Update, 4:48 p.m.: Civil rights activist and singer Bernice Johnson Reagon is the keynote speaker at Facing Race, a national conference of inter-generational activists, students and teachers working towards racial justice in the United States.
Update, 2 p.m.: The first Facing Race conference in the South has brought more than 1,500 people from around the country to Dallas.
Mayor Mike Rawlings addressed the group Friday morning, telling a packed audience: "We will never grow if we don't get beyond our most superficial differences, if we are not brave enough to examine history, if we don't understand how we got here, if we are not honest progressive enough to honor the past but not live in it, if we are not creative enough to reverse racial disparities and move our city, our country, to full participation, inclusion and dignity for everyone."
Dallas Faces Race helped bring the national conference to North Texas.
Videos
Here are two videos produced to help raise awareness of the Facing Race conference.