NAACP convention sets agenda

The theme of the conference which was projected to draw an attendance of more than 50,00 people from across the country was; “Our Lives Matter: Our Votes Count.” A variety of sessions taking place during the four days included legal education, Civil Rights legislation and Policing the Police: Reforming Law Enforcement in Communities of Color.
Forums were held on issues dealing with health and wellness, Armed services and Veterans Affairs, gun violence in the African American community, International Affairs, grass roots organizing and the upcoming presidential election. A Commerce and Industry Show as well as a job fair were also a part.
In his keynote address, “The Sound of our Silent Footsteps” Cornell Williams Brooks, Esq., President and CEO of the NAACP acknowledged the lives of the slain police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. Mentioning the words of Police Officer Montrell Jackson a few days before he was killed in Baton Rouge, “This is an anguishing hour,” He acquainted the words with Ida B. Wells. He said, “Amidst this anguishing hour of our American Democracy, we’re reminded of older words, spoken by a fiery activist. Words that yet whisper with a fierce ferocity of truth into our hearts.” Quoting Wells, he said, “Year after year, the butchery of men, women and children continues in spite of plea and protest.”

THROUGH THE RANKS—Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors is set to take the oldest civil rights organization to the next level.
THROUGH THE RANKS—Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors is set to take the oldest civil rights organization to the next level.

Stirring an attentive audience, he continued, “This foremother of the Black Lives Matter movement, a founder of the NAACP, Ida B. Wells, did not utter those words in reference to the 990 lives lost in 2015 at the hands of police. She did not lift up those words in response to the 522 lives lost at the hands of the police thus far in 2016. Ida B. Wells did not speak these words at the 107th conference of the NAACP in 2016, but rather, she said those words at the first annual NAACP convention in 1909!”
Before ending his sermon style formatted speech, speaking from the Bible, Second Kings using the analogy of four lepers surrounded by their Syrian enemies he posed the questions: Why outside? Why sit? Why silent?
Addressing the why silent question he said, “We’re not going to be silent. We’re about to make some news. Our presidential candidates and contenders, we have witnessed this unholy war between the police and community. And we have decided enough is enough. We’re calling on Mr. Trump and Secretary Clinton to take what we’re going to call an American Pledge to Protect and Preserve our Lives.”
Outlining the pledge, he requested they commit within 100 days of taking office, to make substantial and significant progress by legislation, regulation, or executive order to do five things:
To terminate all federal funding. “In other words, cut off the money to law enforcement agencies that have been found to undertake a pattern and practice of discrimination.” To provide the United States Department of Justice subpoena power so that it can require the release of internal documents from local law enforcement agencies under investigation for discrimination.
To create regulations that give detailed guidance for local law enforcement agencies about data required to comply with the Death in Custody Reporting Act. To create a Federal Code of Conduct to provide local law enforcement agencies with a minimum standard of use of force and lastly to establish a federal independent review board to investigate the shootings of unarmed civilians.
Hillary Clinton, unlike Donald Trump responded to the NAACP invitation to address attendees of their convention. During her remarks she also mentioned the killings of the police officers as well as the African Americans dying at the hands of police officers. “This madness has to stop,” she said. During her presentation she said, “We have difficult, painful, essential work ahead of us to repair the bonds between our police and our communities and between and among each other. We need one another to do this work and we need leaders, like the NAACP.”
Mentioning the need for reform of the criminal justice system she said, “I pledge to you, I will start taking action on day one and every day after until we get this done. This is too important. This goes to the heart of who we are. This is about our character as Americans. That’s why we also need to fix the crisis of mass incarceration, eliminate the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine, dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline that starts in school and diverts too many African-American kids out of school and into the criminal justice system, instead of giving them the education they deserve to have. I look forward to working with the NAACP. We need to do a much better job helping people who have paid their debt to society find jobs and support when they get out.”
Clinton also committed to do more to support small business and Black entrepreneurs to get access to capital while mentioning that Black women represent the fastest growing segment of women-owned businesses in America.
The 2017 NAACP Conference will take place in Baltimore, Maryland.
 
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