Henderson Receives Alexander Award for Work Advancing Civil and Human Rights

December 10, 2009 - Posted by Tyler Lewis

Wade Henderson shaking hands with a man during a fundraiser

The Leadership Conference President and CEO Wade Henderson shaking hands with other guests at the District of Columbia Commission on Human Rights' annual International Human Rights Day program on December 10, 2009.

The Leadership Conference's president and CEO, Wade Henderson, received the Cornelius R. "Neil" Alexander Humanitarian Award today from the District of Columbia Commission on Human Rights and the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights for his commitment to advancing the civil and human rights of all Americans.

"The fact that this award commemorates Neil Alexander means a great deal to me. As the human rights commission's chief hearing officer for 20 years, Neil Alexander was a tireless and largely unsung champion of civil and human rights. Our city and the struggle for equal justice benefitted immensely from his legal expertise and his leadership in enforcing the District's human rights law," Henderson said in his acceptance speech.

Henderson also highlighted two important civil and human rights issues that The Leadership Conference is leading the effort on – the lack of voting rights for District residents, which he called "one of the most blatant violations of the most important right that citizens in a democracy possess," and reforming the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Recognizing that today is International Human Rights Day, Henderson acknowledged the important role human rights principles have had on the U.S. civil rights movement, and the work of The Leadership Conference.

"[T]here is and always has been an inherent connection between civil rights and human rights," said Henderson. "The Leadership Conference itself was founded in 1950 at the dawn of the modern civil rights movement just two years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and five years after both the internment of Japanese Americans on U.S. soil and the Holocaust, a cataclysmic violation of human rights...For nearly 60 years, The Leadership Conference has worked to help America take that walk in the bright sunshine of human rights."