Table of Contents
Executive Branch
On the Hill
- The Americans With Disabilities Act, Act Two
- As Home Foreclosures Climb, Efforts to Help Troubled Homeowners Continue
- The Year in Judicial and Executive Nominations
- Advocating for Federal Leadership on Education
- Facing New Challenges with the 2010 Census
- Modernizing the Federal Poverty Measure
- Piecemeal Legislation, Raids Take Place of Immigration Overhaul
- Below the Surface
- Interview with Kathryn Kolbert
In the Courts
In the States
Leadership Conference Activities
Bringing Diverse Communities Together
As our nation’s demographics profile continues to change, civil rights and social justice activists face the challenge of bringing minority populations together around a common agenda.
Most recently, opponents of immigration reform continue work to divide the Black and Hispanic communities.
In response, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), along with its research arm, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) has declared an intent to find common ground among different constituencies. LCCREF’s new Multicultural Leadership Project is a year-long project devoted to identifying common ties that will unify groups around work that will benefit everyone.
To guide the project, LCCREF has developed a national advisory committee made up of key stakeholders at the national and state level, including representatives from groups that have strong grassroots networks, such as the National Council of La Raza, the NAACP, the Asian American Justice Center, and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.
LCCREF has identified Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Biloxi, Mississippi; and Los Angeles, California, as cities in which to focus its planning. As part of this work, LCCREF will host regional convenings, in conjunction with local organizations, to discuss collaboration opportunities, engage in dialogue, and present research findings.
LCCREF is working with Lake Research Associates to develop a comprehensive public opinion strategy that will identify challenges and opportunities for communities of color to collaborate around a common agenda. To date, LCCREF and Lake have conducted a series of focus groups to identify common values and possible policy issues around such issues as immigration, education, poverty, economic security, and other areas central to the low-wage workforce. Additionally, LCCREF will conduct national polls to determine effective messages to unify diverse communities around a common agenda.
Additional research objectives include:
- Establishing a shared research agenda that will result in information to under-gird policy development and mobilization;
- Conducting public opinion research in communities of color;
- Developing message frames to better communicate with various populations about common goals; and
- Developing a business plan that includes a set of strategies to build common ground and eventual consensus around specific policy goals.
LCCREF is also partnering with the University of California at Berkeley’s Warren Institute, to convene scholars, researchers, and advocates to develop a comprehensive scholarly research agenda, review existing available research, and identify the research needs of advocates. The convening will cover such issue areas as immigration, economic security, education, and perhaps persistent poverty.
By spring 2009, LCCREF expects to have developed a comprehensive three-year initiative to implement strategies leading to joint policy development and collective action across communities nationally and regionally.
The Civil Rights Monitor is an annual publication that reports on civil rights issues pending before the three branches of government. The Monitor also provides a historical context within which to assess current civil rights issues. Previous issues of the Monitor are available online. Browse or search the archives
