Press Releases
All Media inquires, please contact:
Angelo Greco at (917) 499-2688 angelo@trillmulticultural.com
Lon Walls at (301) 996-1669 lwalls@wallscomm.com
Tyrice Johnson at (205) 643-4755 newmedia@ncbcp.org
Aug 22, 2013
Diverse Group of Women Leaders Convene to Elevate “HerStory” During 50th Anniversary of March on Washington
Washington, DC – Determined to make sure history includes “HerStory,” a stellar array of women leaders representing a wide cross-section of national organizations will gather in the nation’s capital this week to discuss the contributions women have made-past and present- to the civil rights movement and to begin crafting a multi-ethnic public policy agenda.
The gathering is jointly hosted by the Black Women’s Roundtable, the National Action Network, the A Philip Randolph Institute, the Feminist Majority Foundation, and the National Organization for Women (NOW) as part of the official 50th Anniversary March on Washington Week of Activities. The women leaders will focus on the March commemoration themes of jobs, freedom, peace and social justice.
It will be held at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill on Thursday, Aug. 22nd starting at 10 am. The discussions will be organized into three segments: The Past—Telling HerStory, an inter-generational & multi-ethnic conversation; The Present, the unfinished business for women’s rights 50 years later, and The Future, visioning conversation, what women’s equality will look like in 2063.
“Women played an integral role in the 1963 March on Washington and the civil rights movement overall, however, their story is rarely told,” said Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP), and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. “We will not let contributions to the civil rights movement from women like Dr. Dorothy I. Height, Diane Nash, Delores Huerta, Viola Liuzzo, or Anna Arnold Hedgeman, be overlooked. Not on our watch.”
A delegation of women leaders and participants in the 1963 March and the 1960s civil rights movement will discuss how they fought and overcame gender and racial discrimination sharing insights with women leaders of the Movement today.
In small groups, women attending will prioritize issues and exchange perspectives on organizing strategies that target key policies impacting women, girls and families. The outcome of these discussions will be captured in a brief document with recommended public policy solutions and approaches.
“Women support similar issues like the right to access to reproductive health care services, living wage for all employees, immigration reform, and restoration of the Voting Rights Act,” said Terry O’Neill, president Terry O’Neill. “It is important for us to stand in unity to elevate those issues.
Participants include:
Melanie L. Campbell, President & CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Convener, Black Women’s Roundtable
Tamika Mallory, National Executive Director, National Action Network
Antonio Williams, Director, Government Affairs, Comcast
Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, Co-Chair, African American Clergy Network
Elder Bernice King, CEO, The King Center
Joe Coleman, Formerly of The Platters Performing "I Gave My All"
Clayola Brown, President, APRI
Myrlie Evers-Williams, Chair Emeritus, NAACP
Beverly Alston, Northeast Regional Chair, National Action Network
Dr. Thelma Daley, Chair, Women in the NAACP
Christine Chen, President, Asian Pacific Islander Vote
Toni Lewis, MD, Chair of SEIU Healthcare
Carol S. Rosenblatt, Executive Director, Coalition of Labor Union Women
Angela Rye, Co-Founder & Director, IMPACT
Jamida Orange, Executive Director, MLK March Committee
Karen Finney, Host, Disrupt, MSNBC
Terry O’Neill, President, NOW
Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D., President, YWCA USA
Ellie Smeal, President, Feminist Majority Foundation
Denise Fairchild, President, Emerald Cities
Kimberly Inez McGuire, Associate Director of Government Relations and Public
Affairs, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Christine Chen, President, Asian Pacific Islander Vote
Felicia Davis, Director, Building Green, Clark-Atlanta University
Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever, Author, Speaker, Radio Host & Social Entrepreneur
Makani Themba, Executive Director, The Praxis Project
Barbara Perkins, Founding President, International Black Women's Public Policy Institute
Sponsors of the event include Verizon, Comcast NBC Universal, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and American Federation of Government Employees.
