For over 15 years, Race Forward has brought you anincredible conference experiencethat has hosted over 4,000 attendees from all over the world to convene, organize and mobilize for a more equitable future. Previous Facing Race National Conferences have been held in Atlanta, Baltimore, Berkeley, Chicago, Dallas, Oakland, New York, and Detroit.
It is with deep love and care for our Facing Race community that we make alternative plans due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. In everything we do, Race Forward centers the safety and well-being of our attendees and our staff.Facing Race 2020 is going virtualand our partners inNorth Carolinawill continue to serve as our “host committee” for the event, and will march on with us in deep collaboration.The conference dates have been moved to November 10 - 12, 2020, and all of the sessions, presentations, and plenaries will be entirely online.
To say the least, 2020 has been a tumultuous year. No one could have predicted these events that have deeply affected our communities, the moments that have been imprinted in our collective memory, theinequities that persistin our public healthcare systems and the profoundinjustices in law enforcement. We are experiencing the greatest attack on civil and voting rights in our lifetimes. Democracy is under siege, quite literally.
Like those who came before us, we must strive and we must organize to create and build the society we want to live in together. It is a decisive and furious moment in our movement, a time to press forward as a coalition of movement makers. In the words of the late champion and icon,Rep. John Lewis, “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."
