NAACP celebrates 55 years in Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. — Community members gather at the Carl Perkins Civic Center for the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet.

The Jackson-Madison County Chapter of the NAACP has been changing lives in the city for 55 years. It all started with Brenda Monroe-Moses. Because of the NAACP, she was the first African-American graduate from Jackson High School.

“All over the decades they’ve gone into the courts to brick-by-brick dismantle segregation and discrimination,” she said.

She and many other attendees, like the chairwoman of the Freedom Fund Banquet, are celebrating what the NAACP has done for them.

“The NAACP was at the forefront of integrating schools. So if it wasn’t for the NAACP, I would not have been able to be educated at Vanderbilt University,” remembered Dr. Martha Robinson.

But tonight wasn’t just about celebrating the past. It was also about looking ahead to the future.

“It’s so important to know your history so you can appreciate what’s happening presently and then help to work for a positive future,” said Robinson.

And how are they going to do that?

“We’re all involved, all of us, in different aspects of the community, and so we try to lead by example,” said Robinson. “We’re trying to bring on and rear the next generation. So that our young people are excited and enthused about making our society a better place.”

“We have a lot of work to do, and the laborers are few, but it’s always been that way, and it always will be. God is still working miracles with remnants,” Monroe-Moses said.

But tonight, everyone here is celebrating what has already been done.

 “You have to take time out to celebrate your victories,” Monroe-Moses said.

University of Memphis Head Basketball Coach Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway received this year’s outstanding achievement award. Lane College President Dr. Logan Hampton was the noted speaker, and WBBJ’s own Brittany Hardaway was the Mistress of Ceremonies.