Plenary Session II: Unleashed: The Untapped Power of the Black and Brown Vote

Remarks: 
Eric H. Holder, Jr., Partner, Covington & Burling LLP; Former Attorney General of the United States
Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder & President, National Action Network; MSNBC Radio/Television Talk Show Host for 'PoliticsNation'

Moderator: Tamika D. Mallory, CEO, Mallory Consulting, Inc.; Co-President of the Women’s March

Panelists:
Melanie L. Campbell, President & CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation; Convener, Black Women’s Roundtable
Nancy Flake Johnson, President & CEO, Urban League of Greater Atlanta
Bret Schafer, Social Media Analyst and Communications Officer, Alliance for Securing Democracy, German Marshall Fund
Myrna Perez, Deputy Director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program, leader of the Center's Voting Rights and Elections project
Stefanie Brown James, CEO & Founding Partner, Vestige Strategies; Co-Founder of @CollectivePAC
The Honorable Vincent Hughes, Pennsylvania State Senator

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling in Shelby County vs. Holder, Americans have been without the full protection of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Meanwhile, attempts to minimize the impact of African American and Latino voters at the local level – from shuttered polling sites to voter roll purges – threaten to rob communities of their full voice in the democratic process. This plenary examines strategies to combat voter suppression and the broader social and political ramifications of restoring – and unleashing – the full power of the black and brown vote.