The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

For over a half a century, we have led the fight for equal opportunity and social justice. During a time of hatred and violence in the segregated south, we fought for the voting rights of millions of African Americans. We used our resources to battle against unfair housing and employment practices that put a stain on the American ideal. Today the Leadership Conference has become the nerve center for the struggle against discrimination in all its forms. We are the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, fighting for equal justice, equal opportunity and mutual respect.

The Leadership Conference is the nation's oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition committed to the protection and advancement of basic civil rights for all persons in our country. LCCR began in 1950, founded by A. Phillip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins, of the NAACP; and Arnold Aronson, of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council. We lobbied for and won the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and the Fair Housing Act of 1968; laws that shaped the future.

While the Leadership Conference has grown in numbers, scope and effectiveness over the years, our commitment to social justice remains the same. Today the Leadership Conference and the Leadership Conference Education Fund are stepping up their efforts on issues old and new. LCCR's advisory and the Education Fund's education, research and coalition building activities focus on ensuring equal opportunity, promoting civic engagement, reforming the nation's criminal justice system, protecting the independent judiciary, strengthening families and community and guarding the crossroads between civil rights and civil liberties.

At the dawn of a new millennium, LCCR's cause is more timely than ever. That cause is defined by the timeless values the Leadership Conference has advanced since its inception: an America true to its promise of equal justice, equal opportunity and mutual respect. We are the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.