| News
NABJ Congratulates NAACP on its 100th Anniversary Commemoration
Black Journalists' Association Commends the Strength and Vitality of the Group Working on Behalf of People of Color
Contact:
Abraham Mahshie, Communications/Production Manager
(866) 479-NABJ
|
|
| |
WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 17, 2009 - On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Association of Black Journalists, (NABJ) extends its congratulations and appreciation for the great work the organization has done to achieve a shared mission.
"Few organizations can achieve a centenarian milestone, fewer still can make such a broad and wide-ranging impact on the livelihood of African Americans and other people of color as the NAACP has," said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. "One hundred years of fighting oppression is a long time; though the journey is not over, we praise the vitality and commitment of the NAACP leadership to confront a new era and new challenges facing people of color in America."
The NAACP was founded in New York City in 1909 to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens. In the decades that ensued, the organization has proven instrumental in breaking down barriers for African Americans. The organization celebrated its centennial Thursday evening with an address by the first African-American President of the United States, Barack Obama.
NABJ and the NAACP have an overlapping history that goes back to the founding of the NAACP by W.E. B. Du Bois, who disseminated the civil rights message in part through newspaper columns and by acting as editor-in-chief of the NAACP publication, The Crisis. W.E.B. Du Bois was a charter inductee to the NABJ Hall of Fame in 2004.
NABJ and the NAACP also share a mission to provide educational opportunities and enrichment to youth. This is reflected in the NAACP's ACTO-SO (Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics), an academic enrichment program for high school students that was founded by NABJ President Vernon Jarrett in 1978.
"Each year, when NABJ honors trailblazing journalists among our ranks, we are giving a nod to the NAACP and its members for fighting the battles that created those opportunities," said Ciara. "It is opportune that President Obama be present on the historic night to praise the NAACP, but remind us all that the work is not yet done."
For 34 years, the National Association of Black Journalists has worked to create opportunities and equality for journalists of color through advocacy, education, scholarship and professional training opportunities. This year, NABJ continues in this tradition with the NABJ Annual Convention & Career Fair in Tampa, Fla. Aug. 5-9, the largest gathering of minority journalists in the country. For more information, go to: www.NABJ.org.
###
An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 3,500 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide |
|
The World Eulogizes Michael Jackson
Triangle's Tribute Service Set
Contact
Bruce Lightner
(919) 834-6264
Raleigh 7/3/2009--- Thousands are expected to converge on Raleigh to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the "King Of Pop" during a Memorial Service of Remembrance on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at the downtown Raleigh Convention Center. The proceeding will start at 12:00 Noon.
Organizers are planning a three hour memorial service which will include testimonials from local Jackson fans, musical tributes from area groups. The Martin Luther King All-Children's Choir will perform and prayers of comfort for the pop icon offered by area clergy, and electronic simulcast of Michael Jackson's funeral as it unfolds from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The service will be shown in real time on huge screens throughout the convention center. Promoters anticipate a moving and joyous celebration.
Admission $5.00 per person. Tickets will go on sale at the Progress Energy Center Box Office and the Raleigh Convention Center Box Office 9:00 AM Monday. Doors will open at 10:00 AM on Tuesday.
-30-
NABJ Laments Passing of John Hope Franklin
Updated June 23, 2009
Abraham Mahshie, Communications/Production Manager
(866) 479-NABJ
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is saddened by the passing of acclaimed academic, historian and social activist John Hope Franklin.
"Dr. Franklin made a profound and permanent impact on the black community in America and he will be greatly missed," said Barbara Ciara, NABJ President. "His legacy as a witness and preserver of history have made his message integral not just to black journalists, but to all journalists today and for centuries."
Wil Haygood wrote in The Washington Post: "Franklin, himself a black man, had seen racial horrors up close and thus was able to give his academic work a stinging ballast."
Born in Rentiesville, Okla. in 1915, John Hope Franklin’s family lost everything in the Tulsa race riots of 1921. Prohibited from attending the University of Oklahoma, Franklin attended the historically black Fisk University in Nashville. He went on to receive his master’s degree and doctorate from Harvard University, where he later taught. Franklin also taught at Howard, the University of Chicago and Duke and published some of the most important texts on the African-American experience in the United States.
During the Civil Rights Era, Franklin helped prepare the landmark Supreme Court case for Brown v. Board of Education and he marched with Martin Luther King in Alabama in 1965.
Franklin’s life was dedicated to creating and shaping a scholarship of African-American history. His perspective on the sufferings and struggles of blacks in America helped contribute to an alternative literature of American history.
Franklin's inspiration was evident at the fall 2005 Trotter Group meeting at Fisk University with columnist members of NABJ. The historian was visiting his alma mater during the release of his autobiography, "Mirror to America" and he held 30 writers spellbound with eyewitness critiques of U.S. presidents from George W. Bush to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
It is in this vein that NABJ works on behalf of journalists of color to ensure their perspectives are present in the nation’s newsrooms and critical debates.
NABJ celebrates the legacy and treasures that Franklin made possible for all Americans to share. |
 |
