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Rev. Dr. Yvonne Delk, Chairperson
Dr. Delk is retired clergy in the United Church of Christ.
Dr. Delk was the first African American woman ordained by the United Church
of Christ and was selected by Ebony magazine as one of the top 15 woman
preachers in the country. She is the former executive director of the
Community Renewal Society (CRS), a Chicago-based mission agency related
to the United Church of Christ. CRS works to empower people to dismantle
racism and poverty in order to build just communities. She directed a
staff of 40 and oversaw an annual operating budget of $2.5 million. As
an interfaith leader and prolific speaker, Dr. Delk has taught and lectured
in over 100 countries on all seven continents. She is former moderator
of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Programme to Combat Racism (PCR)
working group and prior to that, member of the PCR Commission. Through
the WCC, she has worked extensively with justice networks globally. She
also serves on the board of Sojourners Magazine.
Ms
Kimberly Freeman
Ms. Freeman is Director of
Communications for the Robet F. Kennedy Memorial, an advocacy organization
focused on international human rights and social justice issues domestically
and internationally. In her position, she develops national and international
media strategies; and strives to bring the voices of those most affected
by the issues on which she works into the decision-making arena and public
discourse. For more than 15 years, Ms. Freeman has served the social justice
community as an organizer, trainer, policy advocate, and cultural worker.
In the early 90's, Ms. Freeman was a founding memeber of the Black Student
Leadership Network (BSLN), the youth organizing arm of the Childrne's
Defense Fund's Black Community Crusade for Children. Later on she was
contracted by the Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum and Center
for AfricanAmerican History and Culture -a neighborhood museum founded
by a community organizer -to develop comunnity -based research and exhibition
projects and public programming in black community life in Washington,
DC.
Dr. Sylvia Hill
Dr. Hill is a Professor of
Criminal Justice and Chairperson of the department of Urban Affairs at
the University of the District of Columbia. As a founding member of the
Southern African Support Project, which was formed in 1978 to mobilize
international solidarity for the people of southern Africa, she was one
of the architects of the struggle for sanctions against South Africa.
In 1984 the Southern African Support Project joined with Transafrica to
launch the campaign of civil disobedience at the South African Embassy
against the US foreign policy of constructive engagement. Dr. Hill is
currently serving a second three-year term on the Board of Directors for
the New World Foundation. From 1984-1996, she served on the boards of
Transafrica and Transafrica Forum.
Dr. Clarence Lusane, Secretary
Dr. Lusane is Assistant Professor of Political Science in
the School of International Service at American University. He has been
a consultant to the World Council of Churches, the Congressional Black
Caucus, and other non-profit and political organizations. He is the former
chair of the National Alliance of Third World Journalists and an award-winning
writer. Dr. Lusane is the author of Race in the Global Era: African Americans
at the Millennium, African Americans at the Crossroads: The Restructuring
of Black Leadership and the 1992 Elections, Pipe Dream Blues: Racism and
the War on Drugs and several other books. Dr. Lusane worked as a congressional
staffer for seven years.
Mr. Damu Smith
Toxics Specialist Campaigner
for Greenpeace. Although Mr. Smith's current work focuses on assisting
grassroots organizations fighting industrial pollution in Louisiana and
most notably he coordinated the successful local and national campaign
against Shintech PVC plant, he visits and works with communities around
the United States and the world in support of environmental justice. Mr.
Smith has garnered support for oppressed communities from civil rights
groups, church leaders, members of Congress and international celebrities
through collaborative partnerships. He co-founded the group Artists for
a Free South Africa during the anti-apartheid movement in the United States.
Previously he has served as Executive Director of the Washington Office
on Africa, Associate Director of the Washington Bureau of the American
Friends Service Committee and as a program consultant for the United Church
of Christ Commission for Racial Justice. In 1999, Mr. Smith coordinated
two major national environmental justice events: the first-ever National
Congressional Symposium on Environmental Justice in Washington, DC and
the National Environmental Justice Forum in Detroit, MI.
Makani
Themba-Nixon
Makani Themba-Nixon
currently works aas a consultant on media, policy advocacy and issues
of human rights. Her current projects include media capacity annd training
for a regional collaborative of grassroots organizations in the South
as well as work on the upcoming UN World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance. Ms. Nixon was previooously director of the Transnational
Racial Justice Initiative (TRJI), an international project to build capacity
among advocates to more effectively address structural racism and leverage
tools and best practices from around the world. Prior tot hat she directed
the Grass Roots Innovative Policy Program (GRIPP) a national project to
build capacity among local organizing groups to engage in media and policy
advocacy. She was a staffer for the California State Legislature, served
as media director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference/Los
Angeles, and worked five years for the Marine Institute for the Prevention
of Alchohol and Other Drug Problems, including three years as director
of its Center for Media and Policy Analysis. Ms. Nixon has published numerous
articles and case studies on race, media, policy advocacy and public health.
She is co-author of Media Advocacy and Public Health: Power for Prevention.
Her latest book is Making Policy, Making Change. .
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