Demand Diversity Roundtable: Civil Rights Leaders Meet As Trump Dismantles DEI Programs

Source: National Urban League

Civil rights leaders and justice organizations gathered on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to address the urgency of newly sworn-in President Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back civil rights protections and policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

The event, titled the “Demand Diversity Roundtable,” is being held at the National Press Club and be moderated by National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial.

Keep reading to find a livestream of the roundtable below.

Individuals participating in the roundtable are listed below:

• Marc H. Morial, National Urban League

  Jenai Nelson, NAACP Legal Defense Fund

  Damon Hewitt, Lawyers; Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

  Margaret Huang, Southern Poverty Law Center

  Juan Proaño, League of United Latin American Citizens

  Ying McGuire, National Minority Supplier Development Council

  Melanie Campbell, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation

  Virginia Kase Solomón, Common Cause

  Rev. Shavon Arline Bradley, National Council of Negro Women

  Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network

  Kelley Robinson, Human Rights Campaign Foundation

  Maya Berry, Arab-American Institute

  Brenda Castillo, National Hispanic Media Coalition

  Sheila Katz, National Council of Jewish Woman

  Gregg Olton, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans

  Alphonso David, Global Black Economic Forum

  Amy Spitalnick, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

The roundtable’s key themes of discussion are Resilience Amid Challenges; Accountability and Leadership; and a Strategic Action Plan.

The event starts at 11:30 a.m. ET and can be viewed live online below.

Civil rights leaders and groups have been sounding the alarm on Trump’s anti-DEI efforts since he began rolling back related programs nearly immediately following his inauguration on Monday.

“Donald Trump can cut federal DEI programs to the bone, he can claw back federal money to expand diversity, but he cannot tell us what grocery store we shop at,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of National Action Network, said in a statement shared with NewsOne on Wednesday. “Companies that think they can renege on their promises to do better, bring in new voices, or abandon us will see the impact of Black buying power. That’s why in the next 90 days we will begin to send a message that we will not go back, and we will bring this issue to the topline by going after their bottom line.”

The Congressional Black Caucus Chair and New York Rep. Yvette D. Clarke ripped Trump’s executive order rolling back DEI programs.

“Since the conservative supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to rollback 60 years of precedent and end race-conscious admission programs on college campuses, MAGA Republicans have set their sights on cutting off access to economic opportunity for Black and minority communities in the federal government, on college campuses, and in corporate America,” Clarke said in a statement sent to NewsOne. “This executive order is nothing short of an attempt to take our country backward and does nothing to help our communities grow economically or address the costs of living for hardworking American families.”

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