Mr. President,
Do for Black families what you already did for Native families.
The Strange Fruit Project Convening
Precedent exists.
On November 26, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 13898. It established a federal task force to investigate the missing and murdered in Native American and Alaska Native communities — a formal acknowledgment that a specific crisis in a specific community demanded a specific federal response.
The White House has done this before.
Black families are waiting.
Across this country, Black families are burying loved ones found hanging — from trees, from fences, from parking structures — and being told, before the autopsy is complete, that it was suicide. No independent investigation. No federal review. No task force. No answers.
The playbook exists. The political will does not — yet.
September 18, Washington, DC.
Pastor Jamal Bryant and civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt are convening families, forensic experts, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus inside the 55th Annual Legislative Conference to make one demand of this White House: do for Black families what you already did for the Natives.
The room will walk out with a signed federal ask. Seats are limited. Reserve yours below.
Hosted By
The conveners
Attorney S. Lee Merritt
Civil Rights Attorney
S. Lee Merritt is a nationally recognized civil rights attorney and Movement Lawyer who represents families in landmark cases including the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Botham Jean, and Atatiana Jefferson. Based in Texas with a federal practice rooted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, he uses Section 1983 litigation, qualified immunity challenges, and federal oversight to hold institutions accountable when local systems fail.
Merritt has used platforms before Congress, international bodies, and Harvard to speak on policing, civil rights, and human rights, extending the impact of his cases beyond individual verdicts. Known for bridging protest, courtroom strategy, and policy advocacy, he works alongside movement organizations and local counsel to secure results that outlive the news cycle.
His work with students is an extension of that same mission. Through the Merritt Civil Rights Fellowship, presented in partnership with Morehouse College and UNT Dallas College of Law, he gives emerging advocates hands-on exposure to civil rights litigation, trial preparation, movement lawyering, and public-interest advocacy.
Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant
New Birth Missionary Baptist Church
Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant is Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, one of the nation’s largest and most influential Black congregations. A Morehouse College graduate with a Master of Divinity from Duke University and a Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation, he founded Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, where he built one of the fastest-growing congregations in AME history.
Before entering the pulpit, Bryant served as the youngest ever National Youth and College Director of the NAACP, mobilizing tens of thousands of young people into civic engagement, voter organizing, and social justice campaigns. He has since become a leading national voice on economic empowerment, voting rights, and community accountability, using the pulpit and public platforms to press institutions on the issues facing Black families.
Bryant’s ministry pairs public advocacy with direct community investment, from national economic boycotts to on-the-ground partnerships with civil rights lawyers, educators, and organizers. His convening on September 18 with Attorney Merritt continues that tradition, bringing faith leaders, legal advocates, and families together to confront the pattern of unexplained hanging deaths and demand federal accountability.
Two Sessions, One Morning
Panel Conversation
Open to the public · Free
Location within walking distance of the convention center, released after RSVP.
A conversation with coalition partners on the pattern behind the hanging deaths. Light breakfast bites, first come, first served. Doors at 9:15.
CBC Forum, Room 144AB
CBC ALC55 badge required
Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
From coalition to Congress. What we are asking the CBC to do next.
Come to the panel. Walk with us to 144AB.
Reserve Your Spot
Join us in Washington
Friday, September 18, 2026. Two sessions. Walter E. Washington Convention Center and nearby.
Seating is limited for both. Reserve below.
55th Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
One More Way To Act
Join the 2027 Fellowship cohort
The Merritt Civil Rights Fellowship trains the next generation of civil rights advocates. Applications for the 2027 cohort open this fall.