featuring
Rev. Al Sharpton, 2004 Democratic Presidential Candidate, President and Founder, National Action Network
Dr. Keith Jennings, President and Founder, African-American Human Rights Foundation
Mr. Gregory Moore, Executive Director, NAACP National Voter Fund
Ms. Alexis McGill, Executive Director, Citizen Change
Mr. Armstrong Williams, CEO and President, Graham Williams Group
Moderator:
Clyde Williams, Vice President, Center for American Progress
The 2004 election has critical implications for African-Americans and the future of progressivism. African-American turnout surged almost 25 percent as compared with 2000. Eleven percent of the African-American vote went to President Bush, up from eight percent in 2000. The results were more striking in swing states like Ohio and Florida, where Bush’s support among African-Americans almost doubled from four years ago.
Why are African-Americans, traditionally the most loyal progressive constituency, voting in somewhat larger numbers for the conservative presidential candidate? Does this modest shift forecast a more pronounced trend? Have the issues and values important to African-Americans changed? Have progressives changed, or taken African-Americans for granted? Or have progressives failed to communicate effectively?
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Howard University
Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel
2395 Sixth Street NW
Metro: Shaw/ Howard U.
Questions? Contact Keisha Senter at ksenter@americanprogress.org or 202-741-6256.
Campus Progress is a brand-new effort to strengthen progressive student voices; counter the growing influence of right-wing groups on college campuses; and empower new generations of progressive leaders. It will include a dynamic multimedia web publication, CampusProgress.org, launching on February 16, support for progressive student publications around the country, and a national campus speakers bureau.
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."