Former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Andy Beshear, and Pete Buttigieg Headline At National Urban League Conference
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS, GOV. ANDY BESHEAR, AND PETE BUTTIGIEG HEADLINE DAY OF LEGACY AND ADVOCACY AT 2026 NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE CONFERENCE
Plenary On “Courage Under Fire” And a Fireside Chat With Vice President Harris Cap a Consequential Day in Nashville, As Conference Also Honors Legacy Leadership
NASHVILLE (July 31, 2026) — The National Urban League's 2026 Conference delivered one of its most consequential days of programming today, opening with Plenary II: Courage Under Fire: Organizing in an Age of Retaliation and continuing into the Legacy Leadership Awards Luncheon, which featured a fireside chat between National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial and former Vice President Kamala D. Harris.
Held July 29–August 1 in Nashville, the conference coincided this week with the release of the 50th anniversary edition of the National Urban League's State of Black America report.
COURAGE UNDER FIRE: ORGANIZING IN AN AGE OF RETALIATION
Plenary II examined how organizers, elected officials and civic institutions are responding to escalating attempts to suppress political participation and civil rights advocacy nationwide. The session convened Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Morial alongside a roster of leading organizers and strategists shaping the current landscape of civic engagement.
“At every turning point in this movement's history, courage has been the price of progress,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said. “This conversation is about equipping leaders with the strategy and resolve to organize effectively, even as the political climate grows more hostile to that work. I'm grateful to be joined by these national leaders who are leading the charge in this work and helping to pave a way for Americans across the country to follow. The time is now.”
The plenary took place against a charged backdrop: Tennessee, a cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, has become a flashpoint in the national fight over voting rights and fair representation. The state has enacted some of the country's most restrictive voting laws and, after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the Voting Rights Act, the first racially gerrymandered congressional map in the South. National Urban League advocates and policymakers convened this week to confront what they describe as the most aggressive rollback of civil rights protections since Reconstruction — and to chart a strategy to fight back.
LEGACY LEADERSHIP AWARDS LUNCHEON: A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS
The day's centerpiece came at the Legacy Leadership Awards Luncheon, hosted by the National Council of Urban League Guilds at the Karl F. Dean Grand Ballroom, where Morial sat down with former Vice President Kamala D. Harris for a wide-ranging fireside chat on democracy, civic participation and the road ahead.
Harris struck a note of optimism, pointing to a rising generation of organizers as proof that the fight for civil and voting rights is far from over.
“We are seeing young leaders who are actively engaged in fighting for civil and voting rights,” Harris said, citing the commitment of a young Gen Z organizer and students at North Carolina A&T State University who mobilized to protect access to the ballot after a polling place was removed from their campus — turning a setback into an organizing win.
Harris also laid out a policy agenda for the moment, calling for the country to strengthen its global standing and its partnerships abroad. “The United States has a global importance,” she said. “We need to strengthen our international partnerships.”
On the domestic front, she pressed for structural reform, including statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., and new accountability measures for the nation's highest court. “We need to support statehood for Puerto Rico and DC,” Harris said. “We need to reform the Supreme Court with a code of ethics and term limits.”
She closed by tying the political moment back to kitchen-table concerns. “We need to prioritize American well-being by addressing healthcare, housing, and childcare costs,” Harris said.
The conference continues through August 1 in Nashville, closing out tonight with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards Gala. To learn more, visit the Conference website.