Back The Hell Up Off The NAACP

'The most famous initials in America are the NAACP. The most written about voluntary association in America is the NAACP. The most damned group of citizens is the NAACP.'

Langston Hughes uttered those words in 1960 while receiving his Spingarn Medal, and five decades later they are still right on target.

Over its 100 plus year history, the NAACP has become the most written about, most reviled by conservatives organization and the most recognized acronym on the planet.

I'm glad to see NAACP President Benjamin Jealous starting to take it in directions I've wanted to see it go for years such as calling out the conservative movement and its racism.

He's also starting to point out out that hello, there are Black folks who happen to be TBLG people as well and the NAACP needs to be more proactive in fighting for their civil rights as well.

One birthday gift me and my siblings used to receive on a regular basis when we were growing up were youth memberships in the NAACP.

I've been a member of the organization at various points in my life, and thanks to the recent stand they've taken against the Tea Klux Klan and other moves they have been made to modernize the organization and its message, I'm about to rejoin the ranks of card carrying NAACP members.

It's a stand that has resulted in the Tea Klux Klan proving the NAACP's point with their sheeple calling in death threats to the organization's offices and being vilified in conservamedia.

Unlike the conservatrolls swarming the NAACP's FB page, I'm well aware of the NAACP's proud history.

The NAACP's legal wing headed by legendary attorneys Charles Houston and later future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall attacked the specious legal underpinnings of Jim Crow segregation over several decades. They fought to pass an anti-lynching law, desegregate the military, and during World War II ensured that African-American workers were hired for the jobs that opened up in defense plants around the nation.

The NAACP has been our sword and shield on Capitol Hill in terms of helping lead the charge to enact the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the 1968 Fair Housing Act, the 1991 Civil Rights Restoration Act and the 2002 Help America Vote Act, the most current reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, the just passed bill to reduce crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparities among countless others.

Their Legislative Civil Rights Report Cards let us definitively know who our congressional friends and foes are on the Hill.

Is it any wonder why the conservafools want to take it down like they did ACORN?

Not no, but hell no will we as a community allow that to happen.

The NAACP has a 100 plus year track record of passing legislation that helps all Americans in addition to fighting racism. The Tea Klux Klan and the conservative movement only pays lip service to that. They talk a good game, but they are woefully short on longterm follow through.

By the way conservafools, it's not just African Americans who are members of the NAACP. It ws a multicultural group of people who founded the organization in 1909

But if you weren't watching Faux news till your brains rotted you'd know that.

But then again, you already know that, and will just write and broadcast lies about it anyway.

Thank God there are far more 'ejumacated' people of all ethnicities in this country that already know the truth about the NAACP, are aware of its history, the work it has done and its ongoing mission in its now second century of work.

So keep hatin' on the NAACP like you always have, conservafools. This drama is nothing new. You have assassinated its leaders in regional chapters like Medgar Evers. You passed laws like you did in Alabama to try to legislate it out of existence. You have demonized and denigrated it in conservative and white supremacist circles for decades just like your right wing talker and sheeple are doing now, and still the NAACP survives and thrives.

As a proud, soon to be card carrying NAACP American, I say with all deepest sincerity,

Conservafools, back the hell up off the NAACP.

NAACP Calls Out The Tea Klux Klan

The NAACP's 101st annual convention is taking place in Kansas City this week through Friday, and today's news from it made major headlines.

The NAACP is calling out the Tea Klux Klan.

The 2000 NAACP convention delegates passed a resolution yesterday to condemn extremist elements within the Tea Party, calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches.

Judging by the 'circle the burning cross' response from the conservafool movement, that has as much chance of happening as the LA Clippers threepeating.

And predictably, the hate is flowing from them as well.

The resolution will not become official NAACP policy until approved by the National Board of Directors in October.

"We felt the time had come to stand up and say, 'It's time for the tea party to be responsible members of this democracy and make sure they don't tolerate bigots or bigotry among their members,'" NAACP President Ben Jealous said ahead of the debate.

"We don't have a problem with the tea party's existence. We have an issue with their acceptance and welcoming of white supremacists into their organizations," he said.

Deal with it Tea Klux Klan. No thinking person is fooled by your 'we're not racist' spin.

Not even the oldest civil rights organization in America, who knows a group of racists when they see their pointed white sheets showing.

The FLOTUS ' 2010 NAACP Convention Keynote Speech.

First Lady Michelle Obama arrived in Kansas City on Monday to deliver the keynote address for the 101st annual NAACP convention. Here's the video of her keynote address.

NAACP Centennial Convention

The NAACP is celebrating its centennial year and in honor of that, they returned to New York, the city where the organization was founded in 1909.

The Centennial NAACP convention started July 11 and is running through July 16.

President Obama spoke to last year's convention in Cincinnati and will address this year's gathering on July 16. Given the history that he is making every day, that should be an interesting speech and I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

It's interesting that as the NAACP is gathered in its birthplace for their centennial convention and eagerly anticipate the first African-American president's speech to it, we got not so friendly reminders that we still have much work to do.

With the president's own daughter being verbally attacked by people on the Free Republic website and a group of African-American kids being denied access to a suburban Philadelphia swimming pool, seems like we're still in the prehistoric racial and not the post-racial world.

Contrary to the people that complain and state that the NAACP isn't relevant anymore, these incidents point to the fact the NAACP is very much needed in the 21st Century.

Yeah, I'd like to see them take a more vocal stance against the violence directed at Black transpeople, among other issues I have with it. Like any organization, it's only as good as its members, the senior leadership and the board that runs it.

It's not perfect by any means, but neither am I willing to say they aren't 'relevant' as some of its critics do. I like what I see in NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous and I'm willing to give him time to show what he can do.

The Congressional Civil Rights Report Cards they do, along with the work of their their legal arm, the ACT-SO and other youth programs along with being forceful advocates for our people makes them very relevant.

My challenge to you peeps who don't think so is to join your local branches and do what you feel is necessary to make them 'relevant' in your eyes.

Congratulations to the NAACP in its centennial year. Thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do for our people in this century.

2008 NAACP Convention

The AKA's aren't the only historic African-American organization holding a convention this week. The 99th NAACP Convention is being held up I-71 from me in Cincinnati. It started on the 12th and is running until Thursday.

The NAACP will celebrate its centennial on February 12 next year and this convention will kick off a series of events leading up to that date.

The theme for this year's convention is "Power, Justice, Freedom, Vote,” and this year’s annual gathering of more than 8,000 NAACP members, delegates and visitors will be held at the Duke Energy Center. Presumptive Democratic nominee for president Sen. Barack Obama delivered remarks last night, and since it's an election year, the GOP preumptive nominee won't be ignoring or dissing the NAACP by not showing up. Sen. John McCain will also be here in Cincy to speak on Wednesday night.

The National Black Justice Coalition will be on the scene as well for the fourth consecutive year. In addition to having a booth at the convention, America's only nationwide LGBT civil rights organization will have a visible presence at the annual NAACP conference.

-NBJC will host a reception honoring 4 people whose work in civil rights has greatly benefited black LGBT communities. The event is free and open to the public.

-NBJC's CEO, H. Alexander Robinson will address the NAACP Board of Directors and Trustees at their annual Luncheon. The event is closed to the public.

-NBJC will distribute its Black LGBT focused publications at its tradeshow booth during the convention being at the Duke Energy Center. The event is free and open to the public.

-NBJC will co-sponsor the Eyes Open Festival, a Black LGBT Film and Arts event leading up to the convention There is an admission fee.

If you live in the Cincinnati area, you may want to check it out.

Yo NAACP, NBJC...Where Y'all At?

It's been a few days since the video of a Memphis police officer beating down an African-American transwoman was released, and I have yet to see any statement released about it from two organizations claiming to represent me as an African-American person.

The first is the nearly 100 year old NAACP, in which I have had membership status off and on over the years. My brother, sisters and I even had NAACP youth memberships back in the day.

Their new ad slogan is 'The NAACP Is Today', but I don't see you addressing the very real issues that transgender people of African descent face today here in the States. If the NAACP is claiming to represent African-Americans, then I respectfully submit that it includes me as a transgender African-American as well.

While I applaud you for declaring a state of emergency over the treatment of African-Americans by the police, I have yet to hear any NAACP local, state or the national chapter speak up not only about this case, but about the verbal and physical hate attacks on African-American transpeople in general.

As Duanna Johnson's case graphically points out, some of the problems we transpeople of African descent face are at the hands of the people who are supposed to protect and serve us. Nizah Morris' family in Philly is still waiting for a straight answer on what happened to her in 2002.

I suspect that the silence is because some of your chapters are squeamish. hostile or outright reluctant to get involved in speaking out against the BS that African-American GLBT peeps deal with inside and outside the African-American community for specious religious reasons.

When I checked the mirror this morning, I was still Black, I can easily afford to join the NAACP and I still get called 'nigger' and face discrimination from and by racist peeps. Being transgender didn't change that one bit.

The one group I'm most disappointed with is the National Black Justice Coalition. I've had the pleasure of meeting its CEO H. Alexander Robinson at a Louisville event a few years ago. I'm happy that the now three year old organization is making the case about same gender marriage being a Black issue as well, and they are holding Black Church Summits and conferences. I'm estatic that the NBJC not only commented on the ENDA issue, but are a member of the United ENDA coalition as well.

But if you are going to claim that you represent me as an African-American transperson, the organization needs to be more timely and forecful about doing precisely that.

It's insulting and disgusting to me when the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that has done far more in the last ten years to retard my and other African-American transpeople's progress by bitterly fighting transgender inclusion in the Employment Non Discrimination Act, rapidly puts out a press release condemning the attack on Duanna Johnson and calling for a criminal investigation. I have yet to see one syllable written about it on the NBJC website, the organization that's supposed to represent me as an African-American transperson.

Hopefully these organizations will do so in the next week, but if they don't, it's time for African-American transpeople to call them on the carpet and have them explain why.