Over the course of the Civil War, there were three capitals of the Confederacy — Montgomery (AL), Richmond (VA), and Danville (VA). For the first time in history, all three cities have elected Black mayors. Tom Tom is excited to announce a Marquee Talk with mayors Steven Reed and Levar Stoney, moderated by the former mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu. They’ll discuss their personal and political journeys, the legacy and future of the South, and their ongoing work for equity and justice. Meet the Mayors: Steven Reed, Montgomery, AL As Montgomery County, Alabama’s first African-American mayor and youngest elected probate judge, Reed has expanded access to representation, improved facilities, and modernized the office to better serve the community. He has a long track record of fighting for the underserved through making drastic improvements to mental health services, standing up for marriage equality, and advocating for voter inclusivity. The recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Leadership Award for Governmental Service was born and raised in Montgomery and is deeply connected to his community on every level. Levar Stoney, Richmond, VA Richmond’s youngest mayor is focused on building One Richmond, a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable city where everyone has the same opportunities. He previously served as Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, which helped elect Obama in 2008. As Secretary of the Commonwealth under Governor McAuliffe, he helped restore more civil and voting rights than any other state in the country. His current initiatives include organizing a commission to lead conversations about Richmond’s Confederate history, designating an LGBTQ+ liaison to help protect citizens from discrimination, and championing children through significant investments in public schools. Mitch Landrieu (Moderator) Lawyer, Author, Political Commentator The former mayor of New Orleans gained national attention for his bold decision to remove four Confederate monuments in his city, earning him the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Through his recent launch of E Pluribus Unum, he is fulfilling America’s promise for justice and opportunity for all by breaking down barriers that divide us by race and class. Prior to serving as mayor, he served two terms as lieutenant governor and as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Thanks to Calvin Earl for the use of his song 2020 the People's Anthem. Music distribution with CDBaby Pro. Song was written by Calvin Earl and Christi Earl. All Rights Reserved.

Where do we go from here? On the heels of a global pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, health disparities—and the role that bias and discrimination play in establishing and maintaining them—have come to the forefront of both policy action and dinner-table conversation. Dr. Norman Oliver, Virginia State Health Commissioner, and Anton Gunn, former head of the Office of External Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and senior advisor to the Obama administration, will shine a light on the kinds of interventions that can reduce and eliminate health inequities in our communities once and for all. Thanks to Calvin Earl for the use of his song 2020 the People's Anthem. Music distribution with CDBaby Pro. Song was written by Calvin Earl and Christi Earl. All Rights Reserved.

The crisis of Black birth has long been known, but what are we doing about it? According to C.D.C. data released in January, the maternal mortality rate in America has again risen over the last ten years. Black mothers are still making up a disproportionate number of those deaths—and are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts. Black infants? Twice as likely. Join a few of the foremost experts in the field to discuss perhaps the most glaring and primary health inequity facing our communities today. And the impact of Covid-19? Don’t even get them started. Thanks to Calvin Earl for the use of his song 2020 the People's Anthem. Music distribution with CDBaby Pro. Song was written by Calvin Earl and Christi Earl. All Rights Reserved.

NewYorkTimes Bestseller What J. D. Vance did for Appalachia with Hillbilly Elegy, @CNN analyst and one of the youngest state representatives in South Carolina history Bakari Sellers does for the rural South, in this important book that illuminates the lives of America’s forgotten black working-class men and women. Part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis, My Vanishing Country is an eye-opening journey through the South's past, present, and future. Anchored in Bakari Seller’s hometown of Denmark, South Carolina, Country illuminates the pride and pain that continues to fertilize the soil of one of the poorest states in the nation. He traces his father’s rise to become, friend of Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King, a civil rights hero, and member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), to explore the plight of the South's dwindling rural, black working-class—many of whom can trace their ancestry back for seven generations. In his poetic personal history, we are awakened to the crisis affecting the other “Forgotten Men & Women,” who the media seldom acknowledges. For Sellers, these are his family members, neighbors, and friends. He humanizes the struggles that shape their lives: to gain access to healthcare as rural hospitals disappear; to make ends meet as the factories they have relied on shut down and move overseas; to hold on to precious traditions as their towns erode; to forge a path forward without succumbing to despair. My Vanishing Country is also a love letter to fatherhood—to Sellers' father, his lodestar, whose life lessons have shaped him, and to his newborn twins, who he hopes will embrace the Sellers family name and honor its legacy. Thanks to Calvin Earl for the use of his song 2020 the People's Anthem. Music distribution with CDBaby Pro. Song was written by Calvin Earl and Christi Earl. All Rights Reserved.

Join us for the first in a series of weekly Changemaker Sessions throughout the Cities Rising Summit. These interactive programs will offer you the chance to have courageous conversations with other participants from around the country. In today's session, you will be part of building a guidebook for allyship and advocacy. Our speakers will offer personal insights and define the landscape, then we will send you into breakout groups to contribute to the list! By the end of the hour, we hope to have compiled 100 Ways to Be a Better Ally. Thanks to Calvin Earl for the use of his song 2020 the People's Anthem. Music distribution with CDBaby Pro. Song was written by Calvin Earl and Christi Earl. All Rights Reserved.

Built in partnership with the @AfrikanaIndependentFilmFestival, this conversation will explore the role of the institution in communicating the Black experience. Who gets to tell these stories? And how do we ensure that museums and cultural spaces convey them authentically? This panel is made up of three Black women who hold positions of power within these spaces in Virginia. What do they feel their role is? Do they see themselves as the new gatekeepers, or dismantlers of the gate?

The Covid-19 pandemic has offered a new window into the realities of mass incarceration and organized the social demand that many advocates would argue is the gateway to structural change in our criminal legal system. Over the past five years, Alec Karakatsanis and the Civil Rights Corps have successfully litigated cases to remove money bail and debtors’ prisons from localities with some of the highest rates of incarceration in our country: Harris County, Texas; Cook County, Illinois; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Ferguson, Missouri, to name a few. Join Alec and Chas Moore, Executive Director of the community-based racial justice group Austin Justice Coalition, as they discuss how to catalyze today’s energy to further anti-carceral reform and invest in community wellness while avoiding the ways in which our criminal bureaucracy has historically reconstituted itself. Thanks to Calvin Earl for the use of his song 2020 the People's Anthem. Music distribution with CDBaby Pro. Song was written by Calvin Earl and Christi Earl. All Rights Reserved.

Join us for our series of weekly Changemaker Sessions—where you will get the chance to have courageous conversations with other participants from around the country. Our speakers will define the landscape, then offer questions and topics designed to guide you to new insights and action steps with your peers. “Demystifying Defunding” will apply rigor to the hashtag, showcasing groundbreaking research and community insights around policing and mass incarceration from justice leaders working in Austin, Texas, and Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina.

Join us for our series of weekly Changemaker Sessions—where you will get the chance to have courageous conversations with other participants from around the country. Our speakers will define the landscape, then offer questions and topics designed to guide you to new insights and action steps with your peers. “Outside Looking In” will offer COVID-era perspective on the barriers to reintegration for the formerly incarcerated, and how a collaborative effort in removing those barriers can be the first step in establishing more accountability for standards of equity in our communities.