50th Annual NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet
JACKSON, Tenn. – As attendants of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People entered the Carl Perkins Civic center for the 50th annual Freedom Fund Banquet they were able to walk down memory lane. The event set up a freedom wall that took people back through memorable civil rights moments. NAACP member Jimmie Baylor says she was moved to tears by what she saw. “It really breaks my heart to see where our young people are today,” she said. The event also immortalized local civil rights leaders who NAACP’s Jackson President Harrell Carter says helped change American History. “It’s about remembering those who’ve given so much,” he said. Carter says all proceeds from the event go to helping the local chapter train youth, parents and those wanting to, as he says, ‘fight the good fight’. “If you’re going to fight in the civil rights arena you need to know what you’re doing,” he said. Civil Rights Movement figure James Meredith was the Keynote speaker. Meredith was the first African American accepted into the then segregated University of Mississippi. Meredith says his message for the evening was to ‘motivate the black church’. “The bible says you should train up a child in the way he should go, and when he’s old he will not depart from it,” he said of his message. 700 people attended the event with the goal to raise $50,000. NAACP members say the real goal however, inspire change for the future. Jimmie Taylor says this is jut the beginning “We are not there. We are not where we are supposed to be,” she said. The Jackson NAACP chapter said they will not know how much money was raised until after the event, but says this was their most successful year to date.
