Inclusion Conference Background

The political reform movements and the civil rights movements have been long involved in similar efforts: increasing voter participation, ensuring fair election practices, enforcing the "one man, one vote" principle, and working to make public office accessible to all, just to name a few. Rarely, however, have these two movements consistently worked together to further their agendas and raise awareness for their concerns.

Several years ago, the New Politics Program of the National Civic League recognized this, and began talking with other political reform groups and civil rights groups to gain their perspective on the matter. In December 2002, in an effort to shed some light on the issue, the National Civic League hosted an event titled "Making the Link: Civil Rights and Campaign Finance Reform." Stephanie Wilson, director of the Fannie Lou Hamer Project in Michigan, attended the event as the guest speaker and addressed the importance of connecting the history of earlier voting and civil rights struggles to the ongoing struggle for campaign finance reform. The event was a huge success and, based on the overwhelming interest of the participants, the National Civic League realized that (1) there was an interest in this issue and (2) there was a need for a facilitated dialogue on the national level on this issue.

In order to bring this dialogue to the national level, the National Civic League sought funding to support a day-long conference that would address the issue of identifying areas where the political reform and civil rights movements could work together. Funders such as the Joyce Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Prudential Financial, Ford Foundation, and W. K. Kellogg Foundation supported the idea and helped to make the project possible.

Links, Calendar of Events, Message Board, Chat, Chat Schedule, Information and Photos.

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