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Commission on Human Rights
Voting carves stone of hope out of mountain of despair, KY Human Rights director says
“As the NAACP readies to celebrate its 100th anniversary, this generation stands on the brink of witnessing the first major party nomination of an African American person to the highest office in the land,” said John J. Johnson, executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. “Our NAACP founders would not have even imagined this as a possibility when they began this great organization in 1909,” he said.
Johnson spoke to the Jeffersonville-Clark County, Indiana National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at its 2008 Freedom Fund Banquet, Saturday, June 7, at the Holiday Inn in Clarksville, Ind.
Johnson encouraged the group to persuade all African Americans in their communities to vote, regardless of their preferences, in the upcoming elections.
“Once the NAACP led black Americans in winning the hard-fought right to vote, every time we cast our vote, we carved together a stone of hope out of what had been a mountain of despair,” he said. “It’s time for people to gear up again to ensure that every citizen fully participates in the upcoming presidential election so that the results reflect the hope and promise of America,” he continued.
There are 42 black members in the U.S. House of Representatives, Johnson told the audience, and the number of black elected officials across the country increased from about 300 in 1965 to over 9,400, currently.
“While we are pleased to see this progress, black elected officials continue to represent only 1.8 percent of all elected officials in the nation,” he said.
The NAACP branch located in southern Indiana recognized its nearing anniversary at the dinner, Saturday. Jeffersonville Mayor Thomas Galligan proclaimed it NAACP Day in the city.
Ida Wells Barnett, Mary White Ovington and W.E.B. DuBois along with others in a diverse group founded the NAACP in 1909, and held their first meeting in New York. The organization has grown to 600,000 members worldwide with branches throughout the U.S.
Every African American alive today benefits from the work and sacrifices of people in the NAACP, Johnson said. Young people need to take the charge, join the NAACP and ensure its vital future, he said.
The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights is the state government agency that enforces the laws against discrimination for the people of Kentucky.
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