US And Brazil Collaborate On Racial Equality

The Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs will host a conference of the U.S-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality on May 20-21, 2010, at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA.

The two-day Joint Action Plan conference, “A Call to Action,” will bring U.S. and Brazilian government, civil society, and private sector representatives together using an engaging and interactive format. Participants will discuss key issues in racial equality, including economic empowerment and labor, health concerns, environmental justice, civil rights and education, and racial equality in the justice system.

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela will lead the U.S. delegation and Brazil’s Ambassador to the U.S. Mauro Vieira and Minister for the Promotion of Racial Equality Elói Ferreira de Araújo will head the Brazilian delegation.

Digital Town Hall – May 21, 9:30-11:00 a.m., Leadership Center Auditorium
U.S. and Brazilian media personalities and experts will take questions onsite and online about “How the Media Shapes our Views on Race.” Immediately following the Digital Town Hall, actor Hill Harper and Bernice King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Brazilian panelists Paulo Rogério and Juliana Cézar will be available to take questions from the press.

Panels:

Economic Empowerment – May 20, 9:30-10:30 a.m., Leadership Center Meeting Room
Speakers: Jacqueline A. Barrien, EEOC Chair; William Lucy, Intl. Secretary-Treasurer, AFSCME; Martvs das Chagas, Secretary of Affirmative Action, SEPPIR

Environmental Justice – May 20, 12:20-1:30 p.m., Leadership Center Main Meeting Room
Keynote Address: EPA Assistant Administrator for International Affairs, Michelle J. DePass
Panel: 1:30-2:30 p.m., Room 238/240
Speakers: Jessy Tolkan, Political Director, Green for All; Prof. Robert Bullard, Environmental Justice Research Center, Clark Atlanta University; Brazilian Deputy, Edson Santos; Moderator: Lisa Garcia, Senior Advisor, EPA

Civil Rights & Education – May 21, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Leadership Center Meeting Room
Speakers: Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights; Dr. Beverly Tatum, President of Spelman College; Leonor Araújo, MEC

Access to the Justice System – May 21, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 pm, Leadership Center Room 238/240
Speakers: Brent Gray, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Atlanta; Jorge da Silva, Professor, State University of Rio de Janeiro; Moderator: Julissa Reynoso, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

Signed in March 2008, the U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan recognizes that Brazil and the United States are multi-ethnic, multi-racial democracies whose ties of friendship are strengthened by shared experiences. The Joint Action Plan pledges an ever-deepening and ongoing collaboration between the two governments to eliminate racial and ethnic discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in both countries. Visit http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rt/japer/ for more information about the U.S. – Brazil Joint Action Plan.

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Wha-Press@State.Gov