 |
 |
NAACP Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary In 2009
On February 12, 2009, the NAACP will mark its 100th anniversary. Celebratory events will kick off on January 20 with the NAACP Inaugural Ball, the first in the organization’s 100-year history. The NAACP Headquarters, based in Baltimore, MD, along with its 1,700 units nationwide, will host celebrations and observances throughout the year ending on February 12, 2010, that highlight the significant role the organization has played in leading social change in America.
This Day in NAACP History:
Dec. 5, 1955 – (53 years ago today): Rosa Parks is convicted and fined in Montgomery, Ala. city court. A one-day boycott of city buses results, with approximately 90 percent of black riders staying off public transportation, launching the Montgmery Bus Boycott--a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and '60s. Fours days earlier, Parks was arrested for violating bus segregation laws by not relinquishing her seat to a white man. She is charged with disorderly conduct and fined $14. Responding to Parks' arrest were area NAACP President E.D. Nixon and attorney Fred Gray. Parks' act of civil disobedience was part of an NAACP challenge of segregationist laws throughout the south. The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) is formed by black leaders that day also. Several thousand black citizens attend the first MIA mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, where they overwhelmingly support continuing the bus boycott after hearing opening remarks from Rev. Dr. Martin Lither King, Jr. The boycott lasted more than a year with African Americans creating carpools and utilizing black-owned taxis, who lowered their fares to the same price as a bus ticket until forced by the city to end the practice.
Civil Rights Groups Condemn Recent Rash of Hate Crimes
Washington, DC—The brutal murder of Marcelo Lucero, a Suffolk County, Long Island man of Ecuadoran descent, brought seven national civil rights organizations together today to denounce the recent wave of brutal hate crimes against communities of color.
Representatives from the NAACP, National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the National Urban League and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) decried the recent spike in hate crimes both during and after the election.
Congratulations President-Elect Obama
We congratulate President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on their historic win. In this moment, 232 years in the making, we are witness to the most inclusive election enjoyed by the largest best- informed, motivated electorate in our nation’s history. In this moment we honor the memory of freedom fighters like Dr. Martin Luther King, Ida B. Wells, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, and so many others who gave their lives so that the promise of America can be real for all people. It is their sacrifice made this moment possible.
[Read more]
NAACP Centennial
Join us as we celebrate our Centennial February 20, 2009 in New York, NY. »
Vote Hard Bus Tour
The NAACP Vote Hard Bus Tour travels through South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama neighborhoods. »
Centennial Book
NAACP National Headquarters
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore MD 21215
Toll Free:
(877) NAACP-98
Local:
(410) 580-5777
© 2008 NAACP
All Rights Reserved
NAACP: Celebrating a Century, 100 Years in Pictures, a new book chronicling the 100 years of the NAACP and The Crisis »