Skip to main content
State Seal State Seal State Seal
Home Button Home Button Home Button
 
 

Rep. Alicia Reece to attend national civil rights convention

National Action Network hosts annual national convention
April 7, 2015
Democratic Newsroom

State Rep. and Ohio Legislative Black Caucus President Alicia Reece (D-Cincinnati) will attend the National Action Network (NAN) convention in New York today where she will join other elected officials and civil rights activists for four days of panel discussions, workshops and events.

“I am proud to work with so many dedicated individuals through the National Action Network to bring together civil rights leaders in the pursuit of a new era of equal opportunity for all,” said Rep. Reece. “Whether it’s equal opportunity at the ballot box or in the justice system, the board room or the classroom, we are building a movement that recognizes our nation has much work remaining to build a more perfect union.”

National Action Network Founder and President Rev. Al Sharpton will kick off the annual convention with a ribbon cutting on Wednesday followed by a 2016 Presidential Election panel that morning. Panels and workshops will continue in the following days, addressing topics like, women in business, police brutality, crime, homophobia housing and healthcare.

Samaria Rice, mother of slain Ohio youth Tamir Rice, will speak on a victim-centered panel on justice and police, while other panels will include people like, presidential advisor Robert Gibbs, Dr. Ben Carson, actor Anthony Anderson, former RNC Chair Michael Steele, Senator Bernie Sanders and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Reece will present a “Woman of Power” award to a featured guest during Wednesday’s “When Women Win, We All Win” luncheon.

About Rep. Reece

During her speech at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, Reece, a National Action Network board member, announced her Voter Bill of Rights effort— a constitutional amendment that would permanently enshrine voting rights in state constitutions across the nation, starting with the battleground state of Ohio.

Reece introduced John Crawford’s Law in response to Ohio police’s deadly shootings of John Crawford III and 12 year-old Tamir Rice. The Cincinnati lawmaker’s proposal would require toy guns to have brightly colored finishes or prominent fluorescent strips to distinguish them from real firearms.

Reece serves on Ohio’s Police-Community Relations Task Force, the panel tasked with developing strategies to help improve the relationship between law enforcement and communities in the wake of civil unrest across the nation following the police shootings of African American men.

During her time as city councilwoman, Reece played an integral role in brokering Cincinnati’s 2002 police-community relations collaborative agreement following the city’s 2001 riots sparked by the police shooting of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas.

Reece has been a strong advocate for voting rights since her days at Louisiana’s Grambling State University. She has fought for free, fair and accessible elections in Ohio and has championed numerous voting rights bills.

Reece testified before the Presidential Commission on Election Administration and the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission regarding best practices for Ohio’s elections and her proposal for a Voter Bill of Rights.