GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2013

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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 91

Sponsors:	Representatives Pierce, Alexander, Farmer-Butterfield, and Floyd (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:

February 13, 2013

A JOINT RESOLUTION honoring the founders of the naacp on the OCCASION of the organization's anniversary.

Whereas, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on February 12, 1909, in New York City; and

Whereas, the NAACP's founders consisted of a multiracial group of activists, including Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, and William English Walling; and

Whereas, the NAACP's mission is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination; and

Whereas, according to the NAACP's constitution, some of the organization's objectives include removing all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes; seeking enactment and enforcement of federal, state, and local laws securing civil rights; and informing the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and how to take lawful action to help eliminate racial discrimination; and

Whereas, the NAACP advances its mission through the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts; and

Whereas, the NAACP has been persistent in achieving its goals through nonviolence, using effective means such as lobbying, demonstrations, and marches; and

Whereas, after years of fighting segregation in public schools, the NAACP's lawyers, led by Thurgood Marshall, won a great legal victory in the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education; and

Whereas, a year later in 1955, the Secretary of the Montgomery Branch of the NAACP, Rosa Parks, was arrested and fined when she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in her hometown in Alabama, an act of courage that served as the catalyst for the largest grassroots civil rights movement in the history of the United States; and

Whereas, the NAACP provided critical leadership and grassroots support for a multiracial movement that won passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the Fair Housing Act of 1968; and the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, laws that ensured legislative protection for victories in the courts; and

Whereas, in 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief Fund to help survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama rebuild their lives; and

Whereas, the dedicated workers, organizers, and leaders who comprise the NAACP have worked tirelessly on the frontlines of social, political, and economic justice; and

Whereas, in North Carolina the Conference of NAACP Branches has been led by Kelly Alexander, Sr., Kelly Alexander, Jr., Melvin "Skip" Alston, and now Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP Branches has succeeded and continues to accomplish its civil rights and social justice work with the support from Executive Secretaries/Directors: Charles A. McLean, Carolyn Q. Coleman, Mary Peeler, Rev. Dr. George I. Allison, James Wiggins, and now Amina Josey Turner; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP is the one of the largest state NAACP in the South, with over 100 adult branches, youth councils, and high school and college chapters across the width and breadth of North Carolina; and

Whereas, for the last seven years, the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP has held an annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People's Assembly to bring about awareness of social, political, and economic injustices in the State; and

Whereas, the assembly held on February 9, 2013, attracted thousands of participants from all across the State, including representatives of 140 coalition groups; Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

SECTION 1.  The General Assembly honors the memory of those who founded the NAACP and expresses appreciation for their vision and the service to our nation and State.

SECTION 2.  The General Assembly expresses appreciation for its significant contributions to social change.

SECTION 3.  The Secretary of State shall transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the President of the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP.

SECTION 4.  This resolution is effective upon ratification.