---Urban League Conference update----
The National Urban League Conference in Washington, D.C. will continue through August 1 at the Washington Convention Center. The theme for this year's conference is "The Opportunity Agenda: Achieving Economic and Social Equality in the New Millennium. The Greater Washington Urban League, under President and CEO Maudine Cooper, is the host affiliate for this year's event, and PepsiCo, Inc. and Freddie Mac are the conference sponsoring partners. Conference activities include a free career fair featuring the participation of more than 70 Fortune 500 and high-tech companies, as well as non-profit and government agencies. Also open to the public at no cost are an exhibit hall, a health fair and an African-American marketplace. For more information on the conference and photos, check out the Unity First homepage and click on African American Newswire. You will see photos from the conference and information on Freddie Mac's CreditSmart Initiative to help Americans get and keep good credit, as well as the latest data on the State of Black America.

---National Directory of African American organizations now available on-line--For more than 20 years, Philip Morris Companies Inc. has produced the National Directory of African-American Organizations, the most definitive and comprehensive resource tool for identifying and researching black organizations. This year, for the first time, Philip Morris and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies went "high tech" and launched the 2001-2003 edition of the Directory, which includes more than 300 organizations nationwide, on the Internet. The Joint Center conducted the research and designed the layout of the Directory, which is a compilation of nationally-based, non-profit organizations, state legislative caucuses and historically black colleges and universities. "It is one of the most comprehensive listings of the organizations and institutions dedicated to ensuring opportunities and advancements for African Americans," said Eddie N. Williams, President and CEO of the Joint Center. A. Shuanise Washington, vice president of external affairs, Philip Morris Management Corp, said "The Directory provides accurate and timely information about minority leadership organizations and serves as a valuable resource to both the organizations included and members of the general public. We are delighted to partner with the Joint Center on this history-making endeavor and are particularly pleased to now offer this guide as a resource to the African-American community in both electronic and print formats." In addition to Web site access, 15,000 copies of the Directory, which features the design, "Keep the Dream Alive", by artist Ted Ellis, will be made available at national conferences, through individual requests and in conjunction with Philip Morris-supported community events. The on-line Directory can be accessed through the Philip Morris Web site at www.philipmorris.com/naad. For more information on the Joint Center or to access the on-line Directory, visit the Center's Web site at www.jointcenter.org.

---Amnesty International on the UN Conference on Racism---
In a recent report, Amnesty International criticized U.S. federal and state justice systems as riddled with racial discrimination. The report, Racism and the Administration of Justice, cites as evidence the disproportionate rates of minorities incarcerated, sentenced to death, and executed in the U.S. In its report, Amnesty International cited cases of racial profiling, unlawful use of force, unlawful shootings, and deaths in custody affecting minorities from at least 10 states in the US. The laws and policing of the 'war on drugs' have targeted poor minority urban neighborhoods, with African American men the majority of those arrested and convicted, despite evidence that the majority of illegal drug users are white. For more information or a copy of the report, send Email to: Fitzgerald@aiusa.org or contact Eliane Drakopoulos or Alistair Hodgett, 202 544 0200 x 302. Also, in advance of the UN World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (WCAR), Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) urged the Bush Administration to increase its commitment to the conference by appointing a delegation led by Secretary of State Colin Powell and assuming a leadership role in the pre-conference preparation.

---NAACP stands by Adam's Mark boycott in face of lawsuit by hotel---The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said it stands by its boycott of the Adam's Mark hotel chain in face of a lawsuit filed by the HBE Corporation, owner of the Adam's Mark hotel chain. The suit is an attempt to prevent picketing by the NAACP at its hotels and to force the civil rights organization to halt its political boycott of the chain that was announced earlier this month. NAACP President and CEO Kweisi Mfume said: "This lawsuit is a blatant attempt to stifle the voice of the NAACP and others engaged in legitimate public criticism of this company's discriminatory practices, and we will vigorously defend against it. The mission of the NAACP is to speak truth to power, and we will not be silenced by this heavy-handed attempt to shut off public debate. The First Amendment was designed to protect against just this kind of censorship." Federal and state officials and various citizens, along with the NAACP, have accused the hotel chain of racial discrimination. Although the hotel chain is currently operating under a consent decree entered into with the Department of Justice, it has refused to date to publicly acknowledge its wrongful conduct or to settle the remaining discrimination actions against it. "Until Adam's Mark publicly acknowledges responsibility for its wrongdoing and comes to terms with the plaintiffs in the pending discrimination lawsuit," Mfume said, "the NAACP will continue to call on all persons and organizations who support the principle of equality under the law to stop doing business with the Adam's Mark hotels."