Memphis NAACP Youth Council members, parents and chaperones who traveled to New York City for the Centennial NAACP Convention were, front row (l-r): Michael Darling, Courtney Watson, Lauren Baskin, Sherissa Ervin, DePorschia Green holding Waleska Martinez, Brittany Haley, Lindsey Burgess, Sharon Walker, Christopher Gibbs, and Linda Gibbs; second row (l-r): Jackie Watson, Ross Williams, Trey Love, Albert Morris, Jr., Daryl Love, Jr., Chauncee Gibbs, Deborah Martinez, and LaSherlette Jones, Youth Advisor. (Courtesy photo)

NEW YORK CITY – Without a doubt, the highlight of the NAACP Centennial Convention held July 11-16 in New York City was the appearance of President Barack Obama on Thursday night at the Freedom Fund Gala, where later longtime NAACP Chairman Julian Bond received the 2009 Spingarn Award and Chaka Khan performed.

President Barack Obama wowed the audience at the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet. (Photo courtesy of NAACP/NNPA)

On the convention’s final night, nearly 100 New York City police covered the area in and around the New York Hilton, site of the convention, while dozens of others, including Secret Service agents and hotel security, were vigilant and evident hours before the arrival of the president.

NAACPers, such as former Memphis City Schools teacher Ernestine Cunningham, and other banquet-goers stood in line starting at 2:30 p.m. until the doors opened for the 5 p.m. event, which was rescheduled from 7:30 p.m. for the presidential address. According to Chairman Bond, there were three overflow rooms in addition to the main ballroom.

President Obama spoke face-to-face in the main ballroom before 2,000 association members, celebrities (Cicely Tyson and P. Diddy among them), sponsors and other guests while others viewed him on flat screen monitors in overflow rooms. Additionally, it was possible to see the celebration in the hotel lobby and in individual hotel rooms.

Mindful of last year’s convention where he pledged to return as president the following year if they worked to elect him, Obama congratulated and thanked members of the oldest and largest civil rights organization in America for his victory and election as the nation’s first African-American president.

The speech, written two weeks ago and revised again before delivery, was masterful and reminiscent of his campaign days. The crowd was solidly behind him. Although later at a press conference, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous confirmed an earlier comment that if Obama was Lincoln then he would be his Frederick Douglass, holding him accountable. Jealous also said he had worked two years and the organization itself had worked hard to make “this man our next president” and Obama was “our big bet to improve our position in America.”

In the speech, President Obama spoke about laws and policies to improve education, healthcare, and economic equality as well as personal responsibility.

“Innovative programs and expanded opportunities in and of themselves will not make a difference if we as parents and community leaders fail to do our part by encouraging excellence in our children,” he said.

“Government programs alone won’t get our children to the Promise Land. We need a new mindset, a new set of attitudes because one of the most durable and destructive legacy of discrimination is the way we’ve internalized a sense of limitation: how so many in our community have come to expect so little from the world and from themselves.”

Cunningham, part of the adult delegation from the Memphis Branch NAACP, said later, “I enjoyed Obama’s entire speech but I was really impressed when he said, ‘The state of our schools is not an African-American problem, it is an American problem.’ And I like the part where he said ‘If black and brown children cannot compete, America cannot compete.’ The barrier of our time is unemployment, healthcare – and black children are five times as likely to be jailed as white.”

The energy and excitement was evident from the numerous outbursts of applause to the Amen corner the president acknowledged during his speech. Jealous said that he saw 93-year-old NAACP members who cried during the speech.

The 44th president of the United States was the first sitting president to speak on disparities to the association, said Jealous, and the fact that he affirmed his position on disparities was very important.

Obama acknowledge past civil right successes and challenged the NAACP. He said, “Even as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of the past one hundred years…we know that too many barriers still remain…. African Americans are out of work more than just about anyone else… African Americans are more likely to suffer from a host of diseases but less likely to own health insurance than just about anyone else…. an African-American child is roughly five times as likely as a white child to see the inside of a jail…. even as the scourge of HIV/AIDS devastates nations abroad, particularly in Africa, it is devastating the African-American community here at home with disproportionate force….These are some of the barriers of our time.”

“How do we move forward in the next one hundred years?” he asked. “The first thing we need to do is make real the words of your charter and eradicate prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination among citizens of the United States.”

The president closed his speech with words of hope, saying “I know we can come together to face down the challenges of our own time. We can fix our schools, heal our sick, and rescue our youth from violence and despair” and incorporating lines from “Life Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” The audience erupted with chants of “Yes we can, yes we can!”

He was quickly spirited away while dozens and dozens of hotel guests rushed to street-side windows for a glimpse of the president and to see his limousine drive away.

Other Convention Highlights

• An estimated 5000 to 8000 people attended the NAACP New York convention.

• A panel discussion of past Spingarn Award winners on July 15 included Dorothy Height, Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, Earl Graves, Jesse Jackson Sr., Vernon Jordan, Colin Powell, Lawrence “Doug” Wilder, Andrew Young and four members of the “Little Rock Nine.”

• TV’s Judge Greg Mathis was elected to the NAACP Board of Directors.

National NAACP executive director from 1977 to 1993, Dr. Hooks gave greetings at the opening plenary session and introduced keynote speaker Bishop John Richard Bryant at the Religious Leaders Luncheon on July 13.

• Maxine Smith, a member of the national board of directors and chair of the NAACP Education Committee, announced the 2009 scholarship winners.

• The Memphis adult delegates also included Debra Brown, Warner Dickerson, Velma Lois Jones, Barbara Tabor Scott, Coleman Thompson, Willie Mae Willett.

• Nearly a dozen members of the Memphis Youth Council with youth advisor Lasherlette Jones, attorneys Phyllis Aluko and Carlos Bibbs, Herman Morris, Jesse Turner Jr. and Bishop William Graves attended.

• The Youth Council was recognized with the Lucille Black Award for Membership production. They received the 2009 Issue Award for National Initiatives, which included the Council’s direct action against predatory mortgage lending, their campaign to end campus racism and issues session with Tennessee legislators. The won the 2009 Issue Award for their Voter Empowerment project and the 2009 Issue Award for Education projects. And they were again named the NAACP Youth Council of Year.