The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Today is the birthday anniversary of labor leader and civil rights activist César Chávez (1927-1993).

Chávez worked tirelessly throughout his career to get higher wages and better working conditions for underpaid farm workers.  Chavez started out as a community organizer at the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights organization, and eventually became the organization's national director. In 1962, he left the CSO to co-found the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with Dolores Huerta, so he could organize farm workers full time.

A new LCCREF report, "Restoring the Conscience of a Nation," examines the history of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and provides recommendations for improving the commission. 

The commission was created with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 as an independent fact-finding body charged with investigating and reporting on civil rights and making recommendations to the federal government on how to fix the problems it uncovers.

In this video, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR; John Payton, director-counsel of the NAACP LDF; Catherine Powell, professor of law at Fordham University; and Julie Fernandes, principal at the Raben Group, talk about the role the commission has played in advancing civil rights over the last 50 years and explain why they've decided to provide Congress with recommendations for improving the commission. 

This Sunday marks the anniversary of the ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment allows residents of Washington, D.C., to vote for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Amendments to the Constitution are proposed by both houses in Congress and require three-fourths of the states to ratify, or approve, them. Ohio ratified the amendment on March 29, 1961, which made the amendment go into effect.

The 1964 election was the first election that district residents voted for president and vice president.

However, the 23rd Amendment did not grant district residents voting representation in Congress.  There have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to pass legislation that would give voting representation in Congress to district residents ever since it was created in 1801.

The D.C. Voting Rights Act, which will give the district a full-voting member in the House of Representatives for the first time, passed the Senate in February and is expected to come up for a vote in the House in the coming weeks. 

John Hope Franklin, historian and civil rights icon, passed away yesterday in Durham, N.C.  He was 94.

"Dr. Franklin's legacy and work will continue to guide us along our national road to an equal and just society.  Throughout his life, he worked tirelessly to make sure that the story of America includes the stories of us all, and today we honor his memory," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR, in a statement.

Franklin had a long and varied career in public service and education.  He was a world-renowned historian of the Black American experience.  His 1947 book, "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans" is considered the definitive history of African Americans.  He regularly updated the book and it is currently in its 8th printing.

In 2007, LCCR honored Franklin with its Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award for his lifelong commitment to incorporating African Americans into American historical texts and representations.  This clip from a video shown during the 2007 award dinner tells Franklin's story and why he has become a civil rights icon.

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, an event that galvanized the city and sparked a movement that led to legislation that improved factory safety and workers' protections.

Nearly 150 workers died in the fire, unable to escape from the building due to locked exits and a broken fire escape. It was the most tragic industrial disaster in the history of New York City, and was the worst workplace disaster in the city until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company manufactured women's blouses, which were called "shirtwaists" or simply "waists" at the time. Most of the company's 600 workers were female immigrants from Eastern Europe, Italy and Germany, some as young as 12, who were paid a mere six or seven dollars a week.

The Census Bureau announced plans today to launch a $250 million advertising campaign aimed at encouraging minorities in urban areas to fill out their census forms for the 2010 Census. Nearly a quarter of the funding will go towards minority news outlets.

Since minorities and low-income people have been less likely to be counted in past censuses, the bureau uses tools like this ad campaign to reach members of those groups.  Traditionally, minorities have been less likely to participate in the census than Whites due to distrust of the government. Latinos, in particular, may be afraid because of the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment and raids in the U.S.

In addition, the 2010 Census presents several challenges that will make it difficult to count minorities, like the displacement of millions of people after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the foreclosure crisis.

Census data is used to determine voting representation in the House of Representatives and the distribution of federal funding for services like education, housing, and transportation. 

Fifteen-year-old Brett Elder died yesterday in Bay City, Mich., after he was Tasered by a police officer trying to break up a fight. State police are investigating the circumstances of the death.

Many law enforcement agencies in the United States use Tasers, a type of weapon that shoots dart-like electrodes on conductive wires, causing an electric shock which temporarily incapacitates the person who is struck.

Although Tasers are not meant to be lethal, a August 2008 report from Amnesty International found that in the United States since 2001, 334 individuals died after being struck by Tasers. Around 90 percent of those individuals were unarmed.

In 2006, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern about U.S. police using Tasers against "unruly schoolchildren," people with mental disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, and unarmed suspects fleeing minor crimes. The committee called for Tasers and similar weapons to be used only where "greater or lethal force would otherwise have been justified."

Gary Locke, President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Commerce, has vowed to make the 2010 Census a priority.

The Census Bureau is facing serious challenges that may affect the accuracy of the 2010 census. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the foreclosure crisis displaced millions of people, which will make the count difficult.  In addition, many people are concerned about their privacy and confidentiality and are reluctant to share any information with the federal government.

At his March 18 confirmation hearing, Locke underscored the importance of the census while outlining the plan to overcome these challenges: "The census only happens once every ten years and we need to get it right – no exceptions, no excuses. That is why it will be run out of the Department of Commerce and by a director who will work with the Congress, the administration and our state and local leaders to make sure you and they are involved every step of the way in making this a successful count."

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.

On March 17, President Obama announced that he will formerly support a United Nations statement that calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide. 

Though it is non-binding, the statement acknowledges that GLBT people around the world are subject to "violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization and prejudice" and states that human rights "apply equally to every human being regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity." It is the first time the U.N. General Assembly has formally addressed human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

When the declaration was introduced to the U.N. General Assembly in December 2008, it was supported by 66 U.N. member nations. The U.S. was the only western country that didn't sign the statement at that time. Former President Bush opposed the declaration, arguing that it raised legal questions that required further review.

Currently, nearly 70 U.N. member nations have laws banning homosexuality. And in some countries, homosexuality can be punished by execution.