Facing Race: A National Conference is the nation’s largest multiracial, intergenerational racial justice conference. This biennial, one-of-a-kind gathering serves as a vital intersection where community organizers, activists, artists, educators, and movement makers converge to build power and develop strategies to advance racial justice.

Facing Race offers attendees unprecedented access to resources, information, cultural experiences, and collaborative opportunities designed to push racial equity forward across movements, sectors, and communities.

Over its 15-year legacy, Race Forward has consistently delivered this transformative experience, convening thousands in cities over the years, including Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas, Baltimore, Berkeley, New York, and St. Louis. Each chapter of Facing Race is intentionally rooted in place—honoring the people, histories, and movements that have shaped the fight for justice.

We are honored to convene Facing Race 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the land, the people, and the history remind us what it means to be deeply interconnected. Known as the City of Oaks, Raleigh symbolizes resilience and fortitude—communities whose strength lies in roots that cannot be severed.

North Carolina, and the South more broadly, has long been a cradle of civil rights struggle and innovation. For example,  the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) at Shaw University in Raleigh became a driving force for grassroots organizing across the South. The enduring leadership of Indigenous nations whose stewardship of this land predates the state itself, as well as the labor, cultural resistance, and organizing traditions of Black farmers, migrant workers, laborers, and freedom fighters who demanded dignity and justice in the face of systemic opposition.

By gathering in Raleigh, we honor the South not only as a site of historic struggle but as a place of imagination, cultural richness, and movement-building that continues to shape the path forward. Here, the roots of civil rights organizing run deep—and they continue to rise in power.

As we prepare to welcome thousands of attendees to Raleigh in November 2026, we remain committed to offering a safe, accessible, and deeply immersive in-person experience. Our return to the South reflects both a homecoming and a forward-looking commitment: to ground our work in ancestral legacies and to build the future in community, together.

Facing Race 2026 in Raleigh will be an unforgettable, power-building gathering—one that nourishes our spirits, sharpens our strategies, and strengthens our collective resolve for the work ahead.