Participants spoke about the importance of equality in housing opportunities, both in housing and lending. Secretary Cuomo stated that while much progress has been made the Department of Housing and Urban Development still has much work to do in enforcing the law. A video recording was shown of Nick Conner speaking about the racist incident involving Lisa Costa. This event marked the thirtieth anniversary of the Fair Housing Act and the tenth anniversary of its amendment to cover persons with disabilities or children. It also honored the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mr. Brown read a letter from Martin Luther King III in honor of his father.