NAN Convention continues to grow at 35

By Herb Boyd —

Since its inception, the National Action Network (NAN) has grown exponentially, and the 35th convention this week, with standing-room-only attendance at the Sheraton Hotel, underscored its significance. The four-day event is reminiscent of how Harlem Week has expanded over the years. Under the theme of “Power in Action: 35 Years of Justice, Impact & Purpose,” a host of luminaries, elected officials, community leaders, and a sizable contingent of NAN members cheered speaker after speaker, none more commanding than House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, particularly when he lambasted Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. He charged that Hegseth “was the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history. This man cannot organize a two-car funeral.”

But it was more than a scathing indictment of Hegseth; Jeffries’s comments were broad strokes across the entire Trump administration, noting that it was not interested in rewarding merit but was “trying to elevate mediocrity.” The next panel on Thursday afternoon was entitled “Finding Truth in the Age of Misinformation,” and it included such noted journalists as Ashley Allison, publisher of The Root; Jonathan Capehart, co-host of The Weekend on MSNOW; Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association; Don Lemon, host of the Don Lemon Show; New York Times reporter Jonathan Mahler; and another co-host of The Weekend, Symone Sanders Townsend. And each of the found moments to excoriate the nation’s current administration, much to the delight of the crowd.

There was sure to be more of the same on the succeeding days, with such prominent dignitaries as the Illinois governor JB Pritzker on the docket, best-selling author Angie Thomas, U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, and Dr. Jeanne Theoharis of Brooklyn College. And it was wonderful to see Korey Wise, one of the famous Central Park Five; Cheryl Wills, who was there to moderate a panel; Ade Williams of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce; and activist Jeffrey Kazembe Batts.

Of course, the Rev. Al Sharpton, NAN’s founder and president, was ubiquitous, and his closing remarks, published in the glossy program, captured the event’s highlights and asked the attendees, “To go back to your cities, your states, your communities, with a renewed fire and sharpened focus. Register voters. Challenge unjust laws. Hold your elected officials accountable. Tell the truth even when it is costly. And never, never let anyone convince you that the struggle is over, because the struggle is never over until justice rolls down like water and righteousness as a mighty stream.”