Baltimore Activist, Mayoral Candidate Meets With Obama & Civil Rights Leaders

WASHINGTON (WJZ)--Several important civil rights leaders, including one from Baltimore, had a chance to meet with President Obama at the White House.

The special gathering was part of Black History Month.

Mary Bubala has more.

Described as a first of its kind, leaders of different generations of the civil right movement gathered to meet with President Obama.

The gathering included Baltimore's own Deray Mckesson, a candidate for mayor and nationally known activist.

President Obama called for the meeting to focus on criminal justice reform, building trust between police in neighborhoods and improving educational opportunities.

"We want to ensure we break this school to prison pipeline and start creating a school to college to jobs pipeline," said President Obama.

The president said he was encouraged by the degree of focus and seriousness of the next generation of civil rights leaders who were at the table.

"They are some serious young people," said the president. "I told them they are much better organized than I was when I was their age and I am confident that they are going to take America to new heights."

Ericka Alston, of Maryland Community Health Initiatives at the Penn-North Community Resource Center says communities can benefit if they get behind these new civil rights leaders.

"These young activists are amazing and they are going to do the work with or without our support, but with our support how much more empowering are they," she said.

Deray Mckesson told our media partner The Baltimore Sun he was also able to talk with the U.S. Attorney General about the on-going Department of Justice investigation into the Baltimore Police Department.