2009 NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet
100 years and counting
100 years and counting
“I am just so excited that we are going to bring our president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, who is the youngest president ever in the
history of the NAACP,” said Sheila Stubbs, chair of the Freedom Fund Banquet whose theme is “Bold Dreams, Big Victories. “As the NAACP turns
100, we have to decide on what we’re going to do with the next century. I am grateful that people continue to labor after all of the trials and
tribulations through all of the different eras that we had. We still have people with the energy to fight off the disparities, to fight off the racism and
continue to push towards that approach. 100 years old means everything to me.”
In its second century, the NAACP will be facing some of the same old civil rights problems of the past. “I think education is huge,” Stubbs said.
“It’s always been at the top of our list. Health care is huge. No matter who you talk to, they’re going to talk about health care. I think disparities from
health care to incarceration rates are going to be a part of the dialogue. Economic empowerment is one of our other areas that conversation is
generating. I think people need jobs. They need education. They need housing. They need services. Where are they going to get it if they aren’t
getting it from their communities? That’s what the NAACP is looking at for the upcoming years.”
Yet, the approach might be something new as the NAACP continues to master the newest forms of electronic media including Twitter. And at 36
years old, Jealous symbolizes a changing of the guard in the civil rights movement and the NAACP as long-standing NAACP Chairman Julian Bond
steps down next February. “I think you are going to see the change in generations even more,” Stubbs said. “I don’t think it takes away from our 50-
60 year olds. But I think it is the energy, the energy that comes along with the territory. You’re starting to see the 30 year olds come of age. But I
think what is most important is that we embrace them. I’m in my 30s too. It’s keeping the adults who are already in place and letting them know you’
re not trying to take from them. But you want to be trained so when they leave, the doors will remain open for the next generation. I think that is what
you are beginning to see. And that’s a good thing.”
The changing of the guard should take away the excuses of youth who think they can’t achieve, according to Stubbs. “I think it gives youth an
opportunity to not have an excuse about not being able to be the president or trying to be a CEO,” Stubbs said. “In their generation, they can see that
it can happen.” And with a new sense of energy and youth, who knows what new heights the NAACP can achieve.
The 2009 NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet will be held October 2 at the Marriott West Hotel. The social hour is 6 p.m. and dinner is at 7 p.m. Tickets
are $90, which includes a $30 NAACP membership. For ticket information, call 256-1942.
history of the NAACP,” said Sheila Stubbs, chair of the Freedom Fund Banquet whose theme is “Bold Dreams, Big Victories. “As the NAACP turns
100, we have to decide on what we’re going to do with the next century. I am grateful that people continue to labor after all of the trials and
tribulations through all of the different eras that we had. We still have people with the energy to fight off the disparities, to fight off the racism and
continue to push towards that approach. 100 years old means everything to me.”
In its second century, the NAACP will be facing some of the same old civil rights problems of the past. “I think education is huge,” Stubbs said.
“It’s always been at the top of our list. Health care is huge. No matter who you talk to, they’re going to talk about health care. I think disparities from
health care to incarceration rates are going to be a part of the dialogue. Economic empowerment is one of our other areas that conversation is
generating. I think people need jobs. They need education. They need housing. They need services. Where are they going to get it if they aren’t
getting it from their communities? That’s what the NAACP is looking at for the upcoming years.”
Yet, the approach might be something new as the NAACP continues to master the newest forms of electronic media including Twitter. And at 36
years old, Jealous symbolizes a changing of the guard in the civil rights movement and the NAACP as long-standing NAACP Chairman Julian Bond
steps down next February. “I think you are going to see the change in generations even more,” Stubbs said. “I don’t think it takes away from our 50-
60 year olds. But I think it is the energy, the energy that comes along with the territory. You’re starting to see the 30 year olds come of age. But I
think what is most important is that we embrace them. I’m in my 30s too. It’s keeping the adults who are already in place and letting them know you’
re not trying to take from them. But you want to be trained so when they leave, the doors will remain open for the next generation. I think that is what
you are beginning to see. And that’s a good thing.”
The changing of the guard should take away the excuses of youth who think they can’t achieve, according to Stubbs. “I think it gives youth an
opportunity to not have an excuse about not being able to be the president or trying to be a CEO,” Stubbs said. “In their generation, they can see that
it can happen.” And with a new sense of energy and youth, who knows what new heights the NAACP can achieve.
The 2009 NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet will be held October 2 at the Marriott West Hotel. The social hour is 6 p.m. and dinner is at 7 p.m. Tickets
are $90, which includes a $30 NAACP membership. For ticket information, call 256-1942.
Sheila Stubbs (l) is the chair of the NAACP-Madison Branch’s 2009 Freedom
Fund Banquet, which will feature NAACP President/CEO Benjamin Jealous (r).
Fund Banquet, which will feature NAACP President/CEO Benjamin Jealous (r).
By Jonathan Gramling
On the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, February 12,
1909, a group of Euro-Americans and African Americans including W.W.
B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett met to form the NAACP to fight the
wave of lynching and violence against African Americans. Over the
course of the next 100 years, the NAACP was at the forefront of civil
rights battles that witnessed the end of segregation and the restoration
of the meaning of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S.
Constitution.
As the NAACP enters its second century, a new sense of energy
is sweeping through the organization as Benjamin Todd Jealous has
taken on the presidency of the organization. According to the NAACP’s
website, ,Jealous has served as president of the Rosenberg
Foundation, director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty
International and Executive Director of the National Newspaper
Publishers Association (NNPA), a federation of more than 200 black
community newspapers. The NAACP-Madison Branch is bringing
Jealous to Madison October 2 as the keynote speaker at its Freedom
Fund Banquet.
On the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, February 12,
1909, a group of Euro-Americans and African Americans including W.W.
B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett met to form the NAACP to fight the
wave of lynching and violence against African Americans. Over the
course of the next 100 years, the NAACP was at the forefront of civil
rights battles that witnessed the end of segregation and the restoration
of the meaning of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S.
Constitution.
As the NAACP enters its second century, a new sense of energy
is sweeping through the organization as Benjamin Todd Jealous has
taken on the presidency of the organization. According to the NAACP’s
website, ,Jealous has served as president of the Rosenberg
Foundation, director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty
International and Executive Director of the National Newspaper
Publishers Association (NNPA), a federation of more than 200 black
community newspapers. The NAACP-Madison Branch is bringing
Jealous to Madison October 2 as the keynote speaker at its Freedom
Fund Banquet.