The Leadership Conference is working diligently to see that Tom Perez is confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Labor. Perez is an eminently qualified public servant and consensus builder who has dedicated his career to ensuring that all individuals are treated fairly and have the opportunity to succeed. He has served with integrity and distinction at the local, state and national level, compiling an outstanding record of achievement.
The Leadership Conference
Civil Rights Book Club: 'Let's Get Free' by Paul Butler
November 6, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference
After years as a federal prosecutor, Paul Butler became convinced that American criminal justice system is fundamentally broken, ruining more lives than it protects. In his book, "Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice," Butler offers a lively and interesting analysis of crime and punishment in the United States and provides a powerful new vision of justice.
He explores the limitations of working within a "corrupt" system and discusses a variety of provocative proposals for how ordinary citizens protest a system that is unjust.
The Civil Rights Book Club aims to provide context and provoke discussion about today's top social justice concerns. Each week, we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary social justice movement. You can help support The Leadership Conference by purchasing Book Club selections through the Amazon.com link on our website.
Civil Rights Book Club: 'Random Family' by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
November 20, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference
"Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx" is an honest, heartfelt, and deeply moving story that follows the lives of an extended family. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc conducted extensive research and interviews with Lourdes, her daughter Jessica, daughter-in-law Coco, and all of their boyfriends and children over a 10-year period.
LeBlanc allows the family members to tell their stories as they see and live them, and in the process, pushes past statistics to put real, human faces on issues of poverty, teenage motherhood, abuse, and the drug world.
The Civil Rights Book Club aims to provide context and provoke discussion about today's top social justice concerns. Each week, we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary social justice movement. You can help support The Leadership Conference by purchasing Book Club selections through the Amazon.com link on our website.
Civil Rights Book Club: 'The Revolt of the Cockroach People' by Oscar Zeta Acosta
November 13, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference
"The Revolt of the Cockroach People" is a fictionalized semi-autobiographical account of Oscar Zeta Acosta's involvement in the Chicano anti-war protest of the Vietnam War in 1970.
The novel also covers a variety of conflicts between the protagonist, Buffalo Zeta Brown, an attorney with his own share of personal problems, and the religious, educational, and legal systems of East Los Angeles, CA at the time. Brown represents rioters who were unjustly indicted and in the process draws significant attention to many Latino issues, but also sacrifices his own health in the process.
Acosta's novel shows how one of the largest Chicano protest movements was fought both in the streets and in the courts.
The Civil Rights Book Club aims to provide context and provoke discussion about today's top social justice concerns. Each week, we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary social justice movement. You can help support The Leadership Conference by purchasing Book Club selections through the Amazon.com link on our website.
Wade Henderson among NELP Honorees for Workers’ Rights Advocacy
October 22, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, speaking at the NELP 40th Anniversary Gala.
Last night, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) celebrated 40 years of working to protect the employment rights of low-wage workers. NELP presented a moving tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy for his leadership in fighting for workplace equality and honored several workers' rights allies, including Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
"Workers' rights have always been civil and human rights," Henderson said. "Sixty years ago, A. Philip Randolph, a labor leader and one of the founders of the Leadership Conference said, 'the two tickets to a better life are a voter registration card and a union card.' That lesson still holds true today."
NELP also honored the work of Jon Hiatt, AFL-CIO general counsel; Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network; and the National Employment Lawyers Association and its executive director, Terisa Chaw.
Christine Owens, executive director of NELP, celebrated the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act earlier this year and emphasized the importance of passing the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would restore workers' right to organize.
"As long as there are workers who need a voice and a place at the table, NELP will be there to fight for them," Owens said.
Henderson Condemns Vitter Amendment, Calls for Inclusive Census Count
October 28, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
LCCR President and CEO Wade Henderson speaking at a press conference on census-related issues in New Orleans on August 23.
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is calling on the Senate to reject a proposed amendment that would require the Census Bureau to add a question on citizenship and immigration status to the 2010 census form less than six months before the census takes place on April 1.
In a guest blog on The Huffington Post yesterday, Henderson said the divisive amendment, sponsored by Sens. David Vitter, R. La., and Robert Bennett, R. Utah, would disrupt the census after years of careful planning, delaying the apportionment of Congressional and state legislative districts the allocation of federal funds, and the availability of data essential to corporate decision-making.
"At a time when the political process is mired in partisanship, public trust in government is at an all-time low, and the economy is stuck in a recession, the last thing the nation needs is a delayed and dysfunctional census," Henderson said.
Civil Rights Book Club: 'Gang Leader for a Day' by Sudhir Venkatesh
October 30, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
"Gang Leader for a Day" is a fascinating story of how young sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh spent seven years documenting gang life and culture in Chicago after meeting and befriending a gang leader named JT.Venkatesh's story of his complicated relationship with JT and his unique access to the inner workings of the gang provides the reader with an unvarnished, often surprising, portrait that destroys many popular assumptions about gangs and gang members.
The Civil Rights Book Club aims to provide context and provoke discussion about today's top social justice concerns. Each week, we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary social justice movement. You can help support The Leadership Conference by purchasing Book Club selections through the Amazon.com link on our website.
Civil Rights Book Club: 'Suburban Sweatshops' by Jennifer Gordon
October 23, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference
It is difficult to imagine that there are people in the United States still being grossly underpaid at 30 cents an hour, or, worse yet, not even being paid for their labor at all. But some immigrant laborers endure such circumstances.
In "Suburban Sweatshops: The Fight for Immigrant Rights," author Jennifer Gordon examines the contemporary challenges facing the growing workers' rights and immigrant rights movements. Through her own experience in founding the Workplace Project, Gordon offers an insightful discussion of the legal and organizing strategies and the lessons learned in trying to create a space where workers can unite to improve their conditions and fight for minimum wage, health care benefits, and better safety standards.
The Civil Rights Book Club aims to provide context and provoke discussion about today's top social justice concerns. Each week, we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary social justice movement. You can help support The Leadership Conference by purchasing Book Club selections through the Amazon.com link on our website.
Civil Rights Book Club: Resolving Racial Conflict by Bertram Levine
October 13, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
Recognizing that protecting the rights of all Americans would require more than just legislation, Congress included a provision in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to create a body within the Department of Justice, called the Community Relations Service (CRS), to be a "peacemaker" when community tensions arise based on race, color, or national origin.
Bertram Levine's "Resolving Racial Conflict: The Community Relations Service and Civil Rights, 1964-1989" is the first history of the the work of the CRS since its creation. Levine tells a fascinating story of the men and women mediation specialists who worked in an agency that played a crucial, but largely unknown, role in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Civil Rights Book Club aims to provide context and provoke discussion about today's top social justice concerns. Each week, we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary social justice movement. You can help support The Leadership Conference by purchasing Book Club selections through the Amazon.com link on our website.
Henderson and Zirkin Honored in the Fight for D.C. Voting Rights
October 14, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference
(l to r) Andrea Roane of WUSA-9 News, DC Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka, LCCR Executive Vice President Nancy Zirkin, LCCR President and CEO Wade Henderson, and DC Vote Board Chair Bruce Spiva
Last night, LCCR President and CEO Wade Henderson and LCCR Executive Vice President Nancy Zirkin were honored by DC Vote for their efforts to pass D.C. voting rights legislation.
Henderson, Zirkin and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D. Mich., were presented with 2009 Champions of Democracy Awards for their "dedication to fulfilling the promise of democracy for the Americans who call Washington, D.C., home." DC Vote also presented Akridge Real Estate, a Washington commercial real estate firm, with its Corporate Partnership Award.
In accepting the honor, Henderson, a D.C. native, emphasized the importance of continuing the fight to secure full voting representation in Congress for the District. "For all the progress we've made in D.C. and as a nation, my hundreds of thousands of neighbors in this city and I have been mere spectators to our democracy for more than 200 years. And that won't change as long as citizens of the District of Columbia continue to be deprived of the most important civil right that Americans have: the right to vote," said Henderson.
"This year, we came closer than we've ever been to securing voting rights for the residents of the District of Columbia...we still have a long way to go. But with your help and the efforts of DC Vote and the civil rights community, we'll get there," said Zirkin.
Civil Rights Book Club: 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' by John Perkins
September 28, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference
In this controversial memoir, John Perkins offers an insider's perspective on the harsh and unequal economic relations between the U.S. and many Latin American countries created over the past quarter century. Perkins documents his role in manipulating foreign governments into accepting unsustainable loans that would eventually bankrupt their country and people.
This book is a powerful example of the true costs of modern globalization, and how the rich continue to get richer at the expense of the poor.
The Civil Rights Book Club aims to provide context and provoke discussion about today's top social justice concerns. Each week, we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary social justice movement. You can help support The Leadership Conference by purchasing Book Club selections through the Amazon.com link on our website.
