Local NAACP celebrates 100 years

Civil rights veterans, elected officials, justice advocates and others gathered at the William & Mary McCaffrey Ballroom in Xavier University’s Student Center on Saturday night, June 13. to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New Orleans ranch of the NAACP.

Among those in attendance at the 2015 Centennial Freedom Fund Banquet were U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite, former New Orleans First Lady Sybil Morial, Xavier University President Dr. Norman C. Francis, World War II veteran Winston Burns Sr., NAACP Louisiana State Conference President Dr. Ernest Johnson, Southern University at New Orleans Chancellor Dr. Victor Ukpolo, Dillard University President Dr. Walter Kimbrough, local cable-access show “OurStory” executive producer and co-host W.C. Johnson and community activist Carl Galmon among others.

New Orleans NAACP Branch president Morris Reed addresses
those in attendance at recent Freedom Fund banquet.

A special award was presented in honor of the late Llewellyn J. Soniat, a longtime fearless and dedicated NAACP member who passed away in 2014. Soniat was tireless as advisor to Xavier University’s NAACP chapter and was unrelenting in protesting the killing of Georgia Southern University student-athlete Levon Jones by four white bouncers outside Club Razzoo in the French Quarter and the many injustices Blacks and low-income residents were subjected to in New Orleans before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.

The Llewellyn J. Soniat High School Activist Leadership Award was presented to 18-year-old April N. Moran, a member of NAACP New Orleans Youth Council and a 2015 graduate of East Jefferson High School.

Others receiving awards were the Rev. Dr. Warren Ray Jr. — Gregory Washington Lucas Community Service Award. Carl Galmon —Daniel Ellis Byrd Award; Andy Washington — Arthur J. Chapital Sr. Education Award; Carmen Morial — Jessie B. Vickman Special Teacher Award; and Chad Hudson — Dr. Raphael Cassimere Jr. Outstanding Leadership & College Activist Award.

The Presidential Special Cen­tennial Trailblazer Awards were presented to World War II veteran and U.S. Medal of Honor recipient Winston Burns Sr.; former New Orleans First Lady and Xavier University administrator Sybil H. Morial; and outgoing Xavier University president Dr. Norman C. Francis, the longest-serving university president in U.S. history.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite delivered the keynote address at the Centennial Freedom Fund Banquet.

The Hon. Morris W. Reed Sr., a former law enforcement officer and Orleans Parish Criminal Court judge, is currently serving as president of the New Orleans Branch of the NAACP.

After he was elected to replace NAACP president Danatus King, who stepped down at the end of his term in December, Reed promised to restore the New Orleans Branch of the NAACP to its former state of unrelenting activism and advocacy in pursuit of equal justice, civil rights and economic fairness. He also promised to reach out to young people in an effort to boost the civil rights organization’s membership in order to ensure that its historic mission continues for generations to come.

During its Centennial Freedom Fund Banquet, the New Orleans Branch of the NAACP distributed information about its Select To Elect (STE) Initiative, an effort to empower those who have been blocked by current laws, customs and practices from achieving the American Dream and maximizing their political and economic power.

“The STE (initiative) is a movement and the task at hand is to organize and become leaders of our own communities,” the organization said in a flyer distributed at the banquet.

“Either you govern yourself or someone else will,” the flyer adds.

The flyer encourages residents to become active members of the NAACP and to contact Andy Washington, chairman of the New Orleans Branch of the NAACP’s Political Action Committee, for more information at (504) 822-8515.

This article originally published in the June 22, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.