National Association for the Advancement of Colored People facts for kids
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| Abbreviation | NAACP |
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| Formation | February 12, 1909 |
| Founder | W.E.B. Du Bois Mary White Ovington Moorfield Storey Ida B. Wells |
| Purpose | "To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination." |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
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Membership
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300,000 |
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Chairman
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Leon W. Russell |
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President and CEO
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Derrick Johnson |
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Main organ
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Board of directors |
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Budget
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$24,800,000 (2019) |
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (pronounced N-double-A-C-P) is a civil rights organization in the United States. It was formed in 1909 by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey and Ida B. Wells. Leaders of the organization included Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins. Its aim was to advance justice for African Americans.
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Organization
The NAACP is headquartered in Baltimore. It has with additional regional offices in New York, Michigan, Georgia, Maryland, Texas, Colorado and California. Each regional office is responsible for coordinating the efforts of state conferences in that region.
In the U.S., the NAACP is administered by a 64-member board led by a chairperson. The board elects one person as the president and one as the chief executive officer for the organization. Julian Bond, civil rights movement activist and former Georgia State Senator, was chairman until replaced in February 2010 by healthcare administrator Roslyn Brock.
For decades in the first half of the 20th century, the organization was effectively led by its executive secretary, who acted as chief operating officer. James Weldon Johnson and Walter F. White, who served in that role successively from 1920 to 1958, were much more widely known as NAACP leaders than were presidents during those years.
History
In the 1900s, the rate of lynchings of blacks, particularly men, was at an all-time high. Mary White Ovington, journalist William English Walling and Henry Moskowitz met in New York City in January 1909 decided to fight for black civil rights. They asked more than 60 prominent Americans to support them, and invited them for a meeting on this issue. It was to be held on February 12, 1909, which was the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery. In fact, the first large meeting was held three months later. However, the February date is often cited as the organization's founding date.
The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909, by a larger group including African Americans:
and a group of white activists:
- Henry Moskowitz,
- Mary White Ovington,
- William English Walling (the wealthy Socialist son of a former slave-holding family),
- Florence Kelley, a social reformer and friend of Du Bois;
- Oswald Garrison Villard,
- and Charles Edward Russell, who had served as acting chairman of the National Negro Committee (1909), a forerunner to the NAACP.
Du Bois played a key role in organizing the event and presided over the proceedings.
At the conference in May 1911, the members chose the new organization's name to be the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and elected its first officers:
- National President, Moorfield Storey, Boston
- Chairman of the Executive Committee, William English Walling
- Treasurer, John E. Milholland a prominent New York Republican
- Disbursing Treasurer, Oswald Garrison Villard
- Executive Secretary, Frances Blascoer
- Director of Publicity and Research, W. E. B. Du Bois.
Mission
The association's charter expressed its mission:
To promote equality of rights and eradicate caste or race prejudice among citizens of the United States; to advance the interest of colored citizens; to secure for them impartial suffrage; and to increase their opportunities for securing justice in the courts, education for their children, employment according to their ability, and complete equality before the law.
The NAACP devoted much of its energy to fight the lynching of blacks throughout the United States by working for legislation, lobbying, and educating the public.
The organization also challenged the "white primary" system in the South.
By the mid-1960s, the NAACP had become active in the Civil Rights Movement, pressing for civil rights legislation. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place on August 28, 1963. That fall, President John F. Kennedy sent a civil rights bill to Congress.
21st century
Its mission in the 21st century is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination". National NAACP initiatives include political lobbying, publicity efforts and litigation strategies developed by its legal team.
The group also considers such issues as police misconduct, the status of black foreign refugees and questions of economic development. Its name uses the term colored people, referring to those with some African ancestry.
On June 29, 2020 Washington, D.C., radio station WTOP reported that the NAACP intends to relocate its national headquarters from its longtime home in Baltimore, Maryland, to the Franklin D. Reeves Center of Municipal Affairs, a building owned by the District of Columbia located on U and 14th Streets in Northwest Washington, D.C.
Derrick Johnson, the NAACP's president and CEO, emphasized that the organization will be better able to engage in and influence change in D.C. than in Baltimore.
Awards
- NAACP Image Awards – honoring African-American achievements in film, television, music, and literature
- NAACP Theatre Awards – honoring African-American achievements in theatre productions
- Spingarn Medal – honoring general African-American achievements
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Thalheimer Award – for achievements by NAACP branches and chapters
- Montague Cobb Award – honoring African-American achievements in the field of health
- Nathaniel Jones Award for Public Service – first awarded to public servants in 2018
- Foot Soldier In the Sands Award – awarded to attorneys who have contributed legal expertise to the NAACP on a pro bono basis
- Juanita Jackson Mitchell Award for Legal Activism – awarded to a NAACP unit for "exemplary legal redress committee activities"
- William Robert Ming Advocacy Award – awarded to lawyers who exemplify personal and financial sacrifice for human equality
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Interesting facts about the NAACP
- The organization has never had a woman president, except on a temporary basis. Lorraine C. Miller served as interim president after Benjamin Jealous stepped down. Maya Wiley was rumored to be in line for the position in 2013, but Cornell William Brooks was selected.
- As of 2007[update], the NAACP had approximately 425,000 paying and non-paying members.
- The NAACP's non-current records are housed at the Library of Congress, which has served as the organization's official repository since 1964.
Images for kids
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An African American drinks out of a segregated water cooler designated for "colored" patrons in 1939 at a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City.
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NAACP leaders Henry L. Moon, Roy Wilkins, Herbert Hill, and Thurgood Marshall in 1956
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NAACP representatives E. Franklin Jackson and Stephen Gill Spottswood meeting with President Kennedy at the White House in 1961.
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Locals viewing the bomb-damaged home of Arthur Shores, NAACP attorney, Birmingham, Alabama, on September 5, 1963. The bomb exploded on September 4, the previous day, injuring Shores' wife.
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Louisiana NAACP leads Jena March 6
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NAACP President & CEO Benjamin Jealous and former president Bill Clinton during the Medgar Evers wreath-laying ceremony in Arlington, June 5, 2013
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See also
In Spanish: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People para niños
