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Hernando Today

NAACP to hold annual Freedom Fund banquet

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By TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE

Hernando Today

Published: November 5, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - Appalled by the continued violence against blacks and a 1908 race riot in Springfield, Ill. — the resting place of Abraham Lincoln — a group of white activists organized a meeting to discuss racial justice. Some 60 people, including seven blacks, signed the call, which was released to the world on the centennial of Lincoln's birthday, Feb. 12, 1909.

From that pronouncement, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, now known simply as the NAACP, was born.

One hundred years later, the NAACP is now the oldest civil rights organization in America with 600,000 members strong.

The Brooksville branch of the NAACP will honor the organization's history Saturday at its annual Freedom Fund dinner at the Silverthorn Country Club off Barclay Avenue.

The Centennial Celebration will begin with happy hour at 4 p.m., and the banquet will start at 5.

The guest speaker will be retired Army officer and historian Jack Packer. Live music will be performed by Shades from Lakeland.

A resident of Oldsmar, Packer currently is assistant director for the Pinellas County Technical Education Centers and an adjunct history instructor at St. Petersburg College. He is widely considered an expert on African-American history.

Wayman Boggs, president of the local branch, said the annual Freedom Fund banquets are held to raise money to support the organization.

Despite the election of Barack Obama as the nation's first black president, Boggs said progress still needs to be made for racial equality.

"While some people might feel the NAACP is no longer relevant and that we are living in a post-civil rights era, we believe we have been able to exist because we are relevant," he said.

Boggs said there are disparities in the delivery of health care and inequities in the education arena.

And while some people perceive the NAACP as a black nationalist organization, Boggs said membership is open to everyone and many of its members are white.

"We have advocated for all people who are struggling or oppressed," he said. "And although we are a not religious organization, we believe God is on our side and we generally start our meetings with an invocation."

Tickets for the banquet are $50 and can be purchased by contacting Boggs at 442-4242. Other branch members selling tickets are Evelyn Hackney, 684-0340; Beverly Brown, 683-0323; and Kym Williams, 688-7144.

Community news editor Timothy P. Howsare can be reached at 352-544-5284 or thowsare@hernandotoday.com.

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