NAACP 93rd Annual Meeting held in New York City

Although the nation is at war and is still healing after the terrorist attacks, now is not the time to back down from fighting injustice and protecting civil rights, the NAACP's Kweisi Mfume and Julian Bond emphasized during separate addresses at the association's 93rd Annual Meeting.

The meeting was held Feb. 16 at the Hilton & Towers Hotel in New York City, the first time it has been held in New York since 1998. The NAACP Board of Directors wanted to salute the citizens of the Big Apple in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks at the World Trade Center and to recommit to the NAACP's founding principles in its founding city.

"America's twin towers - freedom and justice - are still standing. It is the NAACP's job to protect them, and we intend to do that job in time of crisis," said Bond, board chairman.

Mfume concurred, stating: "If in fighting for freedom we relinquish the liberties that are the foundation of our society, we will lose everything for which we have ever fought."

Bond, reelected for a fifth one-year term at the meeting, said the NAACP is strong, boasting a membership increase and steady finances. However, he stressed that since discrimination is still raging, the NAACP must speak out against it boldly.

One escalating battle is over the confirmation of Judge Charles Pickering to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Citing Pickering's judicial track record regarding civil rights, Mfume stated during a press conference that the NAACP is adamantly against the nomination. Bond strongly urged attendees to be vigilant in making sure that civil rights and civil liberties are not eradicated under the guise of national security.

In a meeting highlight, the NAACP recognized the United Parcel Service (UPS) for its commitment to diversity in the workplace. The NAACP Corporate Citizen of the Year Award, the association's highest corporate award, was presented to the shipping company during the Board/Trustees Luncheon. Manning Marable, director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University, gave the keynote address.

In addition to Bond, the following officers were reelected to the board: Myrlie Evers-Williams, chairman emeritus; Roslyn Brock, vice chairman; Francisco Borges, treasurer; Jesse Turner Jr., assistant treasurer; Carolyn Coleman, assistant secretary; Dennis Hayes, secretary; and Roy Levy Williams, chairman of the Special Contribution Fund Board of Trustees. Newly elected board members include: Paula Saizan, Alice Huffman, Denisha Delane, Nicholas Wiggins, Jennifer Rose Dodd, Melvin "Skip" Alston and Demetrius Prather.

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated Mar/Apr 2002
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