Black History

NAACP Celebrates 110th Anniversary of Freedom Fighting

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Had there been no May 17, 1954 (the day the Supreme Court ruled in Brown V. Board of Education), I’m not sure there would have been a Little Rock. I’m not sure there would have been a Martin Luther King Jr., or Rosa Parks, had it not been for May 17, 1954. It created an environment for us to push, for us to pull,” Lewis said.

Published

8 years ago

February 18, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People – NAACP – was founded 110 years ago after a deadly race riot rocked the city of Springfield, Illinois. “Because of the riots in Springfield, that brought about serious conversations and meetings about starting an organization, a national organization, that would try to address racial issues,” said Nell Clay, Springfield and central Illinois African American History Museum president.

The Springfield race riots took place in August of 1908.

Today, the NAACP remains the foremost civil rights organization in the world with an overriding mission: equality for all.

“There were two African Americans in jail, one accused of rape and one accused of murder,” Clay said. “A mob came to the jail to do their own justice by lynching the individuals.”

Several lives were lost and property was destroyed during the race riot. But at the time, there had been race riots throughout the nation, according to the local Fox affiliate near Chicago.

So why did the Springfield race riots lead to the formation of the NAACP? “Because Springfield was the land of Lincoln – the individual that freed the slaves,” Clay said. “Maybe there was a thought that this was a great place for African Americans to live.”

Once the riots were over, discussions began for a necessary organization.

“People got together around the country, especially throughout Illinois, and said again enough is enough. You need to meet and form an organization that will deal with race in America because race riots were unacceptable,” said Teresa Haley, president of the Illinois NAACP chapter.

Several scholars officially founded the NAACP in New York on February 12, 1909.

Throughout its history, the NAACP has fought to meet the objectives of people of color and have kept to their main goals and principles including:

To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens
To achieve equality of rights and eliminate race prejudice among the citizens of the United States
To remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes
To seek enactment and enforcement of federal, state, and local laws securing civil rights
To inform the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and to seek its elimination
To educate persons as to their constitutional rights and to take all lawful action to secure the exercise thereof, and to take any other lawful action in furtherance of these objectives, consistent with the NAACP’s Articles of Incorporation and this Constitution.
During its 110th anniversary observance, the NAACP has recognized its founders.
Founding member William Walling authored, “The Race War in the North,” an article detailing the Springfield race riot.
Founding member W.E.B. Du Bois served as the NAACP director of publicity and research from 1910-1934, and was a member of the board of directors, and founder and editor of “The Crisis Magazine,” which continues to serve as a source of news and information from an African American perspective.
In her years at the NAACP Rosa Parks worked specifically as a criminal justice and sexual assault investigator. In 1944 she lead the investigation into the rape of Recy Taylor.
Founding member Ida B. Wells was an investigative journalist and educator. A pioneer in the anti-lynching movement, Wells dedicated much of her life’s work to the cause and published extensive research on the psychological implications of lynching.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the NAACP led the Black civil rights struggle in fighting injustices such as the denial of voting rights, racial violence, discrimination in employment, and segregated public facilities.

From 1920 to 1950, the NAACP focused on five major areas: anti-lynching legislation, voter participation, employment, due process under the law, and education, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

At yearly conventions in different cities around the country, it drew attention to regional needs and interests and encouraged nationwide participation.

Thurgood Marshall grew up in a nurturing African American community in segregated Baltimore.

After graduating from all-black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, he enrolled in Howard University’s law school. In 1934, he began practicing law in his hometown and immediately was drawn into the local civil rights movement.

In 1938, Marshall took over the leadership of the NAACP legal team from his mentor Charles Hamilton Houston.

A year later, he established the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund to carry out the organization’s legal campaign. Marshall’s legal skills, his earthy wit, and easy manner made him an effective leader.

Soon after graduating from law school, Thurgood Marshall took the case of Donald Gaines Murray, an African American student seeking admission to the University of Maryland School of Law.

This case went to the state Supreme Court and successfully challenged segregated education in Maryland.

Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate the recent anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education, which Marshall and the NAACP argued, legendary U.S. Rep. John Lewis said:

“Had there been no May 17, 1954 (the day the Supreme Court ruled in Brown V. Board of Education), I’m not sure there would have been a Little Rock. I’m not sure there would have been a Martin Luther King Jr., or Rosa Parks, had it not been for May 17, 1954. It created an environment for us to push, for us to pull,” Lewis said.

“We live in a different country, a better country, because of what happened here in 1954. And we must never forget it. We must tell the story again, over and over and over,” he said.

The NAACP’s role in the Civil Rights Movement was vital, said Maryland Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings. “Today, the organization continues to fight for the freedom, justice, equality, educational, social, economic and political quality of all,” Cummings said.

“This vital work has created justice and opportunity for all of us today and for generations yet unborn.”

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Practitioners of African Traditional Spirituality Offer Ancestral Reverence Ritual Oct. 31

The Council for Global Ancestral Reverence will host “Ancestral Souls Rising” from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, featuring a three-day gathering of prayer and discussion. Led by elders and priests across the African diaspora, the seventh annual ritual honors those lost without traditional rites while addressing current social challenges. This year’s event connects ancestral wisdom with contemporary issues, including a two-day conversation inspired by Afro-Beat music focused on Black community solidarity and the sacred importance of voting. Read more for details on the ritual schedule and participants.

Published

6 days ago

October 19, 2026

Post News Group

Oakland native Nedra Williams writes sacred symbols on the ground in San Leandro. Courtesy photo.

By Special to The Post

The Council for Global Ancestral Reverence (C4GAR), a group of elders who practice African traditional spirituality, will lead a three-day gathering of prayer and discussion from Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

Called ‘Ancestral Souls Rising,’ the council members and 21 priests will lead the prayers from many parts of the African diaspora: Africa, Portugal, and across the U.S. from Maryland to the Bay Area.

Now in its seventh year, the annual ritual began during the 2020 pandemic when hundreds of thousands of people died alone and were buried in mass graves without rites and rituals according to loved ones’ traditions.

This prayer event was and is intended to give peace to the departed and comfort for the living who still mourn. Each year, we gather names of new ancestors from living elders to elevate them into the “Great Hall of the Titans.”

In ensuing years, C4GAR added themes to the prayer gathering that referenced current events. In 2024, before the consequential presidential election, C4GAR called on people to vote, invoking the memory of Civil Rights Movement heroes and heroines like John Lewis, who urged “Good Trouble,” and Fannie Lou Hamer, who famously declared that she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The day of global Prayer on Oct. 31 will be followed by a two-day conversation inspired by “The Blueprint,” an Afro-Beat song by UyiosaEl, to write our new blueprint that supports solidarity and action in the Black community.

“Our elders have, for many generations, known the power of prayer, ritual and breath,” the council said in a statement.

It was and is their intention, then, to use the cultural wisdom, the gift of prayer “and the most sacred thing we have, our breath, to send energy into the world that invokes and honors our ancestors,” the council statement continued.

“Doing this creates a vibration that protects us and employs their ancient wisdom for the well-being of our communities,” the elders said.

The councilmembers, all over the age of 60, recognize that what is now history for so many was once their lived experience. And that history, those joys and sorrows, are now in their bodies.

To them, the uttered prayer and the sacred breath are oaths to an unfolding future that people can still shape.

The council members are Dr. Iyabeji Cathy Royal, Iyalocha Jennifer Dillard, Manbo Charlene Desir (Florida), Nana Sula Spirit (Louisiana), Baba Obafemi Feyemi, Ohen Nedra T. Williams, and Iyalocha Wanda Ravernell-Stewart Emeritus (Oakland).

This year, they also encourage everyone within their reach to VOTE because it is not only a secular and political act, but a sacred one. Remember, the ancestors were denied that right and died for it.

For tickets, go to:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/council-for-global-ancestral-reverence-presents-ancestral-souls-rising-26-tickets-2003127345814?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Oakland Post: Week of October 14 – 20, 2026

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6 days ago

October 19, 2026

Oakland Post

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Black History

OP-ED: The Black Church Writes AI’s Next Chapter

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — I implore my fellow faith leaders to use these tools. Start now and use them with wisdom. We count on each and every one of you to make sure our communities help write the next chapter of this story. This rapid change is not as unfamiliar as it may sound. My first understanding of AI came from using a calculator for the first time in grade school. We did not call it AI, but it was a tool that helped me work through mathematical equations hours more efficiently.

Published

6 days ago

October 18, 2026

Post News Group

For generations, the Black church has stood strong in our communities through every historical change this country has experienced. During the civil rights movement and in recent times, faith leaders have helped uplift Black sanctuaries to register voters, keep food pantries open for people in need, and sit with families in hospital rooms in their most desperate moments. When our people faced new trials, they could always look to our faith leaders and the church to lean in to help us be included in these transformative changes.

Artificial intelligence is the latest revolutionary change to impact our society, and much like other transformations before us, underserved communities often get left behind.

I was recently featured in a report entitled “Faith, Community & AI” and it found that people send ChatGPT more than 70 million messages a week about religion. Nearly 22 million involve studying sacred texts, and 16 million ask about religious practices and holy days. Our members make up part of those numbers. They bring questions of faith to these tools every day.

Pastors have noticed, and according to a September 2025 Lifeway Research survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors, 42 percent said they use or experiment with AI in ministry. I count myself among them.

I write my sermons by hand, through prayer and study. When I finish a draft, I ask ChatGPT this question: “Where might this sermon become unclear or difficult to follow for someone early in their walk of faith?” It shows me gaps in my preparation, like where I incorrectly assumed everyone would know the context of who the Pharisees were. Then, change comes from my own pen, not the robot. The tool helps me reach the person in the back pew while the message still comes from me.

If I could have my wish, our whole community would take a similar posture. We must use these tools, understand them, and most importantly be present to help shape them if we want to be included in the coming change.

I implore my fellow faith leaders to use these tools. Start now and use them with wisdom. We count on each and every one of you to make sure our communities help write the next chapter of this story. This rapid change is not as unfamiliar as it may sound. My first understanding of AI came from using a calculator for the first time in grade school. We did not call it AI, but it was a tool that helped me work through mathematical equations hours more efficiently.

It starts with training; there is no involvement without understanding. Free AI trainings have begun in our churches and community centers across the nation. Every faith leader should sign up and, when possible, encourage members of your congregations to join you. By learning how to use AI, we can better understand what it can do, make up our own minds about its impact, and have a say in how it shapes our communities.”

Next, we must be at the tables where the builders of these tools make decisions. Presence is the first step toward understanding, and that gap is only bridged through a coordinated effort. How can any tool serve a community well if that community is not part of the conversation? Our traditions, needs, and concerns must be accounted for, and Black faith leaders are already making that happen. OpenAI’s recent Faith report states plainly that AI should never become an arbiter of religious truth. I fully intend to hold the company to its word, and the most effective way I can do that is from inside.

I will close with this––we must diligently protect what only the church can give. A believer in Seoul, Korea quoted in the report warned, “if you pour every struggle into a private chat, your pastor and your friends may never learn you need help.” A chatbot will not sit with a grieving family or pray with you at two in the morning. As we adopt this technology, it is up to us to ensure it keeps people connected to each other and to their church.

Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey is senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York.