill black people. What do we do about it . Racism is still deeply embedded in American Society. We are not there yet. Were not a postracial society. We have to call it what it is. At all levels. Whether its in the white house, the courthouse, we have to deal with it. Dont try to sweep it under the rug and say it doesnt exist. We have smart people, scholars, writers. Tell the stories. We all have stories to tell. Let me do this really quickly because again we are short on time. Id like the next two people in line to quickly tell their questions. Very quickly. And then congressman lewis will give his closing thoughts. Good morning, congressman lewis and uncle jeff. My question is as a young Person Learning to bridge the gap, how do we handle conversations when people tell us to quickly get over racism or slavery when we get americans have given jewish people and native americans time to go through their ordeal. But when it comes to the africanamerican person, they want us to forget slavery and forget the systemic racism. How do we handle that as the next generation . Thank you. And the last question. Yes, congressman lewis. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I represent stand up for democracy and d. C. Coalition. We are still fighting for full citizenship in washington, d. C. How do we we are at the point now where we have the highest number of cosponsors for our legislation that is before the house and the senate. But it is not there yet. How do we inspire people in d. C. To go more for just the legislative approach and get out in the street and bring the attention to the nation so our lack of full rights and citizenship. Thank you so much. So congressman, in some cases, those can merge. But how do young people in particular begin to have this conversation or us as a community when people tell us to get over our pain, to stop talking about our history. And then second is a specific one about mobilization for d. C. Citizenship. Well, if you visit the africanamerican museum that is located on the mall and i think today more people are visiting the museum than theyre visiting the white house. [ applause ] when you walk through that museum, how can you get over how can you get over the way our people were treated . Im not going to get over it. You dont need to get over it. You must have the capacity and ability in spite of what happened to people to be brave, bold, courageous, organized. Come up with plans to combat the racism that still exists in america. And in d. C. , you have 49 africanamerican members of congress. Right . That make up the black caucus. And then theres hundreds of others that support us. We must do what we can to take the house back, take the senate ba back, and put on the democratic agenda home rule for d. C. If left up to me, if i had the power to issue an executive order, i would make d. C. A state and give you two senator and two members of the house. But you have to push. You cant be quiet. I just think too many of us are too quiet. Let me say this. Ladies and gentlemen, i and you know those who have given a great deal of their life to work and as they become seasoned, they rest as they deservedly can. This soldier has not. And we appreciate congressman lewis that as seasoned as you continue to be, you keep seasoning us to make us better and challenging us to push and serving in your own way. So one more time, ladies and gentlemen, can we give a round of applause to congressman john lewis . [ applause ] is there some reason why i did not get a response to the will e letter i sent . So Ranking Member waters, first of all let me thank you for your service to california. Being a resident of california, i appreciate everything that you thank you very much. I dont want to take my time up. I also have appreciated the opportunity to meet with you reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. The time belongs to the gentlelady from california. Let me just say to you, thank you for your compliments about how great i am, but i dont want to waste my time on me. I want to know about the may 23rd letter. You know about it. Why did you not respond to me and my colleagues . I was going to answer that. Just please go straight to the answer. And mr. Chairman, i thought when you read the rules, you acknowledged that i shouldnt be interrupted and that i would have reclaiming my time. What he failed to tell you was when youre on my time, i can reclaim it. He left that out. So im reclaiming my time. Please, will you respond to the question of why i did not get a response, me and my colleagues, to the may 23rd letter. Well, i was going to tell you my response. Just tell me. Okay, first of all okay. Let me just say the department of treasury has cooperated extensively with the senate intel committee, with the house reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Okay. Reclaiming my time. Secretary, the time belongs to the gentlelady from california. Perhaps, mr. Chairman, i dont understand the rules. Because i thought i was allowed to answer questions. Reclaiming my time. Would you please explain the rules and do not take that away from my time. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the u. S. Representative from california congre congresswoman maxine waters. [ applause ] oh, my goodness. I dont know if anybody wants to interview you now. Wow. So congresswoman waters, so i dont waste any of your time, people saw that clip and there were a lot of people who thought that was the first time you went ga gangster. You have been the same person you were on that video for your entire political career. Thats right. And so i would just like to start by saying thank you for just being who you are. Thank you. In a time where so many are running afraid. Thats right. Thank you. So as we talk about that yes. Jeff sessions. Yes. In my estimation is even more dangerous than the person in the white house. Because hes pragmatically beginning to dismantle work that people in this room and many of those that congressman lewis talked about, the work that theyve done. And its immediately impacting lives. Thats right. Can you talk a little bit about number one, some of the most egregious areas that sessions is attacking and pragmatically how do we respond to it . Well, youre absolutely correct. Let me first of all thank you for being who you are. Starting as a very young person, taking the initiative, knowing that you had power and you have worked it tremendously. I appreciate you. Please give jeff a big round of applause. Thank you. Youre absolutely right about Jeff Sessions. First of all, hes a racist. Hes a throwback. He has defined himself throughout his career. And so the president of the United States appointed him to one of the most important offices in all of government to become the attorney general with the power that he holds to do the damage that he set out to do. I have a session all about Jeff Sessions. And were going to deal with his attack on mandatory minimums. Weve been working hard to get justice in this system because of the mandatory minimums that have sent so many of our people to prison. Young people, small amounts of drugs, crack cocaine, who have ended up with long terms in prison. They have to increase the prison population tremendously. But he now wants to review that. And he wants to get tough and do away with the mandatory minimums relaxations we have done. And then Voting Rights. You know, he said that the naacp and the aclu were communist organizations when they were fighting to make sure they protect the Voting Rights of our people. You take a look at whats happening in st. Louis right now. You take a look at all of the targeting of young black males for the most part but black people in general. All of the lives that have been lost. The Justice Department now can move into these local police jurisdictio jurisdictions, take a look at their practices, and work at redoing the training, helping to identify where they have been unfair on and on and on. When they move in and they identify bad Police Officers with bad records, et cetera, and they have to get rid of them, they work out an arrangement with the local Police Jurisdiction and then they follow it for years to make sure the changes are made. Just like what happened in ferguson when they determine that all these warrants were being issued unfairly to africanamericans traveling through these little cities and towns. Well, he is saying that we should leave these alone. Dont interfere with these Police Departments. Let them do their work. The federal government doesnt have business being involved. So he does not want to do and then theres affirmative action. He is saying white people are the victims of affirmative action. He has moved aggressively on all of these areas. Mandatory minimums, Voting Rights, affirmative action. Can you talk a little bit about the affirmative action piece . I think people are incredibly clear on the Voting Rights piece and many people that dont know dissent decrees still know the Justice Department helped to push and support local municipalities in bringing about Police Reform. But many states have not dealt with Ballot Initiatives the way your state has that over a period of 20 years dismantled affirmative action. Especially by way of education. And what has the impact of that been . Because i hear him talking about this false sense of equity and equality. Yes. But be not talking about what the impact has been in places that has gone through it. You can take a look at Higher Education and you can see, for example, with ucla in california. It has been years since weve had the kind of representation of blacks coming into that institution that would make good sense for a state like california where black kids are graduating with 3. 5, 3. 9 but they couldnt get into ucla. And that has happened all over the country. But let me tell you one of the reasons weve not been able to really fight for affirmative action. Too many black people were ashamed of affirmative action. And they would say to you, well, no. I got in on my own. I am not i didnt benefit from affirmative action. I was smart enough. Well, come on, people. You know . The fact of the matter is that you have all of these legacy appointments of people who have relatives, who have management in these universities. And they get in because their parents gave money, because their parents are part of the alumni, et cetera. So thats real affirmative action for white people that happens in these universities. And so black people should not be ashamed of affirmative action as trying to correct wrongs of the past. So it has been very harmful in all of our universities. And so whether were talking about Jeff Sessions around the issues of Police Reform or whether were talking about the fact that we no longer are going to have an sba or a business focus from this white house thats helping to develop black businesses at the local lel. Theres no shortage of areas we can target. Just take a look at his cabinet. Betsy devos on education. She hasnt seen the inside of a classroom. She doesnt know anything about education. And shes bringing in all of the private post secondary schools that rip off our people every day who are trying to get an education who may have dropped out and they go to one of these colleges thats holding a private post secondary colleges who are saying come here, we can train you. You get the money from the government in order to pay their tuition, et cetera. And shes bringing them back in. As a matter of fact, shes bringing into her Administration One of the managers of one of the big private post secondary schools thats been a part of all the ripoff. Then look at ben carson. My god. My grandmother would call him an educated fool. Heres a man that had a reputation of being, you know, a very highly competent surgeon. But when he talks about about poor people, he says theyre the cause of their poverty. He doesnt understand why you didnt do what he did and why you didnt make it like he made it. And he doesnt know the difference between slavery and immigration. And so hes coming before my committee. If you think i took mnuchin on, you watch what im going to do to ben carson. Well, no. Lets just take a look. Look at mnuchin over the treasury secretary. Betsy devos in education. Ben carson over at hud. Wilbur ross whos part of the clan. And all of these people in the cabinet that he has chosen to run this country. If were not upset, somethings wrong with us. And let me stop there. Yes. Because you are clearly using your job, the speech that you have, to take them to task. Thats right. Whether its in committee or whether its challenging in back rooms. Thats right. But theres a nation of people and frankly a room of people that are also trying to figure out how do they up their own game. What are recommendations . Because youve already said theres no shortage of issues. But if were not elevating and evolving let me be more specific. What do you say to young people who have been part of showing up at rallies, showing up at marches, using social media, effectively using their cultural currency to lift up issues . What do you say to those that want to go to another level about how do i get involved in sustained engagement around these movements . And whether its policy or something else, what do they do . Well, i think there are a number of things. Most of the protests have been after killing and our young people show up in the street as theyre doing in st. Louis now. And that peters out. I mean, it doesnt last very long. And so i think its very important to understand how the systems work and get involved in them in different ways. For example, i know some are saying i dont like the democratic party. I dont like the republican party. Youre all the same. Were not the same, but they have not focused on the differences between the parties but lets take a look at how we do not involve ourselves in electoral systems. First of all, you will see many of the right wing organizations not only are involved in raising money, but they show up also. They come to washington, d. C. They lobby. They have lobby days and they come and back up their legislators. And whether it is Second Amendment rights, you know, on the gun issue, or whether it is, you know, dealing with choice and whether or not women should have control of their bodies, they come. And so we dont have enough people who show up at the capitol and really organize lobby days where they go from office to office. The second thing is dont understand enough about how to raise money. And how to create pacs. These pacs are very important because they support the kind of legislators that you say you want. Most of us are out there doing what we do and we go to various organizations. We speak at chapters of the naacp and womens groups, et cetera. But when it gets down to how we get elected, the support is not really there. But let me agree and push back. Then well open the floor. Most of the people you mention have huge money and institutional infrastructure behind them. So when you talk about Second Amendment, nra is putting money behind that. When you talk about the Heritage Group and what theyre doing. When you talk about fox news as a media infrastructure that pushes out their piece. Were infrastructure deficient. And so how do we play a better job at the money game . Because weve got a trillion dollars in spending power but were still talking about the organizations we dont have, theres a disconnect between the money we have and how we invest it. What are some of the ways we need to play a more sophisticated role in the money game in politics . Well, i alluded to creating pacs. Anybody can create a pac. Any organization can do that. And collect small amounts of money. It will add up. Were not on the internet colle collecting and asking for the contributions the way we should. You have a lot of independent organizations. The Koch Brothers run they own thing. I mean, they are not involved necessarily with the republican party. They support a lot of what they do. But they have theyre rich, they have a lot of money, they raise money, and they use those pacs to influence and to contribute to those efforts that are important to them. And its very important for us to start to do that. We talk about not having money. But we have plenty money. As a matter of fact, one of the workshops im going to do friday morning is about the amount of money that hip hop has put into this national economy. Trillion dollars. When you take a look at jay z and you take a look at p. Diddy and all of the branding they have done and the money that they have raised and you take a look at hip hop and what weve contributed to style and to fashion, not just rap. All of that. Millions, multimillions of dollars. When are we going to decide that our politics are just as important as some of the other things that we do . Thank you. I want to get as many questions as we can. Brief questions, please. Yes, maam . Congressman max zine waters, happy to see you. Hey. My question is in terms of young folks who are giving tremendous amount of money to divide the black community, how can we follow the money . Because we have a mayoral race in North Carolina with five black folk running for mayor and one white man. And the money that the other pacs is giving, theyre paying black folk 5,000 an election. How do we follow the money and get those to come together and decide which one is the best one out there . Coming together. Thats our biggest problem with young folk now. And, you know, im old. Im one of the old ones. You an elder, and theres a difference. But if we could come together, instead of they are paying those other young folk. To divide us. Thank you. And weve seen it in st. Louis. Weve seen it in ferguson. We getting ready to see it in atlanta. And to her point, its not because i want to make sure we say this. Its not just about young people. There is a level of misogyny that im seeing where youve got men who cant win a race blocking sisters who could win if they move. Yes. And so how do we talk about not just coming together, but how do we talk about smart politics saying who is the best candidate for now and how can negroes that cant win be reminded they cant win to support the sister who can. Okay. Excuse me one moment. Let me just say this. The reason we have this kind of division and competition thats not in our best interest is because our communities are not organized. And i tell you exactly what can be done. Those who claim to have influence and this includes the ministers and the socalled Community Leaders. If they organize a community conference, you take all of the candidates ahead of time. And you interview them. And you learn about them, their backgrounds, what they care about, what theyve done, what their positions are. And then you let them present themselves on a stage and you have the Community Come out and listen to what theyre saying. And then you let that conference, you let that community say, we are going to decide to support this one person because this is the person whos aligned with our concerns and this is the person who understands what the job is. And were going to put the Community Behind this one person. But you got to organize. Youve got to bring the community out to choose the person. Otherwise everybody will choose themselves. Thats why you will have the division. Organize the community. On sunday morning in america than anybody else and i want you to know were not hearing from you. No. Were not hearing from you. Where are you . You have a president who said in his campaign that you dont have anything. You get shot any time you walk down the street. You dont have anything. Talk down to you. Where is your level of insult . When are you going to come together and help to organize all of these people that are coming to church every sunday and do the kind of Community Work that will select the right individuals to run for office . Let me do this real quickly. Theres no way to get to everybody in line. If we can get the next three questions, there will be questions in the larger panel. So there will be another opportunity. But if i can quickly get these last three questions, yes, sir . Im reverend daniel graves from houston, texas. Okay. And kudos to you, maxine. Because i am a young minister in my neighborhood for over 15 years. Im fighting a case with the Supreme Court right now quick question, brother. What im looking for is this. What kind of guidelines can we put in place for Supreme Court to not be able to put our civil rights cases in the back of the orderlies . Whats happening is i got the question. Ill make sure she answers it. Yes, maam . Im the president of central long island naacp. And what i want to know is ive been trying to encourage young people to vote for not vote for run for office next year. What do i do to get them to run for these offices starting with the local legislation . We do have one person thats running, but id like to them to run for congress and there are going to be 435 seats next year and were trying to encourage them. Yes, maam. So many of them do not want to, you know, want to run. Theyre not interested. And i keep telling them because we i got your question, maam. I appreciate it. Its a great question. Were going to get to it. Last question. Yes, maam . Hi. Im councilwoman banks from baton rouge. What id like to know is how do you deal with not the trumps and the sessions but the africanamerican elected officials that are our color but not our kind who run on issues that are for disenfranchised communities but once elected they totally abandon those issues . Im a very opinion nated and i stick to those issues. But you become disenfranchised from your colleagues. They dont support you. They may even come against you. How do you deal with not those issues, those hood rats in our communities that dont support us. Thank you so much. For all the color commentary. Three questions. One, how do we engage the Supreme Court in general . Because so many of us dont even engage the Supreme Court but dealing with the order in which cases are heard. Second, are we going to develop candidate incubators at some point where were preparing young people to run for office instead of just asking them. And three, how do we really hold elected officials accountable during the process, not just during the election . Well, you know, youre going to hear over and over again about voting. And some people think, well, i vote. And everyone should understand the price that has been paid by our an ses tors for voting. But we are not voting our strength. When you talk about appointments by president s such as appointments to the Supreme Court, the community has to show up first of all, we should put forth somebody we would like to see. And we should get behind them and challenge president s whether they are, you know, republicans or democrats to talk about the kind of people that we want. We get on the radio, we get on television. We march, we organize. You dont leave it to those to do the right thing. These people are not going to do the right thing. They are going to do what is in their best interest. And its all about voting, organizing, showing up, and working in order to have influence on elected officials and the systems that dictate everything that goes on in our country. Thats number one. I believe that wanting to be an elected official is in the gut. And i believe that those who have the passion, those who believe that they can make change, those who believe that they can impact the system in some way are your best candidates. I think if you have to beg, pull, and do everything to try and get somebody to run, that may not be the right person. But i do think those of us in office have to demonstrate we stand for something. This will inspire young people a lot more than thinking its all just a bunch of people looking to do good for themselves or move up the ladder or to have opportunities for themselves. Weve got to make sure that were speaking truth to power. That they know weve got their backs. When we do that, i think more will be interesting. But as long as youre trying to encourage them, beg them, what have you, it doesnt really work. When you identify young people in the community who are speaking up, when you inspire these people in black lives matter who are saying what needs to be said, then go get them. I see what youre saying. I see what youre doing. I think youre going to make a good elected official. Lets work with people who have the passion and who want to do it and who understand how important it is. There are plenty of them in our communities. But guess what. We dont associate with them. Because we think theyre too controversial. Black people, you better get controversial. You better be controversial. You better call it like it is. Weve been shut down because others have defined us. When they said to us about 10, 15 years ago, oh, shes playing the race card. You should say yeah and i got a lot more im going to play. Dont run away from it. And thats what happened. We stopped racist a racist because they said that thats all you do. You dont do anything else. Dont let these people intimidate or scare you. Youve got to get in the fight. And youve got to be in the fight to make some sacrifices, to understand when youre winning and to continue to work, to make things happen, and i want to tell you it is time to take off the handcuffs, its time to get in it. Its time to call it like it is. Dont come here and tell me maxine, you came on doing what you do. Maxine going to keep on doing when are you going to give me some support . [ applause ] how many of you in your organizations have said impeach 45. Oh, no. Dont understand well, they dont have what it takes, they dont have the laws yet. Impeachment is about whatever the Congress Says it is. There is no law that can dictate impeachment. What the constitution says is hi crimes and misdemeanors and we define that. Bill clinton got impeached because he lied. Here you have a president who i can tell you and guarantee is in collusion with the russians to undermine our democracy. Here you have a president who is obstructed justice and here you have a president that lies every day. Thank god that the special counsel is beginning to connect the dots and understand facebooks role in it, social medias role in it. When is the black Community Going to say yeah, impeach him. Its time to go after him. I dont hear you. Dont another person come up to me and say you go girl. No, you go. [ applause ] thats right. On that note, on that note, congresswoman waters, one of things before you go that i vividly remember about our interaction more than anything else. I was National Youth director for the naacp and in l. A. For an event. You were walking through the crowd and there was a killer and when youre from our community you know who killers are thats right. And he was a killer. 68, tated up, walking by you, hey congresswoman and you turned around and said wheres my hug . You went up to him and embraced him. And i mention that because leadership is not about how you act when you walk with kings. Its how you act when youre with the people and nobody else is around and theres no cameras and that spoke to me so that was 20 years ago ive never ever forgotten it because you didnt blink an eye. He knew you and you knew him. Yes. And it wasnt about what his title was or how many felonies he might have or was he strapped at the time. It was that he was a son of the community that you represented and you embraced him like you would a president of the united not this president but a president of the United States. And i tell that story to say thank you for fighting for all of us. Youre welcome. All the time. Youre so welcome. And i want all of us to know these are our children. They belong to all of us. And one of the things that i recognize during the height of crack cocaine in los angeles and across this country that we had children who were literally living in crack houses. Parents had gone astray. Gotten involved with drugs, being sent to prison. Who was standing up for the children . They were dropped off of americas agenda. And so when you act like others and you get afraid because a young black man walks past you just because his pants is lower than you would like, his cap is turned in a way you dont like and you want to deny them because they have decided to have symbols of the defiance to say i know you dont like me, take a look at me now. I dont like you either. Lets do something about that. Lets embrace them. Lets accept them. Lets talk with them. Lets invite them in. Lets understand the history of black people where neighbors and communities have served as a village for all of our black kids. Lets get back to that and lets do that. Thats what thats all about. When you fear your own, you will never be able to talk with them. Youll never be able to connect with them. So many people in this room have been calling you auntie maxine and it is a term of endeerme endee endearment but youre queen warrior maxine. We honor you. Ladies and gentlemen, maxine waters. Lets take a selfie real quick because ive got to. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you very much. Ive enjoyed being with you and ive got to go. Ive got to reclaim my time. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, can we one more time congressman john lewis and congresswoman maxine waters. [ applause ] so having heard this perspective and context laid out by our seasoned leaders were going to bring out a full panel to discuss the systemic erosion of hard one civil rights progress and how we begin to create power. Before we do that, i dont know if it is unprofessional or a point of personal privilege but im going to do it anyway because one, i got to stall for time and two because i want to. I would not be able to do what i do in my life without my wife and she didnt even tell me she was coming. And i didnt see her. I heard and my wife is here. I want to say baby, thank you for surprising me. Im going to introduce the entire cbc to prince baldwin [ applause [ applause ] whats going on . You say hey to everybody. Baldwin is five months old and is my man. So we might actually comoderate this together depending on his level of interest in the conversation. But let me say this and very seriously, this next conversation is going to be with a group of individuals yes. Who are not only elected officials but who are activists and running organizations and are addressing the issues we care about and the goal here is for us to talk about Pragmatic Solutions. Yes. Say it again. No. Youre making me look bad. About the Pragmatic Solutions because i know if youre like me, i get tired of coming to cbc and living leaving with robust conversations and better parties than i do solutions. And if you leave having had a better time at night than you did directing during the day, whats the point . Thank you to those that put this panel together and those that are leaving incredibly pragmatic panels all throughout the day. Are we ready to introduce our panel . We are . Fantastic. If we can and they have robust and fantastically deep and wonderful bios and i recommend that you go to google and read them in their entirety. But, please know that they are doing incredible work. First we have a president , ceo of the leadership on civil and human rights, ms. Bonita gupta. The National President of the a phillip rand dofl institute, clayola brown. Copresident of the womens march, board founder, mallory consulting and former executive director of the National Action network, tamika mallory. And were bringing back two of our leaders both of whom greeted us at the top of the program, a cochair of this years anl youll Legislation Congress and Voting Rights caucus. Please welcome from texas 33rd Congressional District congressman mark beesy and chair and represents texas 18th Congressional District please welcome back congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee. And finally, we invite clarence e. Cox the second, the National President and National Organization of black Law Enforcement executives to join us on this panel. Please give a round of applause. [ applause ] bye, baby. Listen, were family here. And i think at some point we need to be aggressive and defending our families, defending our children and representing who we are in this conversation, congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee, i would love if you would begin and talking just for a second about what you think is the most important legislative priority that we have . Were here as a part of the Congressional Black Caucus legislative to hear the agenda, to figure out how we can support it and what we do on the local level to push our elected officials members of the cdc or not, whats the single most important legislative issue if we walk out of here Everyone Needs to have on their hearts and minds and lips and their feet . Thank you so very much. Good afternoon or good morning again. I guess were still in the morning. My day has been going on. Let me do one thing and that is to acknowledge dr. Allison, are you still in the room . Dr. Allison, dr. Allison has been to all 47 alc. All 47. Will you give her a hand, please . There she is. All 47. [ applause ] jeff, let me quickly say this. I believe amen. Amen. I believe in a movement and my colleagues will have many different themes that they are engaged in but i think the criminal Justice Reform under this umbrella of systemic dismantling of civil rights is one of the major elements. The fact that we as a western civilization are in the United States incarceration more people than ever. Now, i am not diminishing economic development. Im not diminishing the environment and health care, das tardly healthcare bill on the floor. But if we do not get a handle on stopping the tide, the wave the tsunami of the incarceration of young men and now women, building the numbers not of the federal system but of the state system for every infraction, starting with the incarceration of juveniles. If we do not for at one point begin to dismantle mandatory minimums, i believe in law and order. If you have a sentence of 25 years and for an ounce of marijuana and your life is gone because your jurisdiction believes that is important to incarceration where is the redemption . As i indicated to you i was at a mission this morning and we were fellowshiping with africanamerican men mostly whose lives have been steered off the appropriate pathway because of many elements but some in the criminal justice system. Id like to see us deal with mandatory minimums and Prison Reform and juvenile Justice Reform, stop incarcerating our children and id like us to jump forward over the idea of incarceration and deal with the idea of redemption, job creation, putting them in businesses and turning the corner on what justice is all about. I would hope that we could reignite the advocacy for criminal Justice Reform. Let me bring you in on this. This dovetails into the work youve done over your career as an activist. The congresswoman makes a great point. The interesting piece is weve never disconnected from that work. The challenge has been we havent connected local to local to local to create in some cases the National Momentum necessary. One, can you talk about some of the best practices that youve seen in groups and different parts of the country dealing with different parts of the issues the Congress Woman brought up and two, what are recommendations you give even in some of the mobilizations planned over the course of the next year, to challenge this department of justice but also challenge some of the local and state policies that affect what the congresswoman was mentioning. Thank you very much. It all goes to put this together and to participate today, im very grateful and jeff is my brother. I appreciate that you always pushing us to whatever solutions. I think i can pretty much bring both of those questions into one because the local game is where were finding that the most impact is being made, right . Ill give you examples of new york. We fought the raise the age Campaign Recently where new york and North Carolina were the only two states to continue to prosecute 16 and 17yearolds as adults. So the age for criminal responsibility was 16 and 17 and we know that the kalif story is a story we have seen and been impacted by what happened to this young man who supposedly stole a book bag and spent two years in liricers, over a year solitary confinement and at the end of the all couldnt deal with trying to Reenter Society and committed suicide and his mother died not long after. What we did there in terms of raising the age and while it is not perfect in terms of the legislation that is in place at this point, what we found is that making sure that the advocates and the elected officials be Clergy Network and all of the different grass roots operations were working together. It was very important. What im finding and what i think is very problematic for this movement is that at times we feel like we dont need one another. We dont have to work together. We dont have to come to the table together. There can be a ground game where people are organizing on the street and they dont have to find a way to connect the dots. What is happening in the state legislature or in your city council office. That is impossible because if we are not using our ground game to move whats happening on a policy level, it does not properly manifest itself into like real action and real reform that we can count on to lift these sort of shackles off of our people. With the raise the age campaign, i know Assembly Member from new york, Michael Blake has been around this kfrpconference. We worked with him, we worked with the state senators. We worked with our City Council Members and we had a major grass roots efforts and brought Law Enforcement to the table. All Law Enforcement is not bad, there are people within Law Enforcement that want to give you the tools necessary to go in and have those conversations. And with all of those components we were able to put the governor in a position where he had to get something done. If he was able to find some peace with the elected officials and just hear a bunch of people screaming outside it wouldnt have worked. We had to bring everyone to the table at the same time. I think another part that is really important for many of the activists who are saying that the problem is were working with some of the elected officials who have been gate keepers is that we had to expose them as well. Heres the legislation that we want. If you do not support this, we are going to go in your communities to the Housing Developments and other places you intend to go get votes and tell them that you did not support the work. At the end of the day, its hard work but it is the work that has to be done in order to move the needle forward. We cannot just hold protests without insuring were also pushing policy at the same time. So, thank you so much. And for being comprehensive in that answer. I want to come to you in a second specifically around the Law Enforcement piece. You can speak broadly. I want to talk to you bonita, tamika brings up an interesting point about the intersection points and collaborative work. If organizations and institutions and grass roots activists havent been trained, dont know who these folks are, dont know how one persons work connects to the other, whos ultimate responsibility is it to begin to create the synergy that tamika is talking about and are we seeing that happen anywhere in an effective way, not just grass top to grass top or grass roots to grass roots . So, thank you first of all im honored to be here too and be on this amazing panel of folks i worked with here and there. Its really great to be here. The thing im most excited about in a time that is dark and challenging on civil rights, lets say that, to say the least, is that there is a lot of solidarity that is being built in local communities around the country. The Leadership Conference is a coalition of 200 National Organizations that are cover the span of Racial Injustice to lgbt rights to womens rights to you name it. Its a coalition that existed for 57 years. What were seeing right now is the kind of coalition and solidarity building that has been indemic to our coalition. Thats whats happening all over the country. When tamika is talking thats a coalition of people standing up in communities and saying were going to you shall push for juvenile Justice Reform and arent going to separate our communities and going to demand accountability together of our elected officials to get this done. What were seeing right now, were in an all out assault on Voting Rights. Were talking about criminal Justice Reform, that is absolutely key. Im going to take it two part. Weve got an attorney general right now who is taking us back to the 1980s in criminal justice in washington, d. C. The amazing thing the momentum on the local and state level that is resisting, actively resisting that across party line and Racial Justice groups saying were push for criminal Justice Reform because it is where we need to go. This system has been inhumane and devastated communities of color. Voting rights right now, we have at the Leadership Conference, weve got groups that never thought of themselves as dealing with Voting Rights issues. Criminal justice issues, groups that were pushing for gay marriage rights and pushing to ensure that women can protect their own bodies, they are all saying this commission that the president has put up to basically try to undermine the Voting Rights of black and brown communities all over the country, we are not going to stand for it. Were going to stand together for an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. Thats where this movement is and we need to build in the community to see the im hopeful were going to win this because were standing in solidarity right now but weve got to make those connections at the local level. I want to bring you in on this but i know congresswoman lee has to jump shortly. So congresswoman lee, i want to ask you, how do we ensure sustainability, because you know as well as i do that the enemy on other side has a long money and social justice is not a short game. And so in some cases i feel like we end up being like the pissed off kids on campus that the Administration Just waits out until people burn out or graduate. Because we dont have the institutional infrastructure and money for sustainability. How do we begin to shift this so the kind of things vanita is talking about become funded and morphed into new infrastructure and so you can bupush the legislative focus based on the public will. Thank you for the sustainability question. First of all, i want to see theres some sustainers here in the audience, congressman lawson and congressman brown was here, congressman evans, still here, members of congress, if youre still in the room . Thank you very much. Val thank you very much for being here. They are part of the sustain group. Joyce beatty. Is she here . She was. All right all of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus and foundation board, can i just thank you all very much for being there. There you have, thank you. Sustainability is crucial. It is a life blood. So i love what youre going to hear from the rest of the members because on this panel and tamika thank you, that was kayla whos brother and mother i met and we now have a bill in washington that i want your movement to come because i want that bill passed. They make noises about we dont want to pass this bill on the federal level because the state people are doing it. I want to make it very clear, whose government is this . Whose federal government is this . If we do not speak truth to power to pass it down to others, who else will speak . The sustainability question is a legislative piece, it is a movement piece and money piece. Max was right about the money that was in our community, do we invest it in sustaining the movement, which is what i know you might have to go to the history book, bellefonte and portier did, we do need money to sustain the movement. I dont know how tami cka got hf a million, more than a million, women of all stripes here on january 2 21st, i was here. But why arent we back again so we can talk about Voting Rights that are being taken away from you or the Voter Fraud Commission that does not exist . The Congressional Black Caucus foundation can be your strong policy arm. We know how to right these issues up, galvanize the thought processes. So youve got that. Youve got thinkers out throughout the country. We should be here on criminal Justice Reform. I agree that Voting Rights is an umbrella that provides us with a lifeblood of making sure that were engaged from the school board level where they are trying to underpay teachers, to the highest level where they are trying to take your health care away. I can say health care is the most important, you get that. But if we do not stop incarcerating people and make that their lifes work, then we will not we will have an economy that is half baked so the sustainability is legislative, the sustainability is viewing this legislative process as your process, we need more people showing up in washington in offices beyond the Congressional Black Caucus and we need you talking about we give you four points from Voting Rights to criminal justice to Economic Empowerment and education. Will that work . Does that kind of answer where we are . So i would argue well that the tools are members of congress in this powerful body of all kinds. Im not bragging about who we are and how important we are but this is the most powerful law making body in the world. I would make the argument, money, legitimate money, not in your pockets but money that helps churn the issue. The legislative process, and the advocacy of all, which includes Police Officers which the chief is going to speak of goodwill. I beg of you Law Enforcement, come join us on both criminal Justice Reform and the ability to put forward Law Enforcement, honesty and integrity reform which gives you money to beat out the consent decrees and when i say beat them out, take the money and reform yourself, so we can protector and servers of the community as we seek to dignify and help dignify ourselves. I hope we have crafted what i think can be that answer how to get going. Thank you so much for that. As the congresswoman talks about sustainability and the money and legislative and activism piece, when you think about Voting Rights, for some often i think weve been as a community wed to the power of the Voting Rights act. When the Voting Rights act was never comprehensively all that we needed. It was supposed to be a bridge to somewhere else. I still see people caught up in re instituting a federal Voting Rights act versus broad multilevel Voter Protection policy that exists at multiple levels. How do you see that and where do you think the opportunities are for folks in this room to engage in a specific thing at the National Level targeted areas at the state level and even protection kind of issues at the local level and ways that we havent really brought together in a comprehensive strategy . Absolutely. Let me tell you that the biggest threat to our Voting Rights right now are occurring in our state legislatures. And with me being a texan, its only fair that i start in my backyard in the state of texas where we used to be the state particularly for a what would be considered a southern state, we were had some of the most liberal and some of the most easiest ways how to vote out of any state in the entire union to be quite honest with you. But over the last ten years the state of texas has sort of systemically started to dismantle Voting Rights in our states beginning with voter i. D. Law. Now, i was still the state legislature when texas passed the current law were under right now and i became the lead plaintiff in that lawsuit to get the voter i. D. Law overturned. Basically, it said you can only have five forms of id. You couldnt use any state issued student i. D. S given you to texas a and m university but use your concealed handgun license. So that was like one of the first steps they took. Right. And there were and even the states own data from secretary of States Office showed that the people that were most likely to not have one of the five forms of i. D. And have difficulty obtaining those were overwhelmingly black and latino citizens. So what becomes the way to fight that . The way how you fight that, we have to get people activated and midterm elections. People always forget, people got very excited to go out and vote for president obama in 2008 and in 20 1212. But in 2010 the dropoff is so steep. You have these people who are elected to the Governors Mansion that arent on the same ticket during the president ial years. And they are the ones that are setting the policy for voter i. D. They are setting the policy for redistricting. They are the ones setting policy for all of the things that were here talking about in 2017 at aoc that affect each and every one of us but particularly when it comes to voting. We have to figure some sort of way to get people engaged and start sharing the news about all of these things happening. I could go on and on not just about that but states looking to require you to have a passport or birth certificate to register to vote. People poll watchers being able to come to election sites without saying who they are or having any sort of i. D. , just so they whos the organization in your mind that at this present point is doing the most to and i know theres multiples, theres multiple thats fine but even if you can quickly list all. Who are the organizations that we need to be supporting both with bodies and dollars who are turning the needle on some of those areas and whether its from the money to file lawsuits, which in many cases is that real stop gap or whether its the mobilization. Who are the folks we need to be looking to . I would say the naacp has done a tremendous job in making sure that Voting Rights particularly in the courts and legal system, that they are very engaged and active, working with state legs lors and members of congress on all of these issues. I would say the naacp would be my first choice for individuals nationally to get engaged on this process. They are really leading the way and leading the charge on this. There are a number of organizations of young people as well. And so youth 100 and other organizations that i think are clearly engaged also. Very quickly i want to get clayola you and clarence in on this. Before we go to questions from the audience. Whether it is through labor or whether its through other legacy organizations, you have been doing this work for a long time and i mean that in a sense of honor. But i think were recognizing that the work is requiring evolved methods of engagement. How do we most effectively utilize legacy organizations to not do new work but do evolved work so that those organizations are relevant for new kinds of funding and excite young people looking to be engaged in a way that 50 years ago we werent even thinking about mobilization. Well, thanks a lot, jeff for that question in particular. Let me first say who sponsors this piece, in the purple. And thank those who are on this panel for the work each of you do. Recognize gs the question around legacy organizations speaking first to responsibility is one that in this forum i want to address if you dont mind. Earlier the discussion talked about how do we help Congressional Black Caucus members and feel that were doing what we can in order to support the work that they are doing because we hit the ground in our legacy organizations and traditional organizations in our community. But if we dont give resources to the members of the Congressional Black Caucus and real way to sustain what they are doing, were going to miss the whole ball. Congressional black caucus members vote the way we need them to do and show up when we need to show up and speak to the issue without fear and yet when the moneys are being distributed across this country by organizations that have resource dollars, we pinch and share a little dribs and drabs as if to say its going to get done anyhow. We cant take each other for granted and we certainly cannot take this body for granted. For all of you who have dollars, this is an unsolicited commercial. If you give money to somebody, start with the Congressional Black Caucus members who are out there every day trying to keep this fight going and sustaining those things that we do at home in our community, in our churches and everywhere else so they can continue to have a voice thats going to work. Now for the other part, the youth piece, okay, a lot of our seniors and seasoned people are afraid to watch young people grow. If were going to be totally transparent about what leadership is, and i know youve been doing it for a while and im going to be 70 and aint ashamed to say, all right . But youve got to be prepared to get out of the way to say some of the young folks who have energy can do what youre teaching them. They are riding in that seat and nothing happens except you get to tell old stories and new stuff aint going to happen, all right . Inside sciu theres been a conscious effort to develop young peoples minds and actions. The fight for 15 is not garnered by folks who are walking on a cane some of our seniors are blasting it out but its really pushed by young folk who know how to pull out a tablet and put in the data to track those folks we need to help with the fight to get the job done. Inside of some of the legacy organizations like the one i have the privilege to work with and for, the a. Philip Randolph Institute were growthing our youth element because thats who started along with some of the elders. Were not teaching the old way to register, were teaching folks to understand the stopgaps being placed in the path of folks who need to register and to vote. The unions have been progressive, more than in some of the other legacy organizations. One, i think because of the amount of money they receive during election cycles versus mother but two because their membership as a result of whos there has organically evolved versus other organizations that have to recruit in a different way. I thank you for mentioning that. I want to make sure we dont take this police piece off the table. I think clayola made an interesting point. We spoke to people internally have to fight certain fights. And so there are people internally fighting for young people when there are others internally hating on young people. My question for you is because we always talk about there are good cops too, which i think is an interesting statement in itself. What im interested in, what defines a good cop when they are quiet . And so how are we create a level of support and pressure for those quote unquote good cops to challenge the blue wall of silence and to attack Police Unions which in my opinion are the greatest barrier to Police Reform, and to speak up as a noble voice of the profession when the voice we keep seeing is one of brutality and abuse . Thats a good question. Thank you for having us. But i think what youve seen recently in i know the ranks in the black community is were saddened by these events as much as our citizenry. And i think what the public has not realized were a part of the communities that we police in many cases. Were at the barber shops and churches and all of the things that everybody else does. And for us, weve been o pressed inside the departments just as much as we have been outside of departments like regular citizens. I had a conversation this morning with some of our folks when noble was founded in 1976, there was a rush among the leaders of cities around the country to put black males in Police Leadership positions so that they could later say we tried it and it did not work. Talk about how we support because i know the history of noble, i agree you all show up in cases when other people dont but i dont think the general public understands how do we support officers that want to come out and want to be courageous and want to go against this culture . How practically do we at the local level support those officers and again, what should we expect . Well, the first thing to remember, were human just like citizens and i think often times thats always something nobody remembers, that it hurts us to see our black folks killed just like it hurts anyone else. But our people sometimes put us in a position where weve got to choose. And i was interested in what congressman lewis said and agree with him, we need to be disruptive. Theres a difference between disruptive and destructive. When you become destructive, we have to go back to the oath we have sworn to uphold the laws and thats across the board. So rather than to destroy a community and go beg to the same people who have oppressed us for money to rebuild these communities, lets talk to the folks inside who can probably give you a better insight on how better to accomplish what youre trying to do . I was done in sanford, folks were going to burn that town down. Listen, lets have a conversation. We talked about and i stood before the body and i said, before you burn this town down, lets let professionals give you advice on how to better accomplish the mission, which is the challenge the system. I was in sanford right. Since sanford weve seen very little change. So i appreciate that. But at some point we as a community have to understand who our internal allies that assist us in this process. To your point that may not mean that you have officers on the front line of a rally as much as you have officers willing to provide intel off books for whats happening and how we need to maneuver. But and some of those conversations have to be family conversations. But im still i still dont know if im hearing you specifically say beyond acknowledging officers who manage, what kind of support does the community they are paid to serve have to give for them to voice whats wrong in a Department Even to congressman lewis point, at the detriment of them putting some things on the line . Again, all politics begin at the local level. Weve got to make sure that the right folks are in there making sure that we are able to do the right things. We have now seen through technology and others, racial profiling is back whether you realize it or not. Its back. Its back live and well with the tag readers what was the time it left . Well, other than Justice Department the last administration it was governed a lot better. When this week when you talk about collaborative reform being removed, then we have those once there in the obama administration, its gone again. Im saying it got better because racial profiling you did not receive asset fort fit tour dollars or federal funding if your agency was involved in those things. Now that has removed under this current administration. Im saying to you, if you elect the right foilks in the local levels that becomes federal. Ultimately mayors are selecting Police Chiefs and accepting to set culture and removing old brass, i totally get that. That is more in the direction of what we can begin to do to shift this. I want to provide congresswoman jackson lee some Closing Remarks because i know you have to go. And tamika, well open the floor to the audience. Just to thank you, my brother, so very much for your passion and steering us very appropriately. But let me try to cut a deal here. This is a congressional black kak us foundation, may i invite tamika all of you to washington in a room that is closed door and lift what you did in new york on this criminal Justice Reform, ms. Gupta, let us lift it. We have our agenda but let us get in a room, bring the folk down from new york, bring all of the folk in the room. The sustainability question is what i want to close on. Your only as good as your next as you s success story. We have someone who leads the Justice Department along the pathway of injustice. Are we going to allow that . I cant hear you . Are we going to allow that . Stand by or stand up . Are we going to stand by or stand up . Stand by or stand up . Stand up. If that is your challenge it will be my challenge. Thank you so much for being here. These are fantastic persons. Will i see you . Were in washington but i will see you and well move on all of those elements in juvenile Justice Reform. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, congresswoman. Tamika absolutely, congresswoman, weve been working together for so long that it just feels like so many people i guess this leads right into my point. So many people think this stuff is new. I was so happy to hear you say to auntie maxine, shes been this all along. And i think its really dangerous when we sort of have this narrative that things were better because it was not. Eric garner died while president obama was in office, sandra bland died when president obama was in office. By the way, there was no justice for any of those people. And so when we Start Talking about things being better, at that time versus now, it is very dangerous because that is to say when we get a person in office that somehow things will change. And that is not accurate. The system has to be completely torn down. It cannot continue to exist the way that it does. In new york you ask the questioned really quickly the nypd12, they came together to say they were going to file a lawsuit against the city of new york and Police Department in new york for upholding the quota system. And the Justice League organization that i work with, karma perez and others have been supporting that. There was one woman of 12 who works for the Police Department that all of her overtime and any other ramification tore speaking out that you could even think of has been thrown at this woman to get her to be the one to fold. When you say what can the community do . It is really important that when officers come out and i heard john lewis saying we have to do more. The people sitting in this room are responsible for offices being able to speak out. If we do not ensure that we are standing by them, that we are donating to the churches and causes that help uphold this woman, this woman Needs Resources and take care of her family, she as one woman could be the one to help us break i know ive got to be quiet, i get it but this is important i didnt stop you. She is the one you gave me the look. Were brother and sister. Shes the one officer who could potentially break this crisis that we have in new york of an oppressive Police Department. If we do not support when grass roots organizations say we need our people to donate resources and stand up and show up at our Council Meetings and to stand up to when it is time to vote and make sure were not just voting for the person that comes and shakes the babies but those who have the policies in place, to not just protect officers but protect what it is that they are standing up for, then the problem is not the Police Officers. The problem is the people. We have to have a lot of voice in the situation and we have not. I hope that is what we come out with. That really doesnt just speak to the issue of officers but how do we protect people in our community to stem up and show up . I think what many have done around colin kaepernick. He hasnt asked for money because hes a millionaire but hes had a level of support for stepping out in ways i havent seen a lot do. Whether were doing that with Police Officers or not. Let me do this really quickly. I know there are other remarks. Really quickly 30 seconds. Less than that if you let me talk, okay. Too much family in here. Theres a sister in maryland, marilyn moes by who stood up to the system. Shes a main target for crap i didnt mean to say that word, stuff going on. If theres a time for the communities of all places to get together to be supportive of someone who is in enforcement or in a position that looks at enforcement closely, this is the time. Remember her name, marilyn mosby, google it. You know how to do it quicker than me. Do that. States attorney in baltimore. If you dont know freddie gray, toshio kn i dont know why youre in this room. One member of the panel will answer and well try to get as many answered as possible. My name is vince nichols, director of Educational Services for my chapter. For those in the trenches and were all dealing with apathy in our community, what are the messages that you all have used that you have found to be powerful . Having the daytime be as instructive, better than what we do in the evening times. Give us those messages that you have found to resonate with the communities that we can possibly use to reach some of the success that you guys if you all can give one line, a message youre using to engage people. That there is nothing selfexecuted about our rights and nothing that is about our progress. We have to step up and fight in this moment, band together and push for whats right. Its on us. The agency weve got the agency to make that change. One line, ask a simple question, do you have someone in your family who has ever been to jail or taken into the system unjustly . Youd be surprised at the number of people that then will listen to what you have to say. I would say intersectionalty, that we have to care about issues that may not be our direct concern but somehow it all ties back together and i think we should tell people its not in a vacuum. If one community is under attack, all communities are under attack. Congressman . Always remind people that protesting without voting will probably lead to the same result youre already in. In the state of texas and municipal election, we talk about Police Chiefs chosen by city council people. Less than 10 , normally 5 to 6 vote on the saturday elections in nonpresident ial years to Election City Council people and mayors. You cant get change that way. Clarence . Dont let your actions accidentally change the narrative. I think that happens often times like in st. Louis right now its not about the the acquitting of the officer, its now about the rights, nobody is talking about the acquittal. Bail reform, new york city, 10,000 people held in rikers island, how can we advocate and legs late and be consistent with the constitution and should be able to make your bail. Many people are incarcerated because of economic injustice they dont have resources to get released. We need to get rid of money cash bail and well do it in the next several years. In congress senator harris and rand paul came together to push forward a really important bail reform bill. We need to get that passed and it needs to get amazing thing right now, our examples from the right and left all over the country where they are eliminating cash bail, taking out the money profit motive. Where are those examples . Weve got kentucky has done it. States like new orleans, new jersey has done amazing work right now were seeing incarceration rates get lower. We need to make sure we dont increase Racial Disparities when doing this work. This is critically important, we have criminalized poverty and race in this country. Bail reform is an important avenue. That is one thing that is still alive and well here at the federal government. Weve got to push for it and make our voices heard and follow a ton of local movement and momentum on the issue. We have to build on that. My name is kayla jones and im senior economics major. My question is, what advice can you give as a young millennial who as spirs to change in my community . Are you involved in organizations . Yes, maam. I think thats number one. But i would ask since you said youre morgan state great things, it would be awesome if you connect with me. We can talk after this and figure it out. Reverend. Also, in the case of we finally, when we sued the Insurance Company that insured the police union, we got more results from our own City Council Members and our own state representatives. So just to the people when you sue these Insurance Companies that insure these Police Officers that insure these Police Unions, you will get more results than suing the state and city official. I appreciate that pragmatic recommendation. I know you didnt ask a question but i love it. Thank you. My name is sydney and i attend university of michigan ann arbor. What advice can you give the black community facing racism on campus, defacing property, being called the n word and our administration keeps and constantly sweeps it under the rug. They swipe it up and do not address issues or listen when we peacefully protest and march and come to them with solutions and demands. You dont mind, as a former Student Government president and predominantly white school down the road. I know about band three. I know the history of university of michigan black student mobilization. But ann arbor like most institutions will sweep under the rug what they can. So the issue is how disruptive are you prepared to be . And how do you begin to build nonpeople of color allies both on and off campus. And especially with ann arbor, i dont know if youve done this or not, theres an unbelievable opportunity with alums. There are alums that want to see transitions in ann arbor or wherever you go to school who write checks who are actively involved in whats happening on the campus, even though theyve been gone. They have tremendous power. And it becomes a chess game because they are alums that can call Board Members without having to be involved in a march. They are Corporate Leaders in ann arbor that want to see things and call a board member without showing up in a march. How do you identify the full chess board and continue to push pressure through your mobilization and activism and begin to suutilize current alum and staff as back door intel and keep up the pressure while they are pushing from the other side. Lastly, utilize the press to the best of your ability to community to potential students that this is not where they want to come under existing conditions. That immediately gets at least a meeting because that begins to threaten the life blood of the institution which is tuition dollars and brand. So if you can chop away at the brand of this bastion of liberalism in ann arbor called the university of michigan and challenge it in from a historical standpoint in the eboniy ebbs and flows you create a Broader Movement using dater and met terrorism and strategy and ensure you have three asks that are incredibly specific as opposed to we just want you to do better. If your ask s arent specific, theyll tell you what better is. Did i answer your question . Let me know if i can be helpful. Yes, sir. My name is trey, john harris the iii, founder of d. C. Resident. Shout out to the campaign. My question is when im doing Street Ministry or whatever, every day, we find that civil rights seems almost i dont want to say irrelevant but Something Like how do you get someone to exercise their rights of being a human being instead of just needing permission to be civilized every day as opposed to when its time to vote for something that they are just getting hustled on their vote any way . How do you what is the best way to exercise their civility whether their rights are being respected or not . Thank you so much. I want to get the last two questions in then give the panel a chance to close, Closing Remarks. My name is winter, im 16 years old im a founder of black my question is for my gentleman on my left. Youre talking about the riots and protesting. As a minor who cant vote and civil engagement is a lot like more so marching and protesting and when theres problems with your kneeling, if youre kneeling for the national anthem, a problem if youre marching in the streets and two people get violent because thats whats broadcasted. When youre peaceful, what is the right way for youth to be involved in the communities and like have good Civic Engagement . Thank you. Last question. Hello, my name is lakitscha davis and im from washington, d. C. My question is, i wanted to know if i can have a conversation with you tamika because you are coming to d. C. And im connected with the clergy and a lot of different advocacy organizations and i have too started a moment called stop stealing our souls, putting an end to sex exploitation but what i wanted to say to the panel and to you also is that i was raised by a single father without my mother. He left, drugs, crime, i seen it all. Seen someone get shot in the head at 10 years old in front of my face playing double dutch. But what i do know no one can help us from us but us. I love yall. Because that wasnt the last question but a comment im going to let this brother get this last question. My question is when were talking about my name is ron young. Im a student in ken but come to work with naacp. When we taurk about infrastructure, is the need on the level of do we need to develop another Cato Institute or Heritage Foundation for us and our issues . If thats what we need for sustainability and infrastructure, how do we go about that to start that movement or is that the way to go or do we need to support the organizations all right doing that . Do we need the systemic and legislative pieces. Got your question. Is it either or on both end. We can say its both and. But if you want to address the question of institutions we need to develop. We have somebody to immediate with tamika which is fine. Then i think if you all can in your remarks just begin to address i think the root of one of the questions that the young lady mentioned which is about resilience in the midst of the movement and not allowing anybody to define for you where you stop and start. Is that all right if i modify it that way . I appreciate the question and you being 16 and being here. God bless you. If you want to address that or anything else in two minutes of your Closing Remarks. Well start with brother clarence and come down. I invite you to visit the nobel website. Weve posted just recently some things to expect when you protest from us as cops and what we should expect from you as protesters that we think will keep you safe. That was in conjunction with the you obviously have the right to protest and nobody should not protect you and i think that as you do those things you should visit the history of our forefathers in the way that they protest. Thats what im looking for as a leader. Thats what i would recommend to my kids. Keep the nonviolence down and i think you wont change a narrative. Because you dont want your issues to turn into mass destruction of the community and the fact that we have to borrow money from folks that dont look like us and sometimes our communities are not rebuilt is an injustice to our community when we go in and destroy them. Thank you very much. I want to very quickly address the young lady from university of michigan. Im not exactly sure why we continue to send our kids to schools to make them millions and millions of dollars to play basketball and shoot hoops because the sat scores and income scores are directly tied to how much time they get on espn and national tv. So i think that we should definitely be looking at that and the second thing i would say is to the young lady you have to keep organizing. Our first amendment. It was made to protect speech that was unpopular. And so even if you are doing something that people dont like or its unpopular or the local police dont like it, you still need get out there and organize and make sure that youre doing your part youre doing because youre going to be the next wave of leaders out there and when we Start Talking about these low municipal election turnout results that we see over and over that directly reflect who our next Police Officers and Police Chiefs are, you can have an impact on that. Make sure that you continue to chronicle that. Make sure you continue to do that. And so when they say it wasnt a peaceful protest, you can show them your iphone and to the world on youtube, whatever social media space you like that it was peaceful and you were following the law but continue to exercise your right to organize an assembly because we need you out there and we dont need for you to get discouraged. I think most of the protests yvl rr been involved in, probably 99. 999999 of them have been peaceful, if thats what you want tacall it. I dont think you should allow anyone to define that narrative for you. You have to actually ignore that because the reality is that militarized Police Officers in our community is what creates the violence. People dont just walk outside and decide theyre going to start breaking windows. Thats not real. This is happening because there is no justice in our communities and we are go toing up against a machine that is there to intimidate and to create tension that ultimately spills over into it violence that you see. So i would really try to block that out. Of course when youre organizing, we always talk to people about the principals, the king and nonviolence principals. Were not going out to attack people but rather the systems of oppression. Even when something happens because the truth of the matter is i look a lot of gatherings of other communities that have way off the hook and its not even being talked about in the way that one brick being thrown is discussed in our communities. That is being done to distract you. Its not that anyone is taking their eyes off the ball, its that people do not want to deal with your issues and use this peaceful thing and put this on you as an attempt to stop being focussed on the real issues. If you choose activism, its hard and youre going to come up to people who look like you who are going to tell you youre wrong. The reality is its always been this way and we have no choice but to continue to push because our lives and our childrens lives depend on it and thats all i can say to you, sister. Its going to be difficult but you have to keep going because you got black girl magic and you can make it happen. Very quickly id like to address the brother who does the Street Ministry, i hope youre still in the room. First of all its incredible that you are here in the room and at that mike. Let me salute you for doing that. We needed a v advocates and we o understand that weve got to be supportive of every entity of our being. You are doing good work. Dont let anybody discourage you. How do you get the support . Call people out just like youre doing right now. Know the mechanisms that are at your disposal. You can call a press conference as well as anybody else. Learn the names of the report rbz that there on your television stations. And if they dont show up, call them out on your issues and when you do your Street Ministry and call some of these old line organizations out to make them show up to be supportive of you. We are still one people and we will be black all day long. You know, one of the big things i think you heard from all of us today is the importance of showing up for each other right now. And there is so much energy in building community. But the answer lies with us. We cant just sit back and criticize and talk about the problems. But weve got to be able to stand up and show up for each other. The same antiimmigrant agenda trying to destroy the lives of 800,000 young people, young immigrants who came to this country, know no other country as their home, that is directly tied to the same complex around our communities. The criminal Justice Reform issues, the Voting Rights issues are deeply connected and this administration gets that. When youre seeing folks and officials tweet out and condemnici condemning the violence in charlottesville but advancing an agenda to keep people in prison. The answer lies with us to organize locally, for federal change, for our communities. Thats where the hope is. Being a civil rights lawyer or advocate and believing in an inclusive and fair country require as deep, deep reservoir of hope. Somebody said hope is a discipline. You dont just wake up and have it be inevitable. We have to work on that and thats got to drive a change we wish to seek. Let me say thank you to our entire panel because nobody addressed the last brothers question about infrastructure, i will say this. The Movement Needs to be sustained. And what sustains it is institutions. Im not saying that we need to model other peoples institut n institutions because in many cases they just stole stuff from us. The question is how do we look at what our needs are to turn the needle on the issues we care about and where are the gaps in opportunities that we need to be able to do that. So if its research and data, yes, we need institutions for research and data. If its sustained media and engagement, not just organic social media, then we need sustained strategic media, we need policy development, not just policy activism and response. Im confused about why we have so many brilliant legislatures that arent authoring and co authering more policy. We need infrastructure thats candidate incubators. The people who are interested and have a fire for wanting to be in politics can be trained to. We have to train people to understand where their gifts lie. Im tired of seeing legislatures run from management positions when they cant manage nothing. Hello. Anyway. And so how do we talent scouting, talent supporting and incubation . All of those can be programs but theyre sustainable when they become institutional infrastructure. So, yes, we need all of them because if our movement is going to be real, there is no Community Stronger than the institutions designed to serve it. Just look at the jewish community, just look at other communities. Every institution they have is designed to ensure their power. We hope power comes and get mad when we dont get it. As opposed to Building Infrastructure that insures 20 years from now we have more power than we do. I appreciate everybody that stayed from befwining to end. I appreciate those that had to leave, those that have been involved in this work. Appreciate the panel for providing pragmatic recommendations. We only get to that place by work. So thank you all. Continue on your alc. Have a great conference and make sure you leave with something you are going to do. Give this panel one more round of applause and have a great afternoon. All my life i had to fight alls my life i had hto fight god got us and we going to be all right we gonna be all right as i said this philosopher and this revolutionary idealism or the assumption of the belief that these dictators use political power wisely and benevolently. That they were kind. And this is the most important for intellectuals. They bridged a gap between theory and practice