friend ben, board of director, thank you for having us today to have this important discussion. the road to 2012 as a bumpy one. it's got potholleses, some of which are ditches, which if we are not careful, we will fall into. but i know that with naacp and our friends up here, that we will not have a problem. we will still the potholes, steamroll them, to make sure our people can participate unfettered in 2012. we've got to make sure we are breaking down the barriers to voting, because we understand from what we heard and what we know that it is no quote coincidenceno -- no

what is happening. the numbers showed that some folks got to be scared. they've got to be scared of us. our brothers and sisters in the latino community. because we can change this country dramatically. [applause] and there are people who are scared of the change that we might bring. so we have got to be in a place to be ready for this fight. it is no coincidence that the photo id laws cropped up in 32 states and the first two months of this year. it is no no coincidence after -- that it happened after particular people swept the country winning state legislatures in 2010 because we

did not participate. they saw the opportunity. not because of voter fraud is rampant. administrationsh tried to find voter fraud, and guess what? and there were very few cases they could prosecute. in fact, there were none around voter impersonation which is what photo i.d. seeks to solve. we say this is a solution without a problem. a solution without a problem, because, instead of taking care of budgets, they decided to add to the cost. they talk about, we have to cut everything. but they add on costs to do voter i.d. in texas, they put it through as emergency legislation. they have deficits in every state, but they would rather

make sure that they put a barrier to voting than take care of the budget. they have more costs because they have to provide free i.d. to everybody. most of them will lie about how much it will cost them, because they do not want to show their hands. but we are not stupid. we know what it is about. i take issue with the fact that it does not really matter, because the states are talking about may not be in play. north carolina, reverend barber, are gonna bei in play. the governor vetoed it. they are trying to take it up to override the veto. this is a place where 14, a little over 14,000 votes were the margin for the obama win in

north carolina. they know what the numbers are. in wisconsin, do not put voter i.d. and a vacuum. it comes on the heels of trying to take down the union's . so we take down the unions, and we make sure that people cannot bode. there's 77% of black man ages 18-24, who do not have sonia sotomayo photo i.d. we got on a plane to get here, everybody has to have i.d. it's not true. it is not just that we do not have state issued identification, but in many states that require current address on the state i.d. we know we move a lot. got to move where the jobs are. it's lots of things. so our population tends to be

more transit. they understand this. in wisconsin is also about students. in wisconsin, you have to have the right student i.d., but another of universities in wisconsin provide that-- none of the universities provide that . in texas, it is ok if you use your gun i.d. they never that helps. they know that our turnout was significant in 2008. 92% of registered african- americans showed up in 2008. so they understand what is at stake. but it is not just the voter i.d.'s. about go on to tell you florida, my favorite state. because there are a lot of battles and florida. we have to keep doing that, because instead of making sure that voter registration is over, they want to restrict it.

they do not what you did turn out to our sign up. they don't want you to come. instead, we cut off early voting days. in ohio, let's cut off the golden week. get rid of it. in ohio, we took on the issue of provisional ballots. your shot to the polls, a whole bunch of people showed up to the polls, names not on the road. a provisional ballot is supposed to help you. provisional ballots most of the time are thrown down. we fought for this in ohio, got the secretary of state to put in place something that would allow so the counting where it was poll worker errors. we also fought to make sure that workers would tell you where to go if you are at the wrong place. what they did this year was

passed a bill that says poll workers cannot tell you where to go if you shop at the wrong place. they know, people. so we need to understand that they know. challenges. when texas passed a law around voter i.d., the king street patriots, which is the tea party, announced they would put 1 million poll watchers in texas. 1 million, because they want to watch y'all. they want to watch alexian protection, and they want to watch to vote --a nnd election protection. is the texas two-step, right? you have to have the motor idea. if you do not have that, we will challenge your eligibility. it is about schering and intimidating people.

you show up to a poll and a black neighborhood, and there are a bunch of white folks with tea party t-shirts on, they know what kind of fear factor that is going to be. so what are going to do? what we are going to do is that we have to understand this is about power. nothing more than power. power and control. and so what we've got to do is number one, change the electorate. we can change that by registering people. we put together some numbers, and rev. barber quotes these numbers of estimates of people that were nonvoting black and latino voters. so, a non-voting in 2008 -- in north carolina, non-voting, that means on registered, plus people who did not vote. 460,000, black folks and

latino folks. came down to 14,000. in florida, 1.4 million. we got a lot of work to do. texas come up 3.4 million. if we can get our people registered and get them out, it will be the change we have been waiting for. the next thing we need to do is massive voter education. and the places where the ideologues have passed, we have to make sure people know how to get them. in wisconsin, they tried to play trickery. there is a video that was about someone trying to depth get the i.d. they do not give you the free i.d. unless you tell them i am here to get i.d. for voting. if you show up for motor vehicle

purposes, you have to pay. so you to go in knowing it to say, i want a voter identification. and these are the games they are playing, in order to hurt us. we have to educate our folks about how to get their hands on knees i.d.'s. -- on these i.d.'s. we need each and every branch in the country to serve as a watchdog. watch, watch, watch. watch and report, watch, report, and do something. and that has to do with both the election officials to have unbridled discretion in how the elections are won. there are 13,000 ways of running elections. we have to be on top of the discretion that these local election officials and nobody knows who their names are -- what kind of power they have over our ability to participate.

and second, we have to watch those people called the tea partiers. because we know they are gunning for us, to make sure that progressive people do not turn out, that if they do, they're so scared, and they will turn around. so we need every branch to be looking for this, because i know there are groups who are getting questions about they want their tax returns for nonprofits. they are starting to ask for tax returns. they are not asking to see who gives money to you. they want to be on top of you. they want to go after people's c-3 status. we need to be on our games to watch them. start throwing it back at them. and we have to make sure that on election day, all of our folks are put into alexian protection so we can say we have our own

polls. we've got to be the poll watchers. remember, this is about power. and they know what is at stake. so it is time for us to step up and step out. thank you. >> judith brown. e's you can see why sh'e sought after. christin clark? >> i want to start by thanking the chairmen and the president for recognizing the need to put voting rights front and center on the agenda for this convention. as it's been noted, we've seen an unprecedented attack on african-american voting rights . although the right to vote is so very important, the reality is that our roads are rendered meaningless if we are stopped in districts that do not fairly reflect the voting strength of

our community. i want to spend a moment talking about redistricting. we get one shot, once a decade, we get a shot to redraw the district boundary for not just congressional lines but for school boards, city councils and county commissions, four judicial districts. we get one shot. it is so important that we mobilize now to participate in the process. there are a number of states that have already put redistricting mpas aps in place. some are discriminatory. the litigators are figuring out which challenges we can bring to the courts. so we need the folks in this room to mobilize now, get out to your hearings, participate, offer testimony. make sure that the maps that are put in place are ones that fairly reflect the strength of our communities. there are a couple of things going on right now that animate

this redistricting cycle and make it unique. one, we are seeing an unprecedented attack on the voting rights acts. this is our most effective and important civil rights law. already, we have seen challenges coming out of north carolina, georgia, alabama, all aimed at gutting the heart of the voting rights act. undoubtedly, one of these cases will make it to the supreme court. they are aiming to tear the heart out of the voting rights act at the time we need it most common during redistricting. it is during this part of the decade that we have seen the most discrimination against minority communities. and this section 5 area, iks itical.re we are on the defensive and

offensive. i'm happy this issue is front and center today. the other issue that makes this redistricting cycle unique is we have president barack obama. and there are many who have prematurely call this a post- racial era, but we know all too well that discrimination, voting discrimination remains rampant throughout the country. we have heard about the photo i.d. laws adopted in georgia, but throughout the voting process, we saw proof of citizenship requirements that have an impact on not just latino communities but on black communities as well. we have seen cutbacks on early voting. we are seeing states making it more difficult for ex-felons to get their right to vote restored. we have redistricting being carried out in an environment that is incredibly toxic, and it should have us concern. let me talk to you about ex- felons. for every 100,000 persons in our

country, 3000 african-americans are behind bars. 1200 latinos and 500 whites. that's a disparity of 6 to 1. tremendous political implications, tremendous implications for black voting access. this is an issue that we must pay close attention to. again, you have many people say we are post-racial, but let's look at how the 2008 presidential election played out throughout the country, how many folks here are from louisiana, mississippi, or alabama? 10% of white voters in alabama cast a ballot for brought the bomb . 11% in mississippi, and 40% in louisiana. by no means, are we in a post as racial. let me give you a sampling of the kind of discrimination we

continue to witness the route the country today. in lousiana, you have a court where the judges are elected. five white judges, with a substantial black population. one judge turned out in b lack face, and a jail suit and handcuffs. he sits on that court today. redistricting provides an opportunity to get folks like him out. so often, these elected courts fly under the radar. we have to make sure that in places like this parish, we are participating in the process in seeking to get in a fair map that could give people a fairly represent our interest on those courts. . lastly, we've become an

increasingly diverse nation over the course of the past decade. the growth we have seen throughout our country was fueled because of increases in the latino, black, an asian- american population. we have to make sure we recognize that fact as we move into redistricting. in places like florida, we have 675,000 more african-americans in the state than 10 years ago. 575,000 more in texas, 300,000 in north carolina, 200,000 more in maryland. we have to make sure that -- to are drawn democratic changes that have happened in the last decade. create new black districts that fairly reflect the

complexity of our communities. democracy is at stake. so i applaud the naacp for taking the opportunity to give us a moment to map out the counteroffensive to the unprecedented attack we are seeing on african-american voting rights today. >> great. christin -- with the naacp legal defense fund. ms. earl? >> good morning. thank you. i'm honored to be here. i want to take a couple of minutes to elaborate a little more on the redistricting issues. i want to give you a sense of some of the strategies used against us so that you know what you can do to counter those strategies. basically, what we are talking about is the fact that the population increases that were talked about really should be translating into political power. on the one hand, we are talking

about overcoming a history of discrimination. reverend barber reminds me to think about our history. i want to take a moment to acknowledge the history, beginning in the 1970's, but after the decision in 1986, it was all do. it was your branches in county after county bringing those section ii lawsuits that enabled us to have redistricting in areas that have previously been at large and had never seen a black elected. it was viewed suing your local governments that got us to the point where we have representation that was slightly more fair. we are nowhere near where we should be. it has been called the quiet revolution in this outcome of that wave of litigation that have been established those districts. we are in a period of both

defending what we have gained, but also making sure that the population increases that have occurred really do translate into fair political power. part of this is about overcoming discrimination, but part of it is about insuring that one person ,one vote and the voting strength of minority communities is recognized in our democracy. recognized?t it two, and techniques that you are familiar with are cracking and packing. cracking is where the minority community is divided over several districts so you do not have the power to elect a candidate of choice. what we're seeing this time around is this strategy. there we can use tools on the

voting rights act, to the department of justice to combat that. but you need to know when you are involved and their redistricting process, looking a proposed maps, you need to know what the possibilities are so that you can see it is the community divided more than it should be? if he were united in a single district, would you be able to collect your candidate of choice? another tactic that is used in north carolina is packing. there, they are putting more black voters in the district and you need to collect your candidate of choice in order to weaken your influence and the rest of the state. they're using the voting rights act to justify that. they are saying it is making us do that. that is not correct. but it has a really bad impact on your ability to ultimately influence the political process. remember, david told us that in southern states, 75% of state

legislators are themselves in the minority in their legislatures. that is a really important thing to understand, because it means that they cannot get the votes they need to push for our agenda. we have to look not only of what is the impact on the distance that a lot of black voters to elect their candidate of choice, but what is the impact on the progressive community more broadly? for their carolina, we did an analysis. we have 13 districts. they packed more than half the state's black voters into three districts. instead of being able to have an influence in other districts, the maps they proposed would limit the influence of minority voters in that state. so we are trying to make sure that the voting rights act is not perverted and used as a justification to release a . and we can minority voting strength. the final thing i want to say is that it is important to be

involved in litigation to bring forward what you know about the irregularities that happened around voting, the problems at the polling places when your candidate experiences harassment or thei r homes are targeted. all of that discrimination is relevant in a lawsuit. come forward and be prepared to be witnesses and plaintiffs. we are seeing many of these plants sent to the d.c. district court instead of the department of justice. we need people to step forward and intervene. i would also say, and i want to applaud all of you that have worked so hard to be involved in these voting rights cases, you have made a difference. but the final thing is once the districts are in place, we need people. you need to field credible campaigns. not to is to pay your filing fee, but supporter candidates and be involved in the political

process. >> thank you, ms. earl. just a quick reminder, we are going to cue it . if you raise our hands, our staff will bring you a card and your right your question on -- we are going to "q&a". derrick johnson. >> it's hard coming behind judy and anita when they write my scripts. what's the solution? we have heard over and over about the tea party and the conservatives and those folks. we are the solution. naacp has the only infrastructure in our communities that goes from coast to coast and every little town. positioned toest do something that many civil organizationsthed other

cannot do because they do not have people on the ground. we need to gravitate more towards the substance of our work, develops strategy and away from the pomp and circumstance and the big speeches. what has happened over the past 20 years is the naacp becoming too lax with the way we operate during an election process. as a result, other organizations swoop into our community, raise money on our units, and they claim work we do because we have no way to measure our work. so we have to change and shift the paradigm of how we function. every state is at play. this election cycle. there are no states not at

play in 2012. in 2007, everyone was talking about whether or not, which political party would win ohio, pennsylvania, and florida. nobody talked about north carolina. in 2008, we won north carolina. so we cannot go into an election cycle, thinking because i live in alabama or mississippi and only 10% white folks voted consistent with the african- american community, therefore, we cannot focus on that state. we lose with that mind said. georgia is 44% minority . mississippi is 38% african- american, 42% minority. if 10% of whites in mississippi law consistent with african- americans, and we have higher voter turnoverut, we win.

what happened in the last election? we waited 90 or 60 days out or 30 days out. we then began to plan how we were going to turn about out. somebody outside of our community came into our neighbors. then we go and buy some t- shirts. we give our cousins and children a t-shirt. we walked to the same neighborhoods because they are the safe neighborhoods, not where the folks need to see our presence. then we claim victory if we happen to win a local election, done the same thing we have always done. what happened in 2008, the obama campaign expose us, not only naacp, all of the civil rights, exposed us to say, the emperor has no clothes.

because they built the infrastructure in our community, using the folks not from our community and turned out our folks. in 2010, we lost. build oure didn't infrastructure from the ground up, using a new method. i commend chairwoman and lorraine and reverend barer, because they have been pushing the staff. we have to do something different. we have to be more strategic and our thinking, more deliberate in our process. we now have the technology where we can measure the effectiveness of the units on the ground, not just for 2012, because this process is not about 2012 alone, it is about everything leading up to 2012 and everything after

2012. but that can only be implemented if the state conferences and the local unit take heed to the new technology and training. come this fall, every state conference has to have a poem in a recession to talk about the strategy of turning out about. at the same time, the staff will reach out to about identifying the key branch leaders across the state to come into training on how to use the technology. bringing everybody together to talk about water the nuances and important things we need to know in oklahoma or new york city. location by location, as we talked about the voter suppression methods being used, as much as it is very similar, there are unique differences. you cannot have a national plan.

you can have a national strategy of what you want to do, but we have to drill down but to those local communities and nobody can do that but the naacp. it's been said, mississippi. you do that for free? how you feed them kids? my response is, if i did not do this, my kids would not have a future. we will not have a future. we have to figure how we get the best and brightest in our community to understand the big picture. that is the bottom line we share, in appreciation for historical analysis. history has taught us that this game is not about fairness. it is about power. and we do not understand the power dynamic that is involved in being engaged in elections, then we will lose our ability to have anything. and so if as units across this

country, it's our responsibility. the speaker kept saying, i am not saying that you are culpable, but i want to hold you accountable. this process is about the naacp being accountable. the tea party cannot do any more than what we allow them to do it in our communities. as we go home, all the pomp and circumstance should be out the door. we really need to be talking about in this county, what's at stake. in this state election, what's at stake. the most significant thing that happened in 2010 was the taking of state legislatures across the country. in itself, there are only two democratic state legislatures in mississippi and arkansas. because of that, we've seen the

vote suppression laws. we have seen the rolling back of our games. not because they are doing it to us, because we did it to ourselves because we were not strategic in getting our folks out in 2010. naacp, we bear the responsibility not to repeat the mistakes again. >> ladies and gentlemen, give our panelists all rousing, a rousing thank you. [applause] >> yes, sir. >> now, derrick is a perfect segue into what we are doing next. they have given you the lay of the land. you understand what the problems and challenges are. now we're coming to our naacp solutions. i'm bringing up our very

talented, extremely talented coo roger vann. roger will explain to us what we as naacper's are asked to do. roger? [applause] >> naacp, repeat after me if you . many have died for my votes, so i have to respected. you will not take it away, because i will fight to protect it. i will push for my issues matter who is elected. because when we all participate, our democracy is perfected. this is my. voice this is my power. this is my vote. give yourself a round of applause.

[applause] let's talk about the work qu ickly. what we are planning is an unprecedented, large-scale national program. the only 50 state electoral program in the country. tens of thousands of volunteers, all of you, plus all of our leaders in local units, hundred mobilized, state conferences. in those states where prisons are able to vote, we will have prisoners on the job, also. black radio, print to promote our psa's. we will provide you with packages were digging go to your cable station and give them our electronics psa's.

and training, technology, and field allies as well. mou's with african-american churches, fraternities and sororities, representing 35 million people. if we turn up a fraction of those folks, we could have an impact on the election next year. let's talk about structure and accountability. from this convention to the next, there will be a strict focus on voter registration and education. voter registration is self- explanatory. if you went to our workshop on voter empowerment, you received the manual. that is the best manual we have ever produced on voter registration. it leads you step by step through the process. we will have a couple of phases. we will not only talk about the issue the panelist raised to educate our people about the attack on voting rights with voter i'd's. we're also going to be talking about our issue areas, the work of the naacp.

this is important because this is civic engagement process is not just about an election. it is about building power for the naacp. so when you go to register people to vote, you're not just talking about the election. you're talking about the work of the association, the issues the are important to us -- black me n and boys. the issues related to health and education, criminal justice. because what we want to do is build an army that can even after the 2012 election help us in fights at the state and local levels, build our membership and our power. next, convention in houston. we will have a strict focused through the election on voter turnout. this fall, as derrick mentioned, will ask each of our state conferences to said aside time for plenaries and training on all of this, but to begin with voter registration. next spring at regional

training, we will have conferences in every region next year, brothers and sisters, we will train on dotv and election protection as we move to next year's launch of our tv efforts. each unit is going to be responsible for developing a civic engagement plan with clear, measurable, and realistic goals. if i stay clear? -- everybody's a clear, measurable, realistic goals. let's talk about realistic. if he can only register 50 people, please tell us you will only register 50 people. there is no need to tell us you will register 1000. the days that we over-sell and over-promise are gone, because we have a system to hold you accountable. accountability through online tracking. each person registered and contacted. and we know how many people will be registered so that we can turn those people that we register and contact on election

day. let's talk about innovation. innovation will come through technology. you heard about this van system. it''s not roger van. it's the voter activation network. is a 50 state voter file that will allow you to find people that are registered, enable you to communicate with people on a basis -- regular basis. again, this is the only system of its kind, 50-state system, that exists outside of the political party structure, ok? and it's very important. the only other entities that have this kind of technology are the political parties. and we at the naacp, will be able to deliver it to you and train you on it as well. mobile messaging campaigns to target people on their cell phones, social networking campaigned on facebook and twitter, upload to uplift

allows folks to upload their contacts, and send them an electronic motor registration form. we used this to great success in 2008, where we registered over 20,000 people in a few short weeks, mostly students. we will use this technology to make this happen. finally, we of partnerships we are developing around the use of 10-866-myvoteone. it is a hot line that will communicate to people around election protection and other issues. volunteer. each delegate, we need everybody here to commit to volunteer five hours a week k for your local unit civic engagement program. let's do the math. check my math. you got 2100 delegates, 5 hours a week, and between january 1 and election day is 44 weeks.

that's 462,000 volunteer hours, the brothers and sisters. somebody said, that is a lot of volunteer hours. number two, we will ask everybody to recruit five other volunteers. you are going to volunteer five hours a week, and we will ask you to recruit five other people. if we do that, that is 462,000 becomes 2.8 million. we are able to do that. these other committed folks in this room. everybody in this room has volunteered at least that much and maybe more. what we're asking you to do in the next 16 months is to focus your attention on civic engagement. it does not mean other stuff is pushed aside, but it is very important. no matter if you are licking envelopes or entering data, on the telephone, walking the community, five hours a week is all we ask.

3, we want you to join the naacp's mobile messaging program. many of you have done it. ascending the word "leader" to 62227. if you do not know how to do it, grab a young person and ask. each state and local unit needs to identify a couple of units to help us with this process. every unit needs to have a leader on civic engagement, so when the unit will hold accountable, someone that we can communicate with. a civic engagement coordinator. next, we need a technology leader, someone who will coordinate the work on this van database. we're not playing. we need to train folks. these are the two individuals from the units that will go to the training at the state conference conventions later on this year. years of work to do in identifying those individuals after you leave this convention. each state area conference is

being asked to schedule one plenary and 8 hours of training time, during the fall conventions to be specifically focused on civic engagement. the days when we spend 45 minutes in a workshop and think we have been trained are over. this work right here is so detailed and complex and requires a level of specialization and focus that we actually need to take these leaders, put them in a room and do some very serious training. that is the kind of model we are looking for. we are talking about youth and college leaders as well. they are identifying someone to do this work and come to the training. each unit will be asked to develop a voter registration plan by november 30, 2011. november 30, 2011. what will happen is that the local plans will be rolled up interstate plans so we know what the numbers and metrics are for each state, in each state plan will be rolled into a national plan so we can see the national

numbers. this will help us with fund- raising and pushing the fact that the naacp is uniquely qualified to turn out and educate the african-american voter. each unit will be asked to launch of voter registration and voter education campaign by key ing day, 2012. that day is january 16, 2012. we need to get your plans in. we will give your resources. by king day, we are looking for every unit that will opt into this program, which we expect to be all of our units, to get going. everybody all right? everybody said, this is my the. thank you. god bless everybody-- everybody say, this is my vote. >> reverednd barber has one announcement. >> i want us to show something here.

i want us to grab hands. christ did parables. he shoewed pictures. because the point of this is that we have to have inspiration, information, and implementation. and you donm''t create false dichotomies. if you call people to inspire people without information, they will do like with exercise and sit there. if you get folk inspired, but do not give them tools, then they have energy. you have to put the best minds, the best message, and the best methods together, huh? you have to make sure there is a connection between your legislative, your implementation, and your

information. and we can never be separated. the reality is, and this -- because creatures are just inspiration -- but my son is a physics major. he taught me three empirical data that darkness is an illusion. -- through the empirical data. he says that darkness is the absence of light. because you cannot create a light bulb that shines darkness. >> all right, reverend. [laughter] [applause] >> so if the tea party is the minority, right now their influence is an illusion. >> right. >> i'm talking about science, not as a preacher. but if you turn on the right inspiration and the right

information and hook i t with the right implementation, the bible says when god stepped out darkness, and god smiled and their the light came. it is an illusion if we hooked together, we win and we share the light, which means that "this little light of mine" cannot merely be a song, but must be the mantra of iourour movement. we can turn on light and drive back dissolution of right wing darkness, if we'll do it. >> all right. yes. [applause] thank you. >> that's why reverend barber is my best bud. he gonna make me go to church.

now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the important part of this -- your input. now, we h ave lots of questions. to our panelists. let me start this off. in my home state of texas, all of the african-american community was in one district, basically. when the hammer came into existence. and we all know who the hammer is. he split is up. -- us up. from the 12th congressional district, three other districts feed off of us. what does that mean? that we cannot, as a community, elect someone, because we are all, 15% here, 21% here, 10%.

what do we do, what is your recommendation to us to make sure this kind of gerrymandering doesn't happen to our community? what should we be doing? >> what i can tell you is that we are fighting and to front right up against that very congressional math. so the naacp has intervened in lawsuits filed in texas. as well as preparing to be involved in the d.c. district court. we're using both parts of the voting rights act to argue that what has been done in texas does not comply. it does raise complicated issues of how you combine two minority groups because you have latino

and black voters? they have large latino population. there is important building of bridges we are trying to do. we are fighting back in court. >> anyone else? >> yes, i also wanted to say is always a very common for people when you think about redistricting to think about the congressional and state wide level. i was very glad that kristin raise the issue of judges, and also, remember that redistricting of sex every elected body. so -- affects every elected body. it affects school boards, judges, city council, all kind of local districts, including water boards.

it is important we are looking at the entire array. the lawyers. one of the things we're doing in this battle, because of the incredible leadership of kim, tina and ben, one thing we have been able to do is join forces with all the groups here in educating the bridges about redistricting, how to get involved at the local level, but we are also representing in maryland, the black caucus. we are actually representing them, helping them draw the map, talking about what is there, pushing this issue about what you do about the fact that the african-american population in maryland is underrepresented, compared to their numbers in the state? so i just want to be very clear that one thing i want everybody here to know is that we are not just here speaking. we are resources for you. >> that is right. >> we are here to help.

reach out to us, utilize us, work us to death. i want to be able to say, there is too much naacp. they are calling me too much. don't want to be in a position where you sit up there and you help and you say there is no where to get answers or the help. please look at us as resources. >> to your specific question, we have to be in the room. redistricting will be taking place at all levels from state to local. what is taking place far too often, we are reactors than proactors. oftentimes, district plans are being drawn by the board and one or two members on the board. our strength is to go in very

deep local, but if we do not have someone in the room, we do not know to make a call. again, this is accountability on our part. they are going to draw these lines to keep power or give power. it is our responsibility to be in the room so that we can preserve and what we have iand advance -- to gain more power. >> you know you're gonna get four additional districts. i don't know if congresswoman wasserman is in the room. she is working with the district's. we need to learn to do the maps ourselves. the short is, actually being a part of the process. many decades, we let other people do that. we have to be a part of that as well. it is not too late to be active in texas carrot >> i like what you said about there is a

misnomer that the redistricting affects only the congressional districts. it happens locally. where will the new hospitals be? where will the new schools be? all of that. the new roads that get built. the redistricting affects everything we do. so it is not just affecting the congressional district. our next question comes from our state conference president in california. guess dr -- you might take the first crack. in california, we have a commission to retain our current political strength. a conservative lawyer has set a scenario that suggest that blacks are the enemy of latinos. aren't we both protected groups?

>> good question. >> yes. the fact of the matter is -- [inaudible] keep talking. where is my mike? the fact of the matter is is that the tea party types and the ultra-conservatives acted on the political scene are just as high style or even more house style - hostile to hispanics than they are to african- american. they really don't like african- american. but they're very hostile to hispanics and latinos as well. the fact of the matter is is that this altar-conservative group on the right is pushing african-americans and latinos and hispanics closer and closer

together. i mentioned before about what happened in terms of net household worth. hispanic and african-american net worth, and the median level is between $5,000.6000 dollars. that is nothing in the order of the $115,000 of white household net worth. hispanics are suffering record high unemployment. all the things that reflect african-americans, including problems about voting rights, they are being visited on hispanics right now. and it's pushing hispanics and african-american together. so the idea that african- americans and hispanics have some diverging agenda is especially according about the

main issues, which is the economy and jobs. and that is the main issue. and african-american and hispanics have the same agenda. >>americans and hispanics have the same agenda. >> there are opportunities. we have not taken full advantage of it. we need to think more strategically about how we approach appear. they have all witnessed the highest amount of latino population growth. there are many sizable numbers of african-americans. we have to figure out how we're coming together. we comes together and take some of these positions. we think about creating the

district where they bring are groups together and provide opportunities for the groups who have not existed previously. >> why aren't the photo identification law is being challenged in the court as being unconstitutional? >> at least one so far. they filed a lawsuit against the missouri photo id law. there are the registered voters. it passed through the state legislature. they were able to get there a ballot initiative. in 2012, there will be the voter rigid the voter protection

act. it will be on the ballots. right now we have a loss it against the language of that initiative. some of these will have to be cemented under section 5. we will need to put in some evidence about the impact of its parent that is thought to say that there will not be litigation. >> that has some one case. we lost. the next time we go to the court 20 to focus on the impact. these are having an unconstitutional impact. that means relying on you to help us find the people who do

not have identification. there are ways that this has a human impact. >> we actually have one of our planet. he is not able to get the 9 d -- and id. there are all kinds of barriers that people will face. it is really important that the branches really work with those who are doing this on the legal front. you have the contacts. you know stories. you know some of the people. we have women -- it is a real burden.

it is not just about the burden. you have to pay for the underlying documents. it is an order to get it pictured tell us this is in a different. you have to pay to play. paid to vote. this really is important. $28 to get a burst of civic as some place. for a lot people, that is serious money. we need the story. you are on the ground closest to it. >> they covered it. in the state's for a small committee redraws the line, what suggestions do you have for

instituting a change for the practice that what my do you draw for legislative districts? >> some are independent redistricting commissions. this has been taken away from elected officials in given to individuals who are non- partisan. it is tough to imagine if they approach this with a partisan i. we are looking very carefully on the ones that emerge. they answer that they are not ones that discriminate. they have an objection.

there have been concerns about the ones that have been exposed. if you are in a place we have a rich fishing commission, it is important to make sure you are engaged. they may be doing it for the first time. >> it is clear for our litigation. the key here is participation it is absolutely key that any state whether they got commission or whatever, what you've got to do is write your state legislature committee.

they want to do this. you have to be an bauds. we can and that we have this kind of involvement. we need to strengthen our cases by your involvement. one thing i really urge is going to our website. the bottom line is taking the to all the rooms they want to. they cannot come up with these

discriminatory maps. >> he said if the panel could give two specific steps. >> testimony is so important. >> it is aiding gear important testimony. favored an african-american voters. how can work.

if the lawyers have a tough time bringing case without legislative efforts. it shows us how these laws hurt minority voters. testimony is key. >> whenever somebody has committees, there will start here. they're able to document this. they are going to do all they can do. we will be faced with this problem. we're getting organized to help them get what ever it is they're going to do. we will make sure people understand this. >> utilize the two that they

talked about so you can do others trained. it is not the panacea to the solution. it really helps push out our messages. we're all year from different parts of the country. far too often we are relying too much on this. we must understand what we are facing such making the changes that are going to harm us. >> our last question will be asked by the rev.. >> we have a number of questions

that we did not answer today. aqere will be an fa a it to go up on the website. >> what are your thoughts for engaging the stacks of want to reiterate where we already are. out of practical steps. >> we have this with the major denominations. each of them call on the fate leaders. they engage with us on members of development and voter empowerment. you're going to have to take that to the local level and a

gauger leaders. we will work with the national leaders. diesel local relationships. this is really just a question of getting them engaged. they never forget that perce can impact peers. it is important that chief find of this. we need in low use -- mous if they cannot come, as an to give you an hour and a half block doing theirs.

it goes into their conviction. they will do civic engagement. many of them, and they will do that. most of them are have social justice committees. have a little faith. the third thing here is the most of them are in a synagogue or mosque. if you are, help make sure you leave the committee for social action. if your leadership in the church where you intend tell zia the social justice for details view

that social justice is not for a person of faith, tell why you are still there. >> i understand that a lot of people were asking about how to get it. you can go to our website and find it. i want to make it clear that

this document is because it keeps changing. you need to keep on top of it. thank you. >> i am so pleased that he had stayed to the end. i think this was the most important session that we will have. the teacher that we're holding up, we want you to go out and get this t-shirt. this is so critical to our future. this is my vote. it is a campaign mantra for us. we want you to a major that you get this certification. you getde sure that this shirt.

this is my vote. this is my vote. we will close you out. this has been a phenomenal panel. these are the resources. give our leadership. they did this.

they brought this tibia along with our chief operating officer. -- it to you along with our chief operating officer. go out and tell us about it. go out and tell us about it.