The National Urban League’s annual conference in Downtown Cleveland this week has more than 12,000 attendees, local organizers said.
Cleveland won the bid two years ago to host the national conference for the nonpartisan civil rights organization. The city last hosted in 2003.
“People are now recognizing Cleveland for a very specific reason, and that is that we have always been at the forefront of civil rights issues,” said Kevin Clayton, the board of trustees chair for the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. “One of the things we've been able to do is to really drive home the ‘three D’ strategy out of this conference, which is demand diversity, defeat poverty and defend democracy.”
The league released its 2025 State of Black America report during the conference, which said the country is in a “state of emergency,” citing attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion practices and civil rights policies.
“We are witnessing something more than policy shifts. We are watching an attempt to turn back the clock to an era when the full humanity of all Americans was not recognized — when the idea of true equality was treated as a threat to the social order,” the report reads.
Clayton said it was fitting to have the report released and discussed among Black leaders in Cleveland.
“I believe that it was ordained that this was going to happen in Cleveland because of where we have been on so many other social issues,” Clayton said. “It’s on us now to take this energy and momentum that this city has around the conference and the agenda to really move forward, because of the great need that we have.”
Clayton said Clevelanders attending the conference are feeling empowered through entrepreneurship, technological education and activism — something many wouldn’t be able to fully experience had the conference been elsewhere, he noted.
Colin Jackson, president of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland Young Professionals, said he’s been enjoyed showing off the city to visiting guests.
“As these young individuals come into the city, they see we have arts, they see we have community, they see we have culture," Jackson said. “I truly believe that there may be someone here at this conference that moves here and moves the needle in our city forward.”
The conference continues with a “Community Day” — free and open to all — Saturday, which includes free legal advice, health screenings and school supplies.
