The NAACP has issued a call for emerging leaders to join Chairwoman Roslyn M. Brock in Hollywood during Memorial Day weekend for the seventh annual Leadership 500 Summit.
The meeting “will encourage discussions on a revitalized civic agenda that lays the groundwork for young professionals in the modern-day civil rights movement,” an NAACP statement said.
“In 2011, one year away from another landmark election, the NAACP is issuing a new ‘front line’ call for all young people to come and discuss the future of the civil rights movement,” Brock said in the statement. “This year's Leadership 500 Summit is particularly important as political campaign season begins. The baton of leadership is passing to the next generation of civil and human rights activists. The NAACP will lead a forum with coalition partners in civil and human rights, political, social, economic, fraternal and faith-based organizations to explore collaborative initiatives in order to reach the NAACP goal of ‘Affirming America’s Promise.’”
The summit theme, “Leadership by Design: Ensuring our Legacy,” will allow participants to attend two and a half days of workshops, interactive panel discussions and general sessions led by non-profit, private sector and community “innovators.”
The meeting will also feature leaders heading up workshops and helping participants develop a “balanced agenda” for young professionals in the coming year.
April Woodard of BET will host a town hall meeting on the topic, “2012: What’s the Next Step?” to discuss the role of “Millennials” in the upcoming election cycle.
Those taking part in the discussions will include former U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Rev. Leah Daughtry and journalist Charles Ellison. ESPN’s Keith Clinkscales, PR guru Terrie Williams, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson will speak at the summit.
The national presidents of the nine National Pan Hellenic Council organizations are scheduled to attend.
Recording artists Raheem DeVaughn, Earnest Pugh, Marcus Johnson and Chelsey Green will perform.
“We are seeing an unprecedented and coordinated attempt to roll back the clock on civil rights protections in this country,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, said in the statement.
Jealous, 38, became the youngest person to lead the nation's oldest civil rights organization when he took the post in 2008.
“Our generation must continue to step up and help lead the nation in resisting these attacks to regain the inclusive, forward-looking spirit of 2008,” Jealous said. “The NAACP Leadership 500 Summit empowers young leaders nationwide to do just that: step up and win battles for justice and equality for all.”
The summit will take place 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Hotel, 3555 S Ocean Dr., Hollywood.
For more information and a schedule of events, visit http://www.l500.org.
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