The award has been given annually since 1944 from a grant from Dr. Ross Thalheimer, a Johns Hopkins University instructor in philosophy and a University of Washington instructor in philosophy and sociology. He was also president of the Thalheimer Foundation Inc.
“This award represents all the hard work that our unit does, day in and day out, to fight for the rights of our citizens across the Miami Valley. I humbly share this award with all of our members,” Dayton Unit NAACP President Derrick L. Foward said.
The NAACP’s 109th Annual Convention was held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center from July 14 through the 18 in San Antonio, Texas. The theme was Defeat Hate-Vote.
The convention included a strong call to action to register and mobilize voters for the fast-approaching midterm elections, according to Dayton Unit NAACP’s Scott Sliver, who is chairman of the communications, press and publicity committee.
The purpose of the annual conventions is to set policies, programs and plans of action for the coming year. A big focus was placed on youth empowerment and involvement.
There were four Dayton area high school students who travelled to San Antonio to compete in the 40th Anniversary ACT-SO (Academic, Cultural, Technical and Scientific Olympics.) Competition.
“It’s inspiring to see such talented young people competing at the highest level,” said Foward. “This was a great opportunity for our youth to get national exposure and to rub shoulders, not only with other competitors, but also with the judges, who are professionals in their respective areas of expertise.”
“We’re the NAACP. We don’t follow movements… We define movements,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said to those who attended.
Former President Bill Clinton made a surprise appearance.
The NAACP’s mission remains unchanged, to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all people, according to Sliver.
The 110th NAACP Convention is slated to take place in Detroit, Michigan, in 2019.
The Dayton Unit NAACP was founded in 1915 and is the city’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Members throughout the Dayton region and Montgomery County are advocates for civil rights in their communities.
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