National Conference
Photos: President Bill Clinton Addresses 1,000+ at the Campus Progress National Conference
President Bill Clinton delivered a keynote address to over 1,000 young people at the Campus Progress National Conference yesterday in D.C. News outlets across the country reported on Clinton's comparison of efforts to limit voting to Jim Crow laws and poll taxes. See coverage here from Politico, CNN, and The Hill.
“There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today," said Clinton. During is speech, Clinton also reiterated his support for the DREAM Act and applauded the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, a bill passed last year which cut corporate subsidies to help make the student loan system more fair.
This year’s conference centered on the theme “Turning Truth to Power,” emphasizing ways in which young people are turning their vision of a better world into a strong progressive youth movement that demands—and achieves—positive change. In addition to President Clinton, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Congressman Keith Ellison, host of Democracy Now! Amy Goodman, green jobs pioneer Van Jones, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and immigration reform activist Jose Antonio Vargas, and Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement Kalpen Modi participated in conference keynote sessions.
See photos below. Check back soon for more photos and video.
President Bill Clinton addresses a packed room of more than 1,000 young people at the Campus Progress National Conference. Clinton compared efforts to limit the voting rights of young people to Jim Crow laws that restricted the ability of African Americans to vote.
Twenty-three year old Jessica Matthews spoke about how she turned an invention into a business. In college, Matthews invented a soccer ball that stores energy and can be used to power small electrical devices.
Spoken word artist Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai opened up the conference with a poem about how real women have flaws.
Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement spoke about the experience of pursuing his education during the writers' strike.
Campus Progress intern Emily Wood of Arkansas welcomes President Bill Clinton to the stage. Wood compared her own roots in the middle of Arkansas to Clinton's humble beginnings.
In a brief conversation with Folayemi Agbede, Jose Antonio Vargas spoke about how he discovered he was undocumented at the age of 16, and how, as a journalist, he has struggled with coming out as undocumented.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke with students Artair Rogers and Emily Schlichting about health care reform and its impact on young people.
John Podesta, President and CEO of The Center for American Progress (Campus Progress' parent organization) said "progressives push forward, punch back, and never surrender."
Leah Reis-Dennis, a student from Harvard, asks a question during the breakout panel 'Fighting for Reproductive Freedom in a Conservative Congress.'
Keynote Contest Winner Kiara Lee addresses the crowd during her speech about race and perceptions of color. Lee was one of three winners of the Campus Progress / Colorlines.com keynote contest.
Campus Progress Events Manager Paula-Raye O'Sullivan and Events Associate Khushboo Rami direct the show from backstage.
*All photos by Bob Reeder.
Shereen is the online communications manager at Campus Progress.
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