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CONVENTION APRIL 18-22 AS COUNTRY MARKS 50th ANNIVERSARY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S ASSASSINATION

NAN to welcome Senators Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren along with prominent civil rights and elected leaders from around the country, as community refocuses efforts to stand united in this year’s midterm elections against President Trump’s anti-civil rights policy agenda

NEW YORK (March 21, 2018) — Civil Rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton today unveiled the preliminary schedule for the National Action Network Annual Convention, taking place at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel from April 18-22. The Convention, the largest of its kind in the country, will welcome civil rights leaders and allies from around the country as the civil rights community refocuses its efforts to resisting a hostile presidential administration in the upcoming midterm elections.

The NAN convention will bring together influential national leaders from the civil rights movement, government, labor, religion, business, media, the Black church and the activist community – to reflect on King’s legacy and impact while celebrating today’s civil rights leaders and examining the path forward
** Members of the media interested in attending and covering the convention should register for credentials at the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/dY5hPrby7oiTp4f62 **

CONVENTION SCHEDULE:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18th

8:00 am – 5:00 pm
CONVENTION REGISTRATION

9:30 am -10:00 am
OPENING RIBBON CUTTING with Rev. Al Sharpton, Chairman Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, National Action Network Leadership & Elected Officials

10:00 am – 10:15 am
PLENARY SESSION – Eric Holder, Jr., Former U.S. Attorney General

10:15 am – 10:30 am
PLENARY SESSION – Tom Perez, Chairman, DNC

11:00 am – 12:30 pm
WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE UNION UNDER TRUMP?
Moderator:
Rev. Al Sharpton, President & Founder, National Action Network
Panelists:

Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO of FPWA and Author
The Honorable Ras Baraka, Mayor, Newark, NJ
Lee Saunders, President, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Nicolle Wallace, Host, Deadline White House, MSNBC
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
**More to be added**

12:30 pm – 2:00pm
THE STATE OF AMERICAN JUSTICE IN THE AGE OF TRUMP
Moderator:
Michael A. Hardy, Esq., Executive Vice President & General Counsel, National Action Network
Panelists:
Benjamin Crump, Principal, Ben Crump Law, PLLC
Donna Lieberman, Executive Director, New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)
**More to be added**

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THE DIGITAL DIVIDE?
Moderator:
Lord Q. Dowdell, Chairman, NAN’s New York City Chapter Technology Committee Panelists:
Keith Davis, Director, Cisco Academy Support Center
Chanelle Hardy, Director of Strategic Outreach and External Partnership, Google
Camille Joseph, Regional Vice President, State Government Affairs, Charter Communications
Crystal
Patterson, Government and Politics Outreach Manager, Facebook
Terry Sweeney, Panasonic
Antonio Williams, Senior Director of Government and External Affairs, Comcast
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
MENTAL HEALTH PANEL TO BE ANNOUNCED
6:00 pm
KEEPER’S OF THE DREAM RECEPTION (ticketed event)
7:00 pm
KEEPER’S OF THE DREAM DINNER AND PROGRAM(ticketed event)
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
YOUTH HACKATHON & TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION
THURSDAY, APRIL 19th
10:00 am – 11:30 am
MEDIA PANEL :Moderator:

Errol Louis, Political Anchor, Spectrum News NY1
Panelists:
Chauncey Alcorn, Trending News Writer, MIC Charles Blow, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York
Times

Ari Melber, Host, The Beat with Ari Melber, MSNBC

Cheryl Wills, Host, In Focus with Cheryl Wills on NY1
**More to be added**
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
DAUGHTERS OF THE MOVEMENT
Moderator:
Dominique Sharpton, National Director of Membership, National Action Network

Panelists:
Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO and Executive Director, FPWA, Federation of Protestant Welfare
Agencies and Board Member, National Action Network
Ilyasah Shabazz, Daughter of Malcom X

Ashley Sharpton, Daughter of Rev. Al Sharpton
Keisha Sutton James, Vice President, ICBC Broadcast Holdings
**More to be added**

12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT & NETWORKING LUNCHEON
Co-Chairs:
Michelle Ebanks, President, Essence Communications & People en Español
Tanya Lombard, Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs, AT&T
Host:
Angela T. Rye, Principal & CEO, IMPACT Strategies and Political Commentator, CNN
Honorees:
Valeshia Butterfield Jones, Co–Founder & Chair, Women in Entertainment
Empowerment Network
Yvette Pugh, Director, Federal Public Affairs, AT&T
Angela Turner, SVP, Affiliate & Consumer Marketing, REVOLT
Symone Sanders, Correspondent, CNN
Michelle Mittler, Correspondent, CBS

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
BLACK INTELLECTUALS
Moderator:
Dr. Jamal Watson, Executive Editor, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine Panelists:
Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., Chair, Center for African American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African-American Studies, Princeton University
Dr. Christina Greer, Associate Professor of Political Science, Fordham University
Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Professor of Media Studies and Urban Education, Temple University
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Professor and Director, Antiracist Research and Policy Center Department of
History, American University
Dr. Tricia Rose, Chancellor’s Professor of Africana Studies and Director of the Center for Study
of Race and Ethnicity in America, Brown University

**More to be added**
2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
FINANCIAL SERVICES/PENSIONS
Moderator:
**More to be added**
5:00 pm – 5:15 pm
PLENARY – The Honorable Joseph Kennedy, III, U.S House of Representatives, (MA-04)
6:00 pm – 6:15 pm
PLENARY – The Honorable Jim Clyburn, U.S House of Representatives, (SC-06), House Assistant Minority Leader
6:15 pm – 6:30 pm
PLENARY – The Honorable Cedric Richmond, U.S House of Representatives, (LA-2) and Chairman, Congressional Black Caucus
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
YOUTH HACKATHON & TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
TRUTH TO POWER REVIVAL
Dorinda Clark-Cole, Evangelist & Gospel Singer
FRIDAY, APRIL 20th10:00 am – 3:00 pm
NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK RESOURCE CENTER
9:30 am
PLENARY – The Honorable Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senate, Massachusetts

9:30 am -11:00 am
HOW TO DEAL WITH GUN CONTROL
Moderator:
Min. Kirsten John Foy, Northeast Regional Director, National Action Network
Panelists:
Marie Delus, Volunteer Leader, Moms Demand Action
Monte Frank, Legal Advisor, Newtown Action Alliance Campaign Iesha
Sekou, Founder, Street Corner Resources
**More to be added**

11:00 am
PLENARY – The Honorable Kamala Harris, U.S. Senate, California

11:00 am – 1:30 pm
ADVANCING EQUAL EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF TRUMP
Moderator:
The Honorable Frederica Wilson, Representative, U.S. House of Representatives (FL–24)
Panelists:
Rev. Nelson B. Rivers, III Vice President, Religious Affairs
and External Relations, National Action Network
Nashonda Hunter, Acting Director, Charity Foundation Director
Heather Foster, Vice President, PreK–12 Education, Widmeyer Communications
David Johns, Executive Director, National Black Justice Coalition

12:00 pm
PLENARY – The Honorable Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senate, Vermont

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
REVEREND DR. WILLIAM A. JONES MEMORIAL LUNCHEON
Speakers:
The Honorable Cory Booker, U.S. The Honorable, New Jersey
The Honorable Al Green, Representative, U.S. House of Representatives (TX-09)

The Honorable Shelia Jackson Lee, U.S. House of Representatives (TX-18)
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Democratic House Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, (CA-12)
Honorees:
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Founder and President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition Reverend C. T. Vivian,
Founder, C. T. Vivian Leadership Institute
Xernona Clayton, Founder, President and CEO, Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc. and Creator,
Executive Producer, Trumpet Awards

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
THE BLACK CHURCH: 2018 VOTER MOBILIZATION
Co–Moderators:
Rev. Nelson Rivers, Vice President, Religious Affairs and External Relations, National Action Network, and Pastor, Charity Missionary Baptist Church
The Honorable G. K. Butterfield, U.S. House of Representatives, (NC–01)
Panelists:
Stefanie Brown James, Co–Founder, The Collective PAC
Quentin James, Founder, The Collective Pac
Bishop Rudolph McKissick, Jr., Senior Pastor, Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, Jacksonville, FL
Bishop Dennis V. Proctor, AME Zion, Northeastern Episcopal District
Bishop Talbert Swan, II, Executive Secretary, Church of God in Christ

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
MAYORS PANEL ON PRISONER REENTRY
Moderator:
The Honorable Jim McGreevey, Former Governor, New Jersey
Panelists:
Adrian Mapp, Mayor of Plainfield, NJ Don Guardian, Mayor of Atlantic City, NJ
Rev. Steffie Bartley
Kedar Hall Charles Little
Helena Muhammad, Reentry Specialist
Tony Vauss, Mayor of Irvington, NY
Christine Dansereau, Mayor of Rosell, NJ
Angela Garretson, Freeholder of Union, NJ

3:30pm – 7:30pm
YOUTH HACKATHON & TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
TRUTH TO POWER REVIVAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 21st

10:00 am – 12:00 pm
MEASURING THE MOVEMENT
Discussion Leader:
Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President, National Action Network
Leaders:
Melanie Campbell, President & CEO, National Coalition on Black Civil Participation
Kristen Clarke, President & CEO, Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights Under the Law
Vanita Gupta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Leadership Conference on Civil and
Human Rights
Janice Mathis, Executive Director, National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)
**More to be added**

(Time TBD)
THE SOCIAL MILLENNIAL: HAS SOCIAL MEDIA WEAKENED OR STRENGTHENED OUR APPROACH TOWARDS ISSUES OF TODAY
Moderator:
Christopher McCullough, Morehouse NAN
Panelists:
David Carter, NAN DC Youth Leader
Rachaeli Davis, Senior Editor, Essence Festival
Quan Lateen-Hill, Produced by Quan, Afropunk
Taylor Trudon, The New York Times, and MTV News
**More to be added**

(Time TBD)
BREAKING THE SILENCE: ADDRESSING SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HARASSMENT IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
Moderator:
Tylik McMillan, President, National Action Network NCAT Chapter
Panelists:
Brianna Myrie, Sexual Assault Activist
Shawn Swinton, Sexual Student Assault Activist
**More to be added**

(Time TBD)
WE’VE GOTTA HAVE IT! A CONVERSATION WITH SPIKE LEE AND CAST OF HIS NEW NETFLIX SERIES
Moderator:
Mary Pat Hector, National Youth Director, National Action Network
Panelists:
Bintou Jobarteh, VP, Spelman National Action Network
Nia Page, Student, Comparative Women’s Studies
**More to be added**

3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
YOUTH HACKATHON & TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
ANNUAL FASHION SHOW (RSVP REQUIRED)

About National Action Network (NAN)

National Action Network is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the country with chapters throughout the entire United States. Founded in 1991 by Reverend Al Sharpton, NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, nationality or gender.

For more information go to www.nationalactionnetwork.net.

 For More Information Contact:

Rachel Noerdlinger, rnoerdlinger@mercuryllc.com

Ross Adair, radair@mercuryllc.com

Alex Butcher-Nesbitt, abutchernesbitt@mercuryllc.com 
Phone: (212) 681-1380