Last Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, the NAACP turned 109 years old. The oldest and the boldest civil rights organization works daily to address the issues of political education, economic and social racial injustices, adhering to its founder’s original mission.
In St. Petersburg Branch No. 5130 has worked diligently to address issues of racial and social injustices in relevant and meaningful ways. We are actively supporting efforts to ensure that the NAACP’s legal defense fund is successful in their fight to ensure our children receive a quality education within the Pinellas County School system. We have held parent forums providing opportunities for parents to voice their experiences and concerns.
We have worked to ensure that disabled veterans have the right to live where they choose. Just recently our efforts have involved advocating on behalf of African-American employees to be free from racial injustices in the workplace within in one of our downtown bars.
We are currently working to address the underlying social and economic issues that have created an epidemic of diabetes and kidney related illness that have black people dying disproportionately from diseases that can be prevented with proper exercise and diet.
We are working to bridge gaps between the St. Petersburg Police Department and feelings of individual’s civil rights being violated on one of the most revered holidays in the African- American community. On the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday, the African-American community came under siege to a presence of law enforcement that resembled a police state. We are working to ensure that our parents are trained to advocate on behalf of their children.
Our current calendar includes the following:
-
Tuesday, Feb. 27 @ 5 p.m. participating in discussion with community leaders at PTC regarding the workforce development strategy in south St. Petersburg
-
Tuesday, Feb. 27 @ 6:30 p.m. the NAACP General Membership Meeting @ Enoch Davis Center
-
Wednesday, March 7 @ 7 p.m. co-sponsoring a community event in partnership with the Innocence Project at Allendale United Methodist Church
-
Saturday, March 24 from 10-2 p.m. @ Enoch Davis Center in partnership with Janice Starling Williams and many others to host a radical community health fair to educate our community on how to defeat diabetes and kidney related diseases
-
Dr. Noliwe Rooks (TBD)
The St. Petersburg Branch NAACP is aggressively and boldly addressing issues of social, political, educational and racial injustices and our efforts to build is ongoing. In an effort to recruit 1,000 new members in 2018, the St. Petersburg branch is hoping to recruit 109 of those members in honor of our founders and our rich history.
Maria Scruggs
