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Black Lives Matter activists are holding their first Black National Convention Friday, a virtual event that will adopt a political agenda calling for slavery reparations, universal basic income, environmental justice, and legislation that entirely re-imagines criminal justice reform.

The gathering follows Democratic and Republican party conventions that laid out starkly different visions for America. It also comes on the heels of yet another shooting by a white police officer of a Black man 鈥� Jacob Blake 鈥� in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that sparked days of protests, unrest, and violence.

And it comes on the same day as a commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington, where the families of an ever-growing list of police and vigilante violence victims will appear with civil rights leaders.

Friday鈥檚 live-stream broadcast will include policy proposals on such issues as voter suppression, reproductive rights, inequality in public education, housing insecurity, and inter-communal violence, according to its agenda, shared exclusively with The Associated Press.

鈥淭hese are absolutely public policies that the Democratic Party, state and local officials, or anyone who is looking to serve Black people can take up now,鈥� said Jessica Byrd, who leads the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 150 Black groups organizing the event.

In 2016, the coalition released its 鈥淰ision for Black Lives鈥� policy platform which included early proposals for defunding police. The new agenda revamps much of that original platform with specific proposals that could lead to an eventual abolition of the criminal justice system as it exists today.

It takes on the pledge Wednesday by Vice President Mike Pence at the Republican National Convention, who defended police and called for an end to unrest in cities where arson, looting, and violence have followed peaceful protests over police brutality.

鈥淯nder President Trump, we will always stand with those who stand on the thin blue line,鈥� Mr. Pence declared. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e not going to defund the police. Not now, not ever.鈥�

Similar to the Democratic and Republican conventions, much of Friday鈥檚 Black Lives gathering will feature pre-taped conversations, performances, and other presentations, including 28 mini-documentaries on the issues, and addresses by Black organizers in California, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

Earlier this week, yet another flashpoint put police brutality in the national spotlight: The police shooting Sunday in Kenosha that left Mr. Blake paralyzed, according to his lawyers. The protests and unrest that followed left two people dead Tuesday.

鈥淎nyone who is watching, who is both enraged or looking for action, will find a space鈥� in the Black National Convention, Ms. Byrd said.
The nearly four-hour-long event, livestreaming on the website BlackNovember.org, was directed by award-winning writer and filmmaker dream hampton, who won acclaim last year for the 鈥淪urviving R. Kelly鈥� docuseries. Hosts include activist and TV actress Angelica Ross of 鈥淧ose鈥� and 鈥淎merican Horror Story鈥� fame, along with Phillip Agnew and Kayla Reed, veterans of the Trayvon Martin protests and Ferguson Uprising, respectively.

鈥淚 have long thought there was great storytelling to do in the world of Black activism,鈥� Ms. hampton told the AP. 鈥淭he real stars have always been these organizers who get things done.鈥�

Speakers include Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network; Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement; Raquel Willis, a writer and transgender rights activist; and Eddie Glaude, chairman of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University.

The Black National Convention was originally planned to take place in-person in Detroit, the nation鈥檚 Blackest major city. But as the coronavirus pandemic exploded in March, organizers shifted to a virtual event.

Friday鈥檚 convention is expected to be the largest gathering of Black activists and artists, albeit virtual, since the historic 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana, which concluded with the introduction of a national Black agenda.

Earlier in the day on Friday, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, a son of the late civil rights icon, will hold a commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Mr. Sharpton and Mr. King will be joined at the Lincoln Memorial by the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and Mr. Blake, as well as representatives of the Martin and Eric Garner families.

The Black National Convention broadcast begins after the D.C. march has concluded.

鈥淭his is truly for Black people, to sit on our porches, or on the train, or socially distanced in a park, and to be like, 鈥楲ook at us,鈥欌�� Ms. Byrd said. 鈥淭here is nothing that we can鈥檛 do. And everything good in this country, we鈥檝e been a part of.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.

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