LCCR & LCCREF
Tickets Now Available for the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award Dinner
April 6, 2009 - Posted by Wade Henderson
The year's largest and most diverse civil and human rights celebration is LCCR's Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award Dinner.
The 33rd annual dinner, honoring Sheila Bair and Van Jones, is scheduled for May 7, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Tickets and sponsorships are now available.
If you can't attend in person, we'd still love to have you celebrate with us as a virtual guest at the dinner. Support LCCR's work by making a donation now, and you'll get an exclusive first look at photos from the 2009 dinner.
This is the one event in Washington where everybody gets a seat at the table.
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LCCR Welcomes New Member Organizations
April 3, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
LCCR, the nation's premier civil and human rights coalition, is comprised of more than 200 organizations representing a wide diversity of people and issues. By working together, we can more effectively promote the enactment and enforcement of effective civil rights legislation and policy.
Each member organization plays a vital role in our efforts to ensure equality and opportunity for all, and LCCR is pleased to welcome these organizations to the coalition:
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Meet with Your Members of Congress during April Congressional Recess
April 1, 2009 - Posted by Robyn Kurland
Your members of Congress will be home in their districts while Congress is in recess from April 6 through April 17. While home, your senators and representative will be in their local offices and may also attend town hall meetings in your area. These are perfect opportunities to speak with them about civil rights issues that matter to you.
However, their schedules fill up quickly, and some senators may be traveling in various parts of the state during the recess, so it's important to call their offices now to make an appointment or find out when town hall meetings are scheduled.
To find your member's local office closest to you, visit the Senate web site or the House of Representatives web site. To make your visit as successful as possible, check out our tips for visiting your members of Congress at their local offices.
Before speaking with your senator or representative, visit our Action Center to learn more about the important civil rights issues that Congress is currently addressing.
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LCCR President Discusses D.C. Voting Rights with D.C. Residents at Town Hall Meeting
March 20, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
 Rasi Caprice, a D.C.-based hip-hop artist, performs "Free D.C." at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. town hall meeting on March 19, 2009.
View more photos of the event Last night, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR, participated in a Historical Society of Washington, D.C., town hall meeting on the history of voting rights and the lack of voting rights for D.C. residents.
Town hall meetings provide local residents an opportunity to discuss important issues that affect their community with elected leaders and other influential people. Henderson spoke about the importance of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, which would give D.C. residents a full-voting member in the House of Representatives for the first time.
"Voting is the language of our democracy. Without it, the citizens of the District of Columbia are the silent voice in the wilderness, spectators to democracy, right in the literal shadow of the very governing institutions that serve as a shining beacon to the rest of the world," said Henderson.
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LCCR President Wade Henderson Speaks at FDIC Black History Month Event
February 27, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
 From left to right: D. Michael Collins, director of FDIC's Office of Diversity and Economic Opportunity; Martin J. Gruenberg, FDIC vice chairman; Arleas Upton Kea, director of FDIC's Division of Administration; and Wade Henderson, LCCR president and CEO
Photo credit: FDIC Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR, was recently the featured speaker at a FDIC diversity education program for FDIC employees celebrating African American History Month.
In his speech, Henderson spoke about the progress the nation has made with respect to Black Americans and the challenges that remain:
"This year, the fact that our first Black president has issued the proclamation declaring February to be Black History Month is as vivid a reminder as we could wish for that Black history is American history, and that the tragedies and triumphs of the African-American experience are inseparable from the tragedies and triumphs of all Americans. And the economic crisis that President Obama and all Americans are grappling with is also a reminder that history always brings problems as well as progress and that every generation must confront the challenges that will define its place in our nation's narrative."
Henderson is a member of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion, which provides the FDIC recommendations on how to expand access to banking services to low-income and minority populations.
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Humphrey Award Honoree Gary Locke Nominated to be Commerce Secretary
February 26, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
 Gary Locke, former Washington governor and nominee for secretary of Commerce Yesterday, President Obama nominated former Washington Governor Gary Locke to be Secretary of Commerce.
Locke was governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005 and was the first Chinese-American governor in U.S. history. In 1999, LCCR honored Locke with its Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award for working to make Washington public schools the best in the nation, promoting jobs and economic development in rural and urban areas, and fighting juvenile crime.
The Department of Commerce is in charge of promoting the country's economic growth. The department's responsibilities include promoting international trade, issuing patents and trademarks, overseeing the census, and regulating television, cable, and radio.
Locke must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming the post.
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Sheila Bair and Van Jones to Receive LCCR's Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award
February 25, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
 Sheila Bair, chairman of the FDIC and Van Jones, president and founder of Green For All LCCR will honor Sheila Bair and Van Jones at its annual Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award Dinner, to be held on May 7, in Washington, D.C.
As chairman of the FDIC, Bair has taken a lead role in addressing the current foreclosure crisis and helping to keep millions of Americans in their homes. She was one of the first people to speak against an alarming increase in aggressive lending practices that led to many homeowners being placed in mortgages they couldn't afford, and advocated for more regulation to protect consumers. Bair has also been active in pushing mortgage companies to perform mass loan modifications to help borrowers avoid foreclosure.
Jones, president and founder of Green For All, is at the forefront of green economy movement, which seeks to fight poverty and pollution at the same time by encouraging investment in jobs that promote a clean environment - putting millions of low-income and minority people to work and revitalizing low-income communities around the nation. He is also a fierce critic of policies that lead to overly high rates of incarceration for low-income and minority people, and in his work as co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, he helped to decrease California's youth prison population by 30 percent.
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LCCR Coalition Members Appointed to President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
February 6, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
Yesterday, two LCCR coalition members – Rabbi David Saperstein, director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (the RAC), and Father Larry J. Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA – were appointed to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
The President's Advisory Council is part of the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and will be made up of 25 leaders, religious and secular, who will serve one-year terms.
According to the White House press release, the new office will be "a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer."
The RAC is the Washington, D.C., lobbying office of the Union for Reform Judaism, a collective of more than 900 Jewish congregations in the United States. Catholic Charities USA is the head of a network of more than 1,700 Catholic Charities agencies and works to reduce poverty in communities around the nation.
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LCCR and Google Co-Host Inaugural Bash
January 22, 2009 - Posted by Katie Kohn
 Wade Henderson, LCCR president and CEO; Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of SEIU; and Bob Boorstin, Google's director of corporate and policy communications The mood was festive at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium as civil rights advocates, technology innovators, policymakers, and celebrities came together to celebrate the inauguration of a new president.
LCCR and Google's inauguration night event, intended to be an alternative to traditional inaugural balls, lived up to its advance billing as one of the five most popular parties of Inauguration Week.
Mellon Auditorium, famed for hosting such historic events as the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949, is just blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C.
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Wade Henderson and Shiloh Baptist Church Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
January 19, 2009 - Posted by Jenna Wandres
 Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, speaking in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Saturday morning, several hundred parishioners and guests gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., for bacon, eggs, and celebration.
The prayer breakfast, organized by the Brotherhood of Shiloh Men, is an annual event held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, the cause for celebration was extended to the imminent inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, spoke at the event, lauding the work of Dr. King and the election of President-elect Obama, but also reminding listeners that there are still obstacles of iniquity to overcome:
“If ever there was a time to remember Dr. King and all of the Moses generation, it is right now, at this historic moment – this mountaintop moment. The struggles that took us to this moment offer the inspiration, teach the lessons, and chart the course that will take us forward from this moment…
That road has been rocky. But our ideals are enduring. From this mountaintop, we can see the hardships that we have survived and the history that we are making. And, more than ever before, we have reason to believe that we as a people – and we as a nation – will reach the promised land.”
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