1980 March 3 The "National Conference for a Black Agenda" meets with limited success. A special "presidential forum" in which the presidential candidates were to discuss issues of importance to black Americans, is canceled when Senator Edward Kennedy, Representative John Anderson, and Governor Jerry Brown decide not to attend. However, 1,000 national black leaders conduct in-depth discussions on strategies and goals pertaining to maximizing black political clout, employment, housing, and affirmative action. The conference is sponsored by organizations such as the NAACP, the National Urban League, PUSH-groups that had already endorsed President Carter-so that candidates saw no purpose in speaking.