A recommitment to support the youth, black businesses and civic engagement
Amid thousands of employees out of work due to federal furloughs, the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming and threats to federal funding for teaching Black history, the 116th Annual NAACP National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, held July 12-16, emphasized the importance of strengthening Black entrepreneurship, passing the advocacy torch to youth, and a recommitment to the core principles of civil rights.
Featuring panel discussions, workshops and a Black business showcase, the conference was a moment to work toward furthering the mission of the NAACP since its founding in 1909: advancing the needs of people of color.
“The NAACP Convention has always been a place where people across the country come together to map out our advocacy and mobilization strategies to advance civil rights and democracy for all,” Johnson said in a June statement announcing President Donald Trump would not be invited to the convening. “Our annual convention is meant to be a safe space for all people — regardless of political ideology — who believe in multiracial democracy and the ideal of building a more perfect union.”
From highlighting Black business owners, who set up booths and sold their wares during the event, to attendees voting on several NAACP resolutions, the five-day event was all about working toward the empowerment of African American communities nationwide. Further, delegates voted on several key policies, including: defending LGBTQIA+ rights, opposing the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and focusing on the impact of dismantling diversity equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Having been committed to organizing since childhood, Layla Amin, a senior industrial engineering major at Morgan State University and intern at Boeing, said attending the convening brought a sharp sense of urgency and clarity to her activism.
“The call to action is essentially being militant in everything that you do and putting your best foot forward,” said Amin, who serves as the president of the NAACP’s Maryland State Conference Youth and College Division and is preparing to graduate in December.
NAACP Highlights Black Buying Power
Eartha Johnson’s Texas-based family is filled with lawyers, a prosecutor and a judge who understand the criminal justice system and are on a mission to help all of America understand in a creative way.
She explained that her family gets calls when people are in trouble.
“More often than not it’s because they don’t know the law. [Crime No Crime] is where they learn it. It’s a fun game played like a family feud,” she told The Informer. “The first level of the game is easy: crime or no crime. The next step is understanding what the sentencing would be for breaking a law.”
The game has 250 questions and breaks down felonies, misdemeanors, police searches, seizures and interrogations.
“[There’s] no game more relevant than Crime No Crime,” Johnson said, emphasizing how people can apply what they learn from playing the game to protect themselves in the real world. “The child or life you save just may be your own.”
Elizabeth Booker Houston Energizes Youth, Passing and Seizing the Torch
Lawyer, comedian and social media personality Elizabeth Booker Houston was among one of the to encourage youth attendees at the event.
She spoke about Claudette Colvin and misinformation and the history of the civil rights movement.
“When [keynote speaker Elizabeth Booker Houston] said it took 10 years to do the Montgomery bus boycott… that was really inspiring to me,” Amin said. “The movement did not happen overnight.”
Through her engaging message, Booker Houston fired up the future change makers.
“When we talk about the urgency of now, you act now, but you don’t stop just because it doesn’t happen right away,” Houston said. “There’s a lot of people who are stretching their civic engagement muscles for the very first time, but you have to keep working that muscle, you do not let it atrophy.”
“Your ancestors made you for this moment… you cannot let these people in the white supremacy house… convince you that you were not made for this. When we talk about igniting power, make sure the power keeps growing,” she said. “You are in an institution that keeps growing and I need you to keep growing.”
In addition to Booker Houston’s address, youth attendees took advantage of workshops and opportunities to network and mingle, including at an HBCU party.
Many student attendees were eager to carry the civil rights torch forward amid the nation’s current equity and justice challenges.
“We’re not going to take anything lying down,” Amin said. “Yes, things look grim, but that doesn’t mean we stop fighting. This is the urgency of now. This is the time when we fight harder.”
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