Day 2, 25 July 2011

On my 2^nd day at the NAACP, I spent the morning attended the First Plenary Session.  The purpose of this session is to discuss “The Plight of the African-American Male—Saving Our Community.”  Over 500 NAACP members were expected to attend. 

Guest speakers included

Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles

Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)

Stewart Kwoh, Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Los Angelos

Marc Morial, CEO, National Urban League, NY

Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles County Supervisor

Eric Garcetti, President, LA City Counsel

Alice Huffman, President, NAACP California State Conference

Judge Greg Mathis, TV Personality, Founder, Prison Endowment Funds

Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO, NAACP Baltimore, Maryland

Each member was a prestigious, influential community leader.  Their ethnicities varied from African-American, Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian.   It was a very inspiring session.  It was originally scheduled as a “sit down” session, but by the time the first speaker was done with his eulogy, majority attendants were on their feet applauding.

Issues discussed

Education vs Prison Systems: They spoke about the disparity of our education system and the ever increasing imprisonment rate. The prison population has increased to a point that the government is starting privatize prisons.  They argued that we should focus more on education.  Our education systems are rated 17^th in the world, if we focused more on improving our schools, it will create a domino effect to those in need. 

Voting Rights: The NAACP is lobbying against “Jim Crowe” laws.  The NAACP is lobbying to allow the incarcerated population to vote. Presently, people in jail cannot vote.  They are also trying to prevent state congressmen from passing laws that restrict registration of new voters.  For example, some states require registered voters to have a driver’s license.  This will eliminate a large population of voters--a financially stricken person, who didn’t own a car, most likely did not have a driver’s license.   In other states, citizens who served prison time are not allowed to register until 5 years after freed.  NAACP argues they already served their penance, therefore they should have the right to vote.     

Paying It Forward: The session was not only a celebration of what the NAACP accomplished, but a reminder of the challenges they face today.  As Benjamin Jealous stated, “It is the best of times…It is the worst of times.”  Each key speaker spoke of the strong history the effects of the civil rights movement, women suffrage, increased political minority leaders, and college graduates, but with our successes comes more responsibility.  “In a world, where our generation is given what our forefathers have died to achieve, we must fight to stop the reversal of these rights for the next generation.”

Everybody was talking, laughing, and taking pictures at the end of the session.  I saw a Hollywood actor, Larrie Hennix carrying a camera, respectfully asking to take pictures with the NAACP board members.  It was amazing to see an established actor asking his hero their signature.