Against the backdrop of the 40th Anniversary of the War on Drugs, Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), in conjunction with the Black Family Summit, is conducting a series of programmatic activities during the month of June culminating in this major forum in Washington, D.C. The Forum will focus on the theme Declaring War on the “War on Drugs:” Creating Just and Humane Alternatives to a Failed Strategy. Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, President of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, has agreed to be the keynote speaker for what IBW hopes will be a powerful catalyst for change.

Speakers:

• Dr. Elsie Scott, President, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc
• Congressman John Conyers, Jr, Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee
• Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
• Richard Adams, Chairman, IBW Board
• Leonard Dunston, Convener, Black Family Summit
• Dr. Edwin Chapman, MD, Medical Director, Washington, D.C. Drug Treatment Center
• Kinaya Sokoya, Executive Director, D.C. Children’s Trust Fund
• Rev. Dr. Frank Tucker, Chairman, Greater Washington, D.C. Area National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
• Dr. Benson Cooke, President, National Association of Black Psychologists
• Sanho Tree, Fellow and Director, Drug Policy Project, Institute for Policy Studies
• Deborah Small, Director, Breaking the Chains: Communities of Color and the War on Drugs
• Judge Arthur Burnette, Director, African American Drug Policy Coalition
• Jasmine Tyler, Deputy Director of National Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance
• Robert Rooks, NAACP Criminal Justice Director
• Neill Franklin, Executive Director, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Dr. Ron Daniels will issue the Call to Action – Confronting the State of Emergency in Black America: Holistic Strategies to Heal Black Communities. Attorney Nkechi Taifa, Senior Policy Analyst, Open Society Institute, will serve as Moderator.

For further information or to arrange interviews contact Tara Young at 202-758-8804 or email Advocate@HipHopAdvocate.org