Former NAACP Executive Director and Presidential Medal of Freedom Award winner, Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.
The NAACP is proud of the latest accomplishment by one of its own. Rev. Dr. Benjamin Lawson Hooks was among eight who received the Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in November. The Presidental Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“This is a richly deserved honor,” said National NAACP Chairman Julian Bond. “Benjamin Hooks has had a stellar career – civil rights advocate and leader, minister, businessman, public servant – there are few who are his equal.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizes exceptional meritorious service. The medal was established by President Truman in 1945 to recognize notable service in war. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy reintroduced it as an honor for distinguished civilian service in peacetime.
“As a civil rights activist, public servant, and minister of the Gospel, Dr. Hooks has extended the hand of fellowship throughout his years,” President Bush said in making the presentation. “It was not always an easy thing to do. Dr. Hooks was a calm yet forceful voice for fairness, opportunity, and personal responsibility. He never tired or faltered in demanding that our nation live up to its founding ideals of liberty and equality.”
Dr. Hooks served as executive director of the NAACP from 1977 to 1992 and throughout his career has been a vocal campaigner for civil rights in the United States. During his tenure the Memphis native is credited with implementing many NAACP programs that continue today. The NAACP ACT-SO (Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics) competitions, a major youth talent and skill initiative, and Women in the NAACP began under his administration.
In the late 1980s Dr. Hooks formed a relationship with Major League Baseball (MLB) that led to creation of a Sports Advisory Council and the expansion of employment opportunities for African Americans in MLB to include managers, coaches and positions in the executive suites of the franchises. He even threw the first pitch to open a World Series.
Dr. Benjamin Hooks currently serves as an adjunct professor for the Political Science department of the University of Memphis. In 1996, the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change was established at the University of Memphis. The institute works to advance understanding of the legacy of the American civil rights movement – and of other movements for social justice – through teaching, research and community programs that emphasize social movements, race relations, strong communities, public education, effective public participation, and social and economic justice.
Dr. Hooks joins a growing list of NAACPers who are Presidential Medal of Freedom awardees. Long-time NAACP Executve Director Roy Wilkins, Montgomery bus boycott catalyst Rosa Parks and former NAACP Washington Bureau Dircetor Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. all hold the distinguished honor.
New Voter Empowerment Chief Sets Aggressive Tone for NAACP’s Voter Registration & Education Efforts
The NAACP’s voter empowerment efforts are under new direction. With a background heavy in political advocacy, Greg Moore has been selected to head the NAACP’s comprehensive voter empowerment program across the U.S.
Moore will lead a multi-million dollar effort aimed at boosting voter registration, election protection, education, and awareness around the critical voter participation issues that will surely confront African Americans.
“When African Americans vote they always help determine the direction of the country, so we have a major part to play,” Moore said. "In addition to protecting the right to vote, we also need to reach out to displaced and recently purged voters who will need our assistance in getting their voting rights restored. No one who has registered to vote in the past should have their right to vote denied due to administrative procedures."
Moore will also lead efforts to recruit and train hundreds of NAACP activists on the very latest techniques in voter mobilization efforts including more effective voter registration tracking, enhanced election protection services, and the development of strong partnerships with allied organizations for more effective work in reaching out to disenfranchised voters.
In conjunction with his new responsibilities, Moore will continue to serve as the Executive Director of the NAACP National Voter Fund, Inc.
NAACP 39th Image Awards
Don’t forget the Image Awards ballot deadline!
You can mail the ballots or save postage by voting online at www.naacpimageawards.net
All ballots must be postmarked by February 6, 2008.
Watch the results of your vote!
The NAACP 39th Image Awards airs Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 8:00pm LIVE on FOX
PRICE $20.00 (Shipping & Handling $3.95)
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As part of the second installment of a three-year Commemoration of the NAACP’s upcoming Centennial, the NAACP is offering the Centennial Legacy Calendar. This edition of the calendar will highlight historical events in American history such as: the 1954 Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court Decision outlawing segregation in public education; the comprehensive 1964 Civil Rights Act signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson; 1965 Voting Rights Act, ensuring the right to vote for African American citizens, the tragic assassination in the summer of 1963 of NAACP Field Director Medgar W. Evers and in the fall, United States President John F. Kennedy; and the nomination of Thurgood Marshall, former NAACP Legal Counsel as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1967.
Quantities are limited so order your calendar today! Log on to www.naacp.org or contact Paula Brown-Edme for more information (212-344-7474/800-221-4277)
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