It’s time…
For too long we’ve dealt with the issues of violence, crime, under-achievement, and low expectations. For too long our community and organizations have been plagued by divisions and mistrust. For too long we’ve waited for solutions to come from the outside, when we have to power to change our reality right now if we would only come together…

It’s time…
On June 26th, at 12:00 noon, the NAACP and the Ministerial League along with other community minded organizations, concerned citizens, families, and youth, will STAND TOGETHER. We will March through our neighborhood, walking past the sites where our young men and women have lost their lives to senseless violence. We are going to March, and sing, and Pray, and recall that spirit of the Community we Used to be… We are going to March together, arm-in-arm, and work together to bring about the Rebirth of our Community Spirit. We are going to March together, and teach our Young People about the beautiful People and Community that God intended us to be.

It’s time…
We are going to stand together and say Goodbye to the Ego’s, Goodbye to the Silo’s, and Goodbye to the divisions that have kept us apart. We are going to stand together and say Goodbye to the violence, Goodbye to the crime, and Goodbye to the low expectations that have afflicted our community.

It’s time…
We’re going to Reclaim our community by reclaiming our Youth. We are not going to cast these young men aside — We are going to reclaim them. These are our children – We are going to let them know that we love them, and we are going to bring them back into the fold. We’re not going to lecture them about the way it was ‘back in the day‘… We going to talk to them about the way its ‘going to be Tomorrow‘, and we’re going to fight to bring our prodigal sons back home. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

It’s time everybody… So get out your old walking shoes. And JOIN US on June 26th… More details will follow shortly through the blog, email, radio, newspaper, text, twitter, facebook, and flyers…

Be ready everybody – Start talking it up – Start praying and Stretching – because on June 26th, we’re going to stand together and rebuild our community…

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May 15, 2010 Hollywood, Florida—The NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, unanimously endorsed Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court, today at their quarterly board meeting.

The organization reviewed Kagan’s available record on civil rights including her recent authorization for the Department of Justice and the Department of Civil Rights to file an amicus brief supporting the constitutionality of the University of Texas’ affirmative action program in Fisher v. University of Texas and her brief in support of African American firefighters who challenged a hiring test used by the City of Chicago under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Lewis v. City of Chicago).

“After a careful and thorough review of Elena Kagan’s record, we have unanimously voted to endorse her nomination,” stated President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “Elena Kagan has demonstrated a commitment to civil rights and equal justice under the law throughout her career. Kagan drew her inspiration from NAACP former counsel and Supreme court Justice Thurgood Marshall who she considers a hero and mentor. During her tenure at the White House, Kagan worked on issues such as strengthening hate crimes legislation and civil rights enforcement. As a law school Dean, she worked to ensure a diverse student body and faculty. And as Solicitor General, Kagan has vigorously defended the nation’s equal opportunity and civil rights laws. We look forward to actively supporting her nomination,” Jealous said.

“Elena Kagan has a track record of bringing people together. She is skilled at forging legal consensus on contentious issues,” stated NAACP Chairman Roslyn Brock. “Civil rights is a bipartisan issue. It is central to the core of our American values. We believe Elena Kagan has the ability to use her fine legal mind, her commitment to diversity and her ability to build bridges to effectively advocate in the Court for the civil rights and democracy enshrined in our constitution.”

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The NAACP supports Amnesty International’s (AIUSA) report on Reggie Clemons “Death by Prosecutorial Misconduct and a ‘Stacked Jury.” Along with AIUSA, the Missouri ACLU the Missouri State Conference NAACP stands with the Justice for Reggie Committee to expose the miscarriage of justice that has kept Reggie Clemons on death row for 20 years.

Reggie was beaten by the police and coerced into making a false statement; and was denied an attorney. This statement was compelled by torture that should have been excluded. At Reggie’s arraignment, Judge Michael David noted that Reggie had suffered physical injury while in custody and sent him to a hospital Emergency Room.

The civil rights question is whether proceedings in which a coerced statement was used, and which resulted in a sentence of death for Reggie Clemons denied him the due process of law guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. In February 2009 the NAACP National Board of Directors voted to support efforts to stop the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, consistent with NAACP resolutions in 2004, 2001 and 1975. At the NAACP Centennial Convention in New York, July 2009 the Missouri State Conference delegation lead by Mr. Harold Crumpton, Ms. Anita Russell and Missouri State Conference President Mary Ratliff introduced an Emergency Resolution that was passed for a Clemency Campaign to save the life of Reggie Clemons. NAACP Units across the US are collecting signatures on petitions to prevent the execution of an innocent man.

The NAACP also supports legislative efforts to end the death penalty in Missouri:

–House Bill 1683 to create a moratorium was introduced by Rep. Bill Deeken. –Senate Bill SB 591 (Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis) would repeal the death penalty. –House Bill HB 1413 (Rep. Mike McGhee, R-Odessa) would compel counties to cover the cost of prosecuting death-penalty cases and create greater overview of which homicide cases could qualify for seeking a death-sentence. –House Bill HB 1415 (Rep. Mike McGhee, R-Odessa) would open the Parole board clemency hearing to the person scheduled to be executed and his/her attorneys and require the Board’s findings be made public. –House Bill 1550 (Rep. Don Calloway, D-St. Louis) would strive to prevent race from playing any role in pursing death sentencing.

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A team comprised of the NAACP executive leadership, communications, policy, and field organizing staff, traveled to Google Headquarters (known as the Googleplex) in Mountainview California to discuss new ideas, applets, and initiatives to merge the power of technology with the NAACP’s historic mission of social advocacy. Over the two day trip, the NAACP team met with various engineers and project managers to discuss how Google technology could be used or modified to amplify our efforts.

Our team was met on-site by David Drummond, Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, and Harry Wingo, DC Policy Counsel for Google. The NAACP team consisted of National President Benjamin Jealous, COO Roger Vann, Director of Unit Capacity Rev Gill Ford, National Field Director Stephanie Brown, Congressional Analyst Carol Kaplan, Senior Manager for Law Enforcement Accountability Dr. Niaz Kasravi, Director of IT Jacob Frimpong, Director of New Media Eric Wingerter, Kansas State Conference President Kevin Myles, Audrey Lamyssaire, Eric Oliver, Carmen Berkley, Jamaa Bickley-King, Curtis Johnson, Adam Lee, and Aba Tyus.

One of the very exciting initiatives we discussed was the development of a tool that would plot the type of data and information the NAACP receives (and has received) through our data collection applet. This tool would allow us to graphically display incidents of racial profiling, discrimination, and police misconduct on an animated timeline; which would give us the ability to easily spot trends and identify areas in need of concentrated reforms. The tool would also greatly assist in Unit’s advocacy efforts because it takes what would otherwise be seen as hundreds of scattered anecdotal reports and compiles them in an easily understood and visually compelling display.

We also discussed various uses and potential applications of Google apps such as Google Voice, Docs, Profiles, Sites, and Wave. Over the coming months, we look forward to rolling out new National and Local initiatives from this effort…

(Top photo: NAACP Leadership team with Harry Wingo at the Googleplex.  Bottom Photo: The NAACP Communications team with NAACP President Ben Jealous, Google Senior VP David Drummond and Google Policy Counsel Harry Wingo)

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