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Monday, June 23, 2008, 11:00 AM
NAACP celebrates rebirth By Janet Conner-Knox Close to 300 people came out to take part in the first Freedom Fund Banquet of the resurrected Wilson Branch of the NAACP Saturday night at Darden Alumni Center. The Wilson chapter had been inactive for four years before deciding to reorganize in 2007. The chapter, which now has more than 115 members, is going great said the Rev. M.K. Smith, community coordinator of the NAACP. "There is a whole new excitement about the NAACP," he said. "We are energized and looking forward to meeting the challenges of this generation." The theme for the banquet was building on a firm foundation, and officials called for young people to take on the work of the organization. "Grandmom may not be able to march any more," said the Rev. Theodore Woolridge, vice president of the local chapter. "It is time for the torch to be passed and be put into your hands -- you, the next generation. Become a freedom fighter." Woodridge said that the city of Wilson still has lots of work to be done in the areas of housing, unequal education, lack of health care for working people and an unfair justice system. Wilson NAACP president the Rev. Alonzo Braggs said that the Wilson chapter will form two college branches and three high school branches to work in the city. He said the youth chapters will function just as the adult chapter works and will have their own officials and address concerns that come their way. Braggs said that unlike the past, the youth branches of the NAACP will not have to wait until there is an adult meeting and ask to be put on the agenda. He said they will set their own agendas and work on solutions for them and their peers. "This is not a new concept," said Braggs. "The NAACP has always counted the youth as an important part of fighting for what is right." In addition to the youth chapters, Smith said that the NAACP wants to bring all citizens of Wilson together. "We are at a critical point in our city," he said. "Several things in the last several years has put a wedge between the citizens both black and white. So one of the things for the NAACP is to try to dissolve that wedge and try to bring everyone together." Smith said that the NAACP has a 14-point agenda they are presently working on to improve the lives of people living in Wilson. "We are not only concerned with the lives of African-Americans," said Smith. "We are concern with everyone, no matter what the race, who are suffering. Our 14-point agenda goes past the needs of one race and one group of people." The agenda includes increasing wages and support for low income people, financially supporting historically black colleges and universities, abolishing the death penalty and mandatory sentencing and protecting the rights of immigrants from Latin America and other nations. The keynote speaker was the Rev. Janel Dixon, of Calvary Presbyterian Church. Dixon reminded the group that the National NAACP had set the tone for what the local chapters have to accomplish. "W.E.B. Dubois, who founded this organization, set the tone for the work that needed to be done then and now," said Dixon. "He said there are 'mighty causes that call us,' like freeing of women, education of children, alleviation of hatred, murder, poverty and suffering, and the tearing down of social, political and economic injustice." janet@wilsontimes.com | 265-7847
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