“…we know from our history that we have to have more than words…”

Reverend William Barber, NAACP National Board Member.

On Sunday afternoon, July 11th, Reverend William Barber, NAACP National Board Member was the first speaker at the legislative workshop titled “Engaging Congress: the NAACP’s Legislative Agenda to Achieve One Nation, One Dream”:

Reverend William Barber: Good afternoon to all of you who have gathered here today for this legislative workshop. My name is, uh, William Barber, State Conference President, member of the National Board, and chair of the Legislative and Political Action Committee of the National Board. It is good to have you all, others are making their way as they come here today.

This is such a critical session…

…The language of our federal constitution is lofty and grand in its tone. We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. But we know from our history that we have to have more than words, and as our very able Washington Bureau chief constantly reminds us in Washington and across this country the struggle continues, what brother Hilary Shelton keeps saying to us.

We have always had to struggle to make the words have meaning in the lives of everyday people. I thought about it when I read again Thurgood Marshall’s speech, the two hundred bicentennial of the Constitution in nineteen eighty-seven. He said this, we the people was far too clear for any ameliorating construction, and yet, writing for the Supreme Court in eighteen fifty-seven, nearly seven decades after the Constitution was penned, Chief Justice Taney penned the following passage in the Dred Scott case – on the issue of whether in the eyes of the framers slaves were constituent members of the sovereign and were to be included among we the people, Justice Taney said, we think they are not, and that they are not included and were not intended to be included, they have been for more than a century before been regarded as being of an inferior order altogether unfit to associate with the white race. And so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. Accordingly, said Justice Taney in eighteen fifty-seven, despite what the words of the Constitution said, the Negro of the African race was regarded as an article of property, billed and bought and sold as such. No one seems to have doubted the correctness of the prevailing opinion of that time, and it is still our opinion today.

Nearly seven decades after the constitutional convention the Supreme Court reaffirmed the prevailing opinion of the framers regarding the rights of Negroes in America. It took a bloody civil war before the Thirteenth Amendment could be adopted to abolish slavery, though not the consequences slavery would have for the future Americans. While the Union survived the civil war, the Constitution did not. In its place arose a new, said Thurgood Marshall, more promising basis for justice and equality. The Fourteenth Amendment, insuring the protection of life, liberty, and property of all persons against deprivations without due process and guaranteeing equal protection of the laws. And yet almost another century would pass before any significant recognition was obtained, the rights of Black Americans to share equally in such basic opportunity as education, housing and employment. He went on to conclude because they had asked him to come and celebrate the Constitution, but Thurgood Marshall said I’ll have to do more than celebrate, I have to tell the truth. He said, what is striking, brother Shelton, is that the role, is the role these principles have played throughout American history in determining the condition of the Negro. They were enslaved by law, emancipated by law. Disenfranchised and segregated by law, and finally they have begun to win equality by law. Along the way new constitutional principles have emerged to meet the challenges of a changing society.

The men who gathered in Philadelphia in seventeen eighty-seven could not have envisioned these changes. They could have not imagined nor would they have accepted that the document they were drafting would one day be construed by a Supreme Court to which had been appointed a woman and a descendant of an African slave. We the people, no longer enslaved, but the credit does not belong to the framers. It belongs to those who refused to acquiesce in outdated notions of liberty, justice and equality and who strive with [inaudible].

The role of the NAACP over these one hundred and one years and the role of the Washington Bureau is to constantly call upon us and every member of Congress to refuse to acquiesce. We and our friends must be the molders of conscience and the makers of change in a place that can and too often does become drunk with the perks of power, Washington, D.C.  And determined by the allure of money where, which, where we the people, especially those in the margins, battered by racial disparities and class disparities, get left out of the debate and the actions of legislation. We have to remember and act upon these grand principles of we the people and demand fundamental change with a clear focus on justice for all and equal protection under the law. So in a sense, the Washington Bureau is engaged in a perpetual sit-in. Just like you sat in at lunch counters we sit in Congress and sit at Representative’s and Senator’s desks to protest. The NAACP Washington Bureau led by lobbyist Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. helped advance not only integration of the armed forces in nineteen forty-eight, but also passage of civil rights act fifty-seven, sixty-four, sixty-eight as well as the Voting Rights Act in sixty-five. Civil rights act in which Mitchell was an unsung hero of the movement for racial equality, Director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau for twenty-eight years, some called him and dubbed him the one hundred and first Senator. One person wrote and called him the lion in the lobby.

Today the lion is Hilary Shelton. [applause] And he leads. Today the visionary is Hilary Shelton and he leads the team, a team whose goal has never been to merely fit into Washington and be happy just to be in the senator’s office or the representative’s office. But whose goal it is propose legislation for fundamental change, challenge legislation that increases racial disparity and poverty and gives more for the haves and less for the have nots. The Bureau of the NAACP is not to fit in, but to engage in a perpetual sit-in, to build political coalitions, to rally actions from the field, and to be a moral instigator that applauds when Congress gets it right, says no when the right wing wants to run backwards, says come on when the expedient wing wants to run scared, and says you have got to be kidding [laughter] when the middle wing wants to please everybody, which almost always leaves out the most needy somebody [voices: “Yes.” “That’s right.”]

While we have made progress, the NAACP and its Washington Bureau heads up the justice wing and our work is not yet done because every social indicator clearly says these United States have not yet fully upheld its founding principles. Too many of our children languish in poverty and are in schools resegregated that are underfunded and underperforming. Too many of our people are without health care and health insurance. Too many of our people suffer when civil rights laws are not fully engaged and implemented, and implemented in education and economically suffer. Many of o
ur people are making minimum wage, not a living wage, and do not have the fullness of labor rights they should have. Too many of our people live in substandard inhumane housing and are victimized by predatory racially biased lending. Too many of our people are affected by global warming and environmental disasters like we see in the Gulf, rooted in deregulation, a lack of oversight, and downright greed. [voices: “That’s right.”] Too many of our poor are warehoused in prison and affected by racist application of the law. We still fall too short of who we claim to be in our Constitution…

…We’re here today to hear the victories, to be clear about the fights ahead, and to recommit ourselves to the principle of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Brother Leon, Brother Shelton, lead us in this endeavor. God bless you….

Reverend William Barber speaking at the July 14th plenary session.

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: report on the impact of the BP oil spill in the Gulf region

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

NAACP in Kansas City: Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – “Now is no time to quit.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Emanuel Cleaver – “Don’t you forget it!”

NAACP in Kansas City: Wednesday afternoon press conference – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Al Sharpton – “There clearly is some racial leaves in their tea bag…”

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Jesse Jackson – “We want jobs, justice, and education for all.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous – “…we all need a testament of hope…”

NAACP in Kansas City: press conference Q and A – “…we’ll keep our eyes on that prize…”

NAACP in Kansas City: Rep. Barbara Lee – “Power concedes nothing without a demand…”

“…Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, it never will…

Representative Barbara Lee (D-California), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

On Sunday afternoon, July 11th, Representative Barbara Lee (D-California) was part of the panel for a legislative workshop titled “Engaging Congress: the NAACP’s Legislative Agenda to Achieve One Nation, One Dream”. Representative Lee spoke on health care reform and other issues:

Representative Barbara Lee (D): [applause]….Thank you so much. Good afternoon. [voices: Good afternoon.”] Hilary [Shelton], first of all, thank you so much for that very warm and humbling introduction. But also, I just have to thank you for your leadership. And, uh, during those very difficult days in two thousand and one I, I want to tell you, it was very difficult to be the only one to vote against giving any president a blank check to go to war forever endless war. But, Hilary, many of you, all of you really stood right there by my side because you knew what that was about. And I really want to thank you so much for your support. [applause] And also I just have to say, yes, we’re trying to end this, uh, endless war. The American people are war weary. And I was so humbled the other night when we took one step toward that and the Lee Amendment got one hundred votes with the majority of the members of the black caucus voting for us to begin to get out of Afghanistan. [applause]  So that was a major, major step in the right direction…

…Let me, uh, thank Reverend Barber, thank you so much for your leadership. Thank you for staying on the front line with all of our foot soldiers of freedom. I want to thank Leon Russell and I have to just thank the entire membership of the NAACP for staying strong and focused and dedicated to freedom and justice. I come from El Paso, Texas originally. My family was a family that was actually, they raised me in the NAACP.  My grandfather, my mother, they helped to desegregate, uh, the schools in El Paso, Texas with, you may know the name, Dr. Nixon. [voices:  “Yeah.”] You remember Dr. Nixon.  So, uh, the NAACP, uh, runs in my blood. And if it weren’t for the NAACP I certainly would not be standing here as a member of Congress. [applause] And so I honor you. I thank you. We’ve come a long way. We have so much further to go.

Let me also take a moment to just, uh, thank Ben Jealous. I know he’s not here, he’s very busy, but Ben, I, he’s still my constituent, you know, he’s from the, uh, Bay area, lives in Alameda. Doing a phenomenal job with the NAACP, as is Roslyn, our board chair. You know, all the young people here, uh, this time is just, uh, it makes me realize that our future is secure. [voice: “All right.”, applause] And so I just have to thank [applause] the leadership for that. Let me also take a moment to, uh, thank Alice Huffman and my, who is our state chair from California and George Howland [sp], my Oakland chair, for, I think the California NAACP, and Hilary and I talk about this, we’re always on the cutting edge of so many issues, and I just have to thank them for staying the course and for really, they can be very proud of being part of the overall California NAACP movement. And of course, to my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, let me, uh, thank Senator Burris for your leadership. Havin’ one voice in the Senate [applause] I tell you can make a difference, that one vote. [applause] And, also, to Congressman Bobby Scott, I mean, Bobby, of course you know [applause] that he’s gonna speak in a minute, but. [applause] He has got a, the entire Congress focused on why we need to put money on the front end in terms of educating our young people, rather than on the back end in cracking this prison, this cradle to prison pipeline, so thank you again, Bobby. [applause] He’s done a [inaudible] job and [inaudible] which you’ll hear about in a minute.

And I have to, uh, just take a moment to say to Charles Ogletree, and, and I really have to share this, Charles, thank you so much for your leadership. And it, when, when Senator Burris came you know all the brouhaha was taking place. I was sworn in as CBC chair during that same week of the brouhaha, right. Bob Harris, my finance committee chair, from Oakland, thank you Bob so much for being here. {applause] Bob called me, Charles called, my first act as CBC chair was to engage in a very clear discussion about why the CBC had to take a unified position and communicate to the Senate that we wanted Senator Burris seated as our Senator. [applause] They backed down after that and I want to thank you Charles [inaudible] thank you Bob. [applause] And that was a tough one, because you know we were just getting back into, uh, session, just elected a CBC chair, I said, oh my goodness, this is gonna be my task, baptism in fire. But I wanna thank forty-two members strong CBC, they got it immediately. There would, there really wasn’t any debate about that. They understood the constitutional issues, they understood that we needed a voice in the Senate, and they knew that he must be seated. And so, I just have to say to the CBC, uh, publicly, thank them for, for that first act, making it such a successful, uh, first act.

I have to, uh, also remind you now about the CBC. It was founded in nineteen seventy-one.  Thirteen members. The CBC continues its role as the conscience of the Congress.  And we are the conscience of the Congress [voice: “That’s right, that’s right.”] . We know that we have not a political but a moral responsibility mind you. This is a moral responsibility to address the issues of, of inequality and injustice. We have to do this and now is our moment to move forward with the NAACP to begin to close these, what we call, moral gaps.  When you look at the NAACP’s legislative priorities, and I just have to say again to Hilary how much I appreciate his hard work and his commitment and his brilliance, because we work so closely together, when you look at this, and he’s gonna get you the CBC’s agenda, each member submitted one bill, we call, our bills to watch. You look at the, the NAACP’s legislative agenda, very consistent, very consistent. We speak with one voice, we’re working together on our Washington agenda, which is not only an agenda to begin to close these moral gaps in the African-American community, but really begins to close these gaps so that America, of course, can be stronger and the American dream can be realized for all. And so these forty-two bills to watch are opportunities for all, pathways out of poverty. The agenda really is the agenda of the NAACP. And so I just want to thank you Hilary again and thank all of you for making sure that we are able to move this agenda forward.

Now let me tell you about the Senate. You heard Senator Burris, he, he, he got down on them. And I just have to tell you a couple of things that, that as the CBC we’ve been doing. You know we’ve been working very hard to get, uh, a jobs bill passed. Uh, Senator Burris mentioned summer youth jobs. I mean, we have been dogging this for months now. Our young people need jobs. They need jobs not only to help build their resume and to give them the work experience, but with this economic downturn they need jobs to help their families [voice: “That’s right.”] put food on the table [voice: “That’s right.”] and pay the rent. They need a job. And so the CBC has been pushing forward, we first had three billion, then we had to pare it down to two billion, and then one point five, we finally got one billion into the House bill several times ’cause we said we weren’t gonna do, we weren’t gonna vote for anything if it didn’t have our bill, our money in it. We got it in, of course, where is it
now? Languishing in the Senate and summer is half way over. So went over several weeks ago to Senator McConnell’s office, CBC members, and we delivered letters for Senator McConnell  and we asked for a meeting and we’re still waiting to get that meeting, but we delivered a letter to members of the Senate who have high rates of unemployment and high rates, high numbers and percentages of African-Americans. We said to Senator McConnell and the senators, we said, you may not know this, but, in your state you have maybe twelve percent African-Americans, you have a fifteen percent unemployment rate, why don’t you get with the program? You know, you’ve got people who are desperate for jobs who haven’t benefitted from this economic recovery. And so I think, I, I’m sharing that because you need to know that inside of the House of Representatives with the CBC not only are we working with our leadership in the House, but we’re trying to help Senator Burris by making sure that his colleagues understand that they are NAACP chapters in their districts, there are people of color, there are African-Americans, there are Latinos in their districts and they need to be accountable. They need to be accountable. And if they’re not accountable, once again, we have to unleash our power at that ballot box. [voice: “That’s right.”] And that’s the only way justice will be served in our country, is unleashing our power. This is a defining moment. We have a president in the White House, Barack Obama, who gets it. We helped elect the greatest president ever. [voice: “Right on.”, applause] The African-American community did that. And he has done a phenomenal job. When you look at health care reform, I mean this was a hard bill to pass. [voice: “That’s right.”] And you know that. But because he was determined, and the Congressional Black Caucus, we had to work very hard with the President to make sure that our issues on health care reform were not dropped from the table. And I’m gonna tell you what some of them were. One is closing health disparity. You know in our communities diabetes, HIV and AIDS, heart disease, all the health disparities in our community have been totally neglected. And so under the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Donna Christensen who’s a wonderful medical doctor as well as member of Congress from the Virgin Islands, she chairs our health task force, we went to the President. We had several meetings with him and the White House staff and said there is no way the Congressional Black Caucus can support this health bill if our health disparities provision aren’t included, if our minority medical colleges aren’t provided for in terms of equal funding, if in fact we don’t expand community clinics, if in fact we don’t do x, y, z. And we had a whole list, I call, of demands. [voice: “Um, hm.”] Well, I want you to know, the President got it. He said yes, we can. We put those provisions in the House bill, those and then some. Got that House bill to the Senate – Rolland remembers – those provisions were dropped just like that. I said, wait a minute [voice: “Um, hmm.”], call Senator Burris, call Harry Reid, [inaudible] we had a conference call. Well I want you to know within sixty minutes those provisions, thanks to Senator Burris, were [laughter] restored [applause] in the bill. [applause] In the bill. You wasn’t gonna vote for it unless it had ’em  in it, that’s right. You told everybody that, and we communicated that. But it couldn’t have happened, again, had they not known that Hilary [Shelton] was watching and waiting and, and in those offices. And that you at our state level were sending those e-mails, communicating to those Senators, saying, look, this health bill has got to have provisions that really begin to close these huge health disparities in the commun, in our communities of color and in the Black community.  And so I share that one piece of information and story with you because I think that shows how, if we speak with one voice and if we do what Hilary and the NAACP and what your chapter presidents are asking you to do we will unleash our power in a big way. [applause] In a big way. [applause] In a big way.

‘Course it’s not a perfect bill. It has its flaws. But, guess what? We’re going back to the drawing board to try to make sure that where it’s not a perfect bill it becomes a perfect, well, a perfect law that now becomes a more perfect law. And so we’re gonna work on those provisions that still, we think, need to be put in to place, such as, I don’t know if all of you support this, but I know most of you support it, public option. [voice: “All right.”, applause] We’re working on getting that back in to the bill. [applause]

The ongoing, uh, BP oil spill in the Gulf is really a, a painful, a very sad reminder of the urgent need for our nation to develop and implement climate change options. [applause] Right, we know what that’s about. [applause] Alternative energy solutions. And strengthening environmental justice efforts. Yesterday, and I think Lisa, the Administrator of the EPA spoke to you about why the Black community has got to be engaged in this debate. We’re in Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s district as we speak and he has been phenomenal. Emanuel serves as the First Vice-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He’s been phenomenal  and on that committee making sure that, he co-chairs the energy task force for the CBC, he and Jackson Lee and, uh, G.K. Butterfield, they’ve been unbelievable in championing the causes of environmental justice and making sure in the energy bill that we passed out of the House includes provisions that insure that our communities benefit from the jobs that are gonna be created as well as don’t pay the price, uh, in terms of  the cap and trade formulas. So they’ve been phenomenal in how they have addressed this, the bill that left the House is a good bill. it could have been perfect, but it wasn’t, coming from my district, I mean, there were some provisions that caused, uh, some of us heartburn.  But it was the best bill we could get. Now it’s languishing, where? [crosstalk] [Senator Rolland Burris: Where is it?  Where is it?] Where is the bill? [Senator Rolland Burris: Where is the bill?] In the Senate. [Senator Rolland Burris: Where is the bill?] [laughter] So when you go home, call your senators and tell them you gotta, we gotta pass this energy bill because the Gulf oil spill now is a horrible reminder of the job that we must do. Again, we have a moral responsibility also to those who have lost their job, to help them recover, to the survivors of Katrina, five years, many many challenges still being faced by the people in the Gulf region and in New Orleans. And again, I know that’s part of the NAACP’s legislative agenda.

I want to say, finally, in closing, um, that I’ve got to thank you for staying the course and staying vigilant because I don’t know what we’d do without you. CBC, forty-two members, these are, forty-two members of the Congressional Black Caucus are the hardest working and smartest members of Congress. I know that. [applause] I know that. I know that. They couldn’t do anything, we couldn’t do anything without you. It’s an uphill battle, constantly, we’re playing offense and defense. Offense and defense. We’re watching the President’s back, we’re working the, with the President, letting him know what we see coming down the pike so we can circle the wagons. And we’re making sure that all of us stay on track.

November is coming up. And I tell you one thing, we have to cast our vote in November, we have to get people mobilized [applause] and organized. [applause] We have to do that. Ten-two-ten is coming up.  And ten-two-ten is gonna be a very important moment in Washington, D.C. and I’m sure know, and Hilary’s been talking about ten-two-ten. We have to have that massive mobilization because that’s how we deal with the tea party [voices: “Yeah.”] and all of these, these, this noise, which is what it is, that’s out there. We have to make more noise. [voices: “Yes.”] We have to keep that street heat on. And we
have to push forward to make sure that not only our votes are cast, but that they are counted and that we move forward unleashing our power. As Frederick Douglass said, if you remember this now, power concedes nothing. I don’t care who’s in that White House. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, it never will, and that is what we must do as the NAACP. [applause] Thank you again.

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: report on the impact of the BP oil spill in the Gulf region

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

NAACP in Kansas City: Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – “Now is no time to quit.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Emanuel Cleaver – “Don’t you forget it!”

NAACP in Kansas City: Wednesday afternoon press conference – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Al Sharpton – “There clearly is some racial leaves in their tea bag…”

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Jesse Jackson – “We want jobs, justice, and education for all.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous – “…we all need a testament of hope…”

NAACP in Kansas City: press conference Q and A – “…we’ll keep our eyes on that prize…”

“…When our budgets reflect the nation’s commitment to jobs and justice, and peace we’ll keep our eyes on that prize…”

“…I’d rather have a guy calling me a name with no power, than a guy smiling at me that has state’s rights power as the government…”

Reverend Jesse Jackson.

There was a question and answer session with the media at the end of yesterday’s press conference:

….Question: …Dave Helling, Kansas City Star.  Uh, Reverend Jackson, you suggested the tea party resolution was a diversion. What did you mean by that? And maybe some of the other members, uh, could, uh, address today’s pushback, Sarah Palin and others that issued statements calling it divisive, inappropriate, that type of thing, sad. Could you talk just a little bit about the tea party resolution?…

(left to right) Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton, NAACP National Board Member Clayola Brow, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP Vice President for Communications Leila McDowell.

…Reverend Jesse Jackson: My point is the agenda we must address is put America back to work, whether you’re in rural Alabama, whether you’re in Appalachia. Put America back to work.  The economy collapsed because banks were not overseen and to their own greed drove us into a hole. They bailed the banks out without linking it to lending and to saving our homes. That’s the focus. People in West Virginia were killed in a coal mine because workplace laws were not enforced, workplace safety. We have this crisis in the Gulf of Mexico because the environmental protection laws are not honored and mining minerals company got colluded with BP and created this crisis. So while they media has a certain sensational taste for arguing, uh, about other groups our focus is put America back to work. And there’s a sense in which our, we are bailing out, with a plan, Afghanistan, bailing out with a plan, Iraq, bailing out the banks, comprehensive immigration reform. Urban America, unemployment among blacks around twenty-seven to thirty-five percent, um, three times beyond the national average. That’s a state of emergency. We want that emergency addressed. And, uh, we used to sing a song in the South. And there were different groups arguing against our case – Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on, hold on – we’ll focus on that prize in, in that, in that room in that big tent, all Americans.

Question: Uh, Reverend Sharpton, could you talk a little bit about the push back and whether you think it’s a diversion to talk about the tea party?

Reverend Al Sharpton: I was in, uh, Alabama night before last and one of the ministers hosting me showed me the court house of George Wallace. The issue in the fifties and sixties was not that George Wallace may or may not have been a racist, the issue was he that he was the governor and could stand in the school house door as governor and stop people from going to jail. The media wants to concentrate on our saying there are elements in the tea party this is racist rather than saying the philosophy of the tea party is anti civil rights, ’cause they’re promoting pro state’s rights on immigration, pro state’s rights across the board which will turn back the clock of civil rights. So, you got part of the sermon without the text. The context is the tea party as a political philosophy is to reverse what civil rights did and that is say the federal government must protect people, whether it’s in Arizona on immigration, or South Carolina on civil rights. And I don’t think Miss Palin or anyone else can deny that they are supporting states to supersede the federal government in these areas. That is the context that, uh, President Jealous and others said, yes, there are elements in there that’s racist, but if you pull down the race signs, and you still want to return to statehood type of governmental operation you will have reversed what King and Wilkins and them did. So, I think the emphasis, the media likes to get into who called the name. I’d rather have a guy calling me a name with no power, than a guy smiling at me that has state’s rights power as the government. That’s what this is about. And that’s why we’ve called for these gatherings.

Question: But how [crosstalk] do we get to fo…

Leila McDowell, Vice President for Communications for the NAACP: We can, what’s, excuse me, we can take one more question. Go ahead.

Question: Eric Wesson, The Call newspaper. How do you get the focus back now away from the tea party resolution back on jobs [crosstalk] and the things that people are [inaudible].

Reverend Al Sharpton: Easy. You all need to ask them to deny or admit whether they’re for state’s rights and breaking down where labor laws, work to right laws in states, immigration, civil rights, all of that. Since you all got it out there. It’s like getting center stage. You all got it the show set, now tell ’em, sing. Sing on whether or not they agree on state’s rights. You all have limited the debate on whether they called us a name, rather than trying to change the Kingian form of government. So I don’t want you to get off the tea party, I want you to make them answer the right question. I don’t care if they like me.  What I care is they try to change the power equation that’s going to protect us. And that’s what Ben Jealous and all of us said.

Question: Ben, Ben could you talk to us about that a little bit? [crosstalk]

Leila McDowell: Um, okay, I’m sorry [crosstalk] we have other reporters and we have to, after Reverend Jackson we have to end it. I’m so sorry.

Reverend Jesse Jackson: What I want to focus on, there are fifty million Americans that can’t get three meals a day. Forty million Americans are in poverty. Twenty million have no job. We cannot re-fund unemployment compensation, but we’re gonna fund a war with no end in sight. And all across America we’re closing schools and building jails. We focus on racing to the top but we need prenatal care, Head Start, and daycare, bottom up, so not to have jail kind of welfare on the back end. So on August twenty-eighth we, around, will be marching in Washington and Detroit and unemployment offices focusing on jobs and justice and peace. Jobs and justice and peace. When our budgets reflect the nation’s commitment to jobs and justice, and peace we’ll keep our eyes on that prize. And come October second we’ll be there in even greater numbers together. Jobs and justice and peace. We will not be diverted nor otherwise distracted by any other messages except put America back to work. We want jobs and justice and peace. Thank you so much.

Leila McDowell: And we’ll have President Jealous. We’re gonna have President Jealous give the last words.

Benjamin Todd Jealous: The, um, we, we considered seventy, approximately seventy-five resolutions at this convention. There’s only one that the media’s focused on. Sixteen of those resolutions were on criminal justice, more than a dozen were on the issue of, of education.  I gave a forty-two page speech, half of one page addressed the tea party. That’s all anybody’s talk
ed about. We need the media to pay attention to the issues that are most important to this country. It’s fine if you want to pay, focus on one half of one page of a forty-two page speech. But we’d appreciate you focus on at least half the other pages, too. Or, or half of another page. We talked about education, we talked about jobs, we talked about criminal justice. We talked about this march where we have people from hundreds of communities across the country who have been here for days planning for a very big and robust march on Washington to put the focus back on jobs, to make sure that the issue of education is dealt with, to make sure that what Frederick Douglass said about com, uh, about the issue of, of immigration, actually goes into action which is that we base it on human rights principles and not mere expediency. That’s what all of us have been saying.

Thank you and God bless, we’ll see you inside the panel….

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: report on the impact of the BP oil spill in the Gulf region

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

NAACP in Kansas City: Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – “Now is no time to quit.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Emanuel Cleaver – “Don’t you forget it!”

NAACP in Kansas City: Wednesday afternoon press conference – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Al Sharpton – “There clearly is some racial leaves in their tea bag…”

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Jesse Jackson – “We want jobs, justice, and education for all.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous – “…we all need a testament of hope…”

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous was the third of three speakers at yesterday afternoon’s press conference at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City.

(left to right) Benjamin Todd Jealous, Reverend Al Sharpton, Clayola Brown, Reverend Jesse Jackson.

….Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP President and CEO: Thank you, good afternoon. [voices: “Good afternoon.”] There’s no one in this country who works harder on behalf of working people than the three people standing right behind me. It’s an honor to be on the stage with all of them.

Eight twenty-eight will be a springboard to ten-two-ten. It’ll be a wake up call to, to the country. We will be asking faith leaders across the country the month of September to preach and teach at their houses of worship about the values of human rights and human dignity, true meaning of Dr. King’s words and the words of all the others who spoke that day in nineteen sixty-three and all of those of us who believe in human rights and human dignity.

Ten-two-ten is being put together by over a hundred and fifty organizations, including many of the largest civil rights organizations, religious denominations and labor organizations in this country. It is intended to show that we are at a place in this country where the majority of people just want to focus on what’s important – be able to put food on the kitchen table, be able to be treated fairly, insure that this economy works for all of us – [inaudible] working class people of all colors, struggling families of all colors. And this march on ten-two-ten really will be a reminder, will be a reflection of the country. You will see Teamsters there, you will NAACPers there, National Action Network and Rainbow and PUSH and National Council of La Raza and LULAC and Jews and Christians and Baptists, Episcopalians and Muslims and Buddhists – all together.

We are one nation and we all need a testament of hope. And that testament of hope for so many families is simply a job and a fair shake.  So I want to thank Reverend Sharpton, I want to thank Reverend Jackson, I want to thank Miss Brown, President Brown of the Randolph Institute {AFL-CIO], for their support of ten-two-ten and for coming together with us to say put America back to work, pull America back together. Thank you very much….

Benjamin Todd Jealous was also on Keith Olbermann last night, in reference to the NAACP national convention resolution on racist elements in the tea party:

….Benjamin Todd Jealous: You know, we got death threats at our office in, uh, Los Angeles today. And, you know, if there aren’t violent racists in the tea party then why are people calling threatening to kill us for speaking out about violent racists in the tea party?

Keith Olbermann: I don’t mean to laugh, but it does sort of prove your point, uh, rather self evidently….

Evidently.

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: report on the impact of the BP oil spill in the Gulf region

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

NAACP in Kansas City: Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – “Now is no time to quit.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Emanuel Cleaver – “Don’t you forget it!”

NAACP in Kansas City: Wednesday afternoon press conference – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Al Sharpton – “There clearly is some racial leaves in their tea bag…”

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Jesse Jackson – “We want jobs, justice, and education for all.”

Reverend Jesse Jackson was the second of three speakers at this afternoon’s press conference at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City. Reverend Jackson spoke quietly – the ambient noise in the room appeared to drop when he first approached the microphone.

….Reverend Jesse Jackson: Thank you very much, Clayola, to Reverend Sharpton, to, uh, President Jealous.

This week, fifty years ago, July sixteenth, nineteen sixty, along with eight classmates, uh, I was jailed for trying to use a public library. A season of great uprising. January first, nineteen sixty NAACP led a march in Greenville, in the airport, because people could not sit in, uh, open spaces. February first, nineteen sixty, sit-ins took place in Greensboro, North Carolina [inaudible] took a dynamic the like of which we’d never seen before. [inaudible] in April of nineteen sixty. Greenville exploded in July of nineteen sixty. Between sixty and sixty-three there were twenty thousand arrests. In nineteen sixty-three alone there was fifteen thousand arrested. A thousand demonstrations by SCLC and CORE, NAACP marched to pull down the walls of racial segregation.

The March on Washington was a culmination of that phase, collecting those activities around the nation. On that day Jim Foreman could not make it, Floyd McKissock spoke in his place, he was in jail in Louisiana. Fannie Lou Hamer could not make it, she was in jail and beaten by prisoners in Sunflower County, Mississippi. I  just left jail [inaudible] of inciting a riot. The season of our global uprising for justice.

Here we come again, forty-seven years later, demanding a national job uprising. Here’ll be a march in Washington , [inaudible] Along with UAW will be marching in Detroit, urging people around, wherever you are, around the nation, have prayer vigils that date, around the nation at unemployment compensation offices. A national jobs and justice day uprising to fulfill the promise of the dream.

UAW had a million five hundred thousand workers ten years ago now it’s down to four hundred thousand. Today it’s USA GM. USA GM, uh, now number one market for Buick is China. So plants are closing, jobs are leaving, drugs and guns are coming and violence is intensifying. So urban America is in a state of emergency. We march, therefore, to address the attacks diminishing  life options of people who live in urban and rural America. Our cities are under siege.

Every city we visit [inaudible] transportation. Cutting public transportation, laying off workers, and raising fares. If you’re on welfare you can not own a car, so without public transportation you cannot get to the hospital, or school, or work, or shop, or recreation. Cutting public transportation, in part because in nineteen ninety-eight Gingrich put in a bill that cities above twenty thousand get zero public transportation money, zero public for workers. Ten percent for capital for buses and trucks, but not for workers. So when we’re in Atlanta, Georgia  or Memphis, Tennessee, or New York or Chicago – one thing you’ll see in all these cities is public transportation cut, workers laid off, and fares [inaudible]. Cities under siege. Public housing cut. Private housing in record foreclosure. The banks have been bailed out and they rejoice, billions of dollars in bailout, not linked to lending nor to reinvestment. So the banks rejoice. We project four million foreclosures this year. More foreclosures than there will be modifications this year because the bailout was not linked to lending.

Public schools are closing. Teachers are being laid off by the thousands. First class jails and second class schools. Today there is a plan, a plan for comprehensive immigration reform. A plan for Afghanistan, we commit resources, a hundred billion dollars for a hundred Al  Qaeda. A plan, don’t ask, don’t tell, for gays. A plan for national reform. But no plan for the investment for urban policy to put America back to work. So, we bail out the predators, the bankers that drove us in this hole. The victims remain on the sideline desperately looking for a job.

Lastly, while there’s a lot of focus today on, so I think it’s a diversion, the issue really is not the tea party it’s the coffee pot. In the coffee pot there’s room for cream and sugar for all of us. It’s about connecting our, connecting our, Alabama and connecting that with, uh, Appalachia. It’s about a plan to put America back to work. Focus on jobs and job training, opening up trade unions,  [inaudible] to cut down on the growth and the anxiety and the crime.

I want to thank the NAACP for being that ship across these years, across this century. It’s kept us on the ultimate focus of a big tent America, where all are involved and none are locked out. A change takes place when those at the bottom rise up and have a quest for dignity. Just as we rose up in the thirties demanding workers have the right to organize and, and paid the price. And the sixties rose up and demanded public accommodations for all. Now we demand that there be a job rising. August twenty-eighth let us in the name of the dream march for jobs and justice all the way to ten-two-ten in Washington where we shall again [inaudible] the White House, the Congress, the government must see our quest. We want to work, the dignity of work. We want jobs, justice, and education for all.

Thank you very much.

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

NAACP in Kansas City: Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – “Now is no time to quit.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Emanuel Cleaver – “Don’t you forget it!”

NAACP in Kansas City: Wednesday afternoon press conference – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Rev. Al Sharpton – “There clearly is some racial leaves in their tea bag…”

Reverend Al Sharpton was the first of three speakers (after being introduced by NAACP National Board Member Clayola Brown) at this afternoon’s press conference at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City.

Clayola Brown: Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon everyone. [voices: “Good afternoon.”] We wanted to take this opportunity to address the media before the economic justice forum to talk with you a little bit about the One Nation movement. On October the second, the ten-two-ten, we will be marching on Washington with some of the leaders you see here, Reverend Sharpton, Reverend Jackson, as well as other leaders throughout labor, civil rights and the community to demand the changes that we voted for. Civil rights are under attack in this country and even Glenn Beck is holding a rally on eight twenty-eight, which is the anniversary date of Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic March on Washington. And this is certainly not what this country needs right now. It is my pleasure this afternoon to introduce to the mic first, Reverend Al Sharpton, a renowned leader across this country who really needs no introduction whatsoever. Reverend Sharpton…

Reverend Al Sharpton and Clayola Brown.

….Reverend Al Sharpton: Thank you Miss Brown. I come as President of the National Action Network to join others in pledging our support for the march of labor and others joining us on the second of October in Washington. And also there’ll be a big gathering on the twenty-eighth of August, the date that Miss Brown just referred to. Uh, forty-seven years ago there was a march in Washington for jobs and justice, and which Martin Luther King made one of the addresses that became known as the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. It is an absolute outrage that Glenn Beck and the tea parties are coming to Washington on that day, claiming to restore dignity. It is not about race. It is about their belief in government that is so [inaudible].  The idea of the civil rights movement is to get a strong federal government to protect the people against state’s rights that has been those that kept people down based on going by state to state laws. The tea partiers are a state’s rights philosophical group. The cannot march in the name of Dr. King’s dream, which was totally antithetical to their idea of government. So Martin Luther King the third and Marc Morial of the National Urban League and [inaudible] and others will be joining us on the twenty-eighth in Washington. We will not be marching were Beck is. We will be at Dunbar High School and go to the site where Dr. Martin Luther King monument will be unveiled next year, the last monument on the Potomac. We’re not going to react to Beck. We’re going to raise what the real dream was on the anniversary of the dream. The dream was about jobs, the dream was about economic justice, the dream was about making sure that states could not interfere with the rights of labor, the rights of women and the rights of people. You cannot have people who are now trying to have tea party for state’s rights coming and celebrating the day that asked the federal government to overrule where states were segregating and allowing segregation to go forward. There clearly is some racial leaves in their tea bag, but this is not just about race. This is about how you see government. And those of us that see government the way that Dr. King and Roy Wilkins and Dorothy Height saw it will be in Washington to raise the right banner on the twenty-eighth of August and be there in mass with everyone, One Nation, on the second of October. I close by reminding you, if you read the whole speech of Dr. King, Dr. King said that America had given the negro a check that had bounced in the bank and it was returned insufficient funds. Uh, I submit that that check has been written again with an African-American president, this time the bank bounced, ’cause there’s no money. So we really need to press for jobs, we need to press for jobs, economic equity and we cannot return back to states deciding on immigration, states deciding on labor. That’s why we’re going to Washington on twenty-eight, that’s why we’ll be there in mass on the second. We see from Arizona, we see from the tea parties, they’re trying to bring us back to pre King days. While they talk about restoring dignity they’re really talking about restoring a time before the federal government intervened and protected the rights of people. Again, this is not about race, this is about how you see the role of government and how Beck and that crowd sees it is the opposite of why they marched in nineteen sixty-three….

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

NAACP in Kansas City: Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – “Now is no time to quit.”

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Emanuel Cleaver – “Don’t you forget it!”

NAACP in Kansas City: Wednesday afternoon press conference – photos

On Monday morning Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D) was the second public office holder (after Claire McCaskill) to address welcoming remarks to those attending the first plenary session of the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City:

Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D): ….Welcome to Kansas City, Missouri. And, uh, we don’t say Kansas for short. Uh, this is Kansas City, Missouri. It’s not, don’t worry, we don’t get upset, just don’t say it. [laughter] Don’t tell people I’ve been to the NAACP convention in Kansas. You haven’t. [laughter] Uh. You didn’t land in Kansas. If you’d landed in Kansas you’d  have been dead, there’s no airport [inaudible]. [laughter] [applause]

Welcome to Kansas City, Missouri, the largest city in the State of Missouri. This is the home of Charlie “Yardbird” Parker. [applause] This is the place where the Negro Leagues were formed. [applause, cheers]. This is the place where Satchel Paige pitched two games in one day. This is Kansas City, Missouri. Not far from this place a young haberdasher decided to go into county politics and eventually became the President of the United States. This is the home of Harry Truman. This is the home of Jean Harlow. This is where McDonalds created its happy meal. [laughter] M and Ms were created here in Kansas City. This is the world headquarters of Hallmark Cards, H and R Block, Sprint, Faultless Starch. This is the home of Walt Disney. This is where he first drew a little mouse, named him, and named him Latimer [Mortimer]. Went to California, his wife changed, convinced him to change the name to Mickey. [laughter] But this no Mickey Mouse town, this is Kansas City, Missouri. [applause] We welcome you to Kansas City, Missouri. Missourah, uh huh. Missouri. [laughter]

Now let me just tell you, in my real life I’m a United Methodist pastor. Um, even when I served as mayor I continued to pastor at our church here. One Sunday morning a young man came back into the office and he had glee written all over his face. And you could tell that exuberance was boiling over. And he came back in and he said. “Rev, how much did you get today?”  And so I said, this counts and I [inaudible], and you don’t people [inaudible]. [laughter] And I said, you know, “Young man don’t, you know, you don’t ask people that.” And said, “No, no [inaudible], you got to tell me, how much did you get today?” And I said, “I, I didn’t get anything. What, I’m understanding your question.”  He said, “You know, how much did you get when they passed that tray around?” He said, “I took out a twenty.” He said, “So I.” [laughter, applause]  He said, “So I want to know how much what you get?” [laughter] So I said, “Well, wait just a minute, I didn’t get anything.” But I thought about it. And that young man actually was profound. When you go to a church or a convention you ought to get something out of it. [laughter, applause]

And, what I hope you will get out of this is that no matter how much the pundits say we are in post racial era, no matter how much that you believe that everything is fine, it’s not. [applause] We need the NAACP now as much as ever [applause, cheers]. I hope you get out of it that you are needed. [applause] We have seventeen members of the United States Senate voting “no” for unemployment benefits. We need the NAACP [inaudible] right now! [applause, cheers] We need it! We need it! Don’t you forget it! [applause, cheers]

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

NAACP in Kansas City: Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – “Now is no time to quit.”

On Monday morning Senator Claire McCaskill (D) was the first public office holder to address welcoming remarks to those attending the first plenary session of the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City:

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Welcome to all of you. What a grand and glorious sight you are. It is terrific to have you here in Kansas City in this state I love so much, in this city I love so much. Thank you for blessing us with your presence here in Missouri. [applause] One nation, one dream, one people. We live in a wonderful country where so much more unites us than divides us. But so much work remains in this great nation.

I know many of you may realize that I share the pride of a nation on that special night in November when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. [applause] This nation delivered on its promise of equal opportunity. This nation delivered on its promise that all things are possible for anyone in America. What a moment it was. Exultation. It was thrilling. It made us all so proud.  And we were so caught up in the top of the mountain that I think we forgot to look out and see that there were many valleys that remain. Too many of us thought the hard work was over. The hard work remains.  This nation needs our passion and our energy. Our President needs our passion and our energy. We soared but now we have [inaudible] jet lag.

I certainly hope the NAACP continues its important work because there is a lot of pain still in America. We need good jobs, we need affordable college education [applause], we need quality day care [applause], we need to make sure that that opportunity remains for everyone in this great nation. [applause]

I hope the NAACP continues to take a leading role in voter education, voter registration. I hope everyone turns their eyes towards November, the next big election in this country, because it’s an important one.

And remember, President Obama, like all of us, is one of God’s children. He needs our prayers [applause], he needs our energy, he needs our passion [applause].  If I could leave you with any message this morning that you might take from this great hall, it is simply this, now is no time to quit. Now is no time to quit. [applause]

Thank you so much. God bless you and have wonderful time. [applause, cheers]

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights

On Sunday afternoon Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) was part of the panel for a legislative workshop titled “Engaging Congress: the NAACP’s Legislative Agenda to Achieve One Nation, One Dream”. Representative Jackson-Lee spoke on the tea party movement and immigration reform among other issues:

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee: ….And I thank you professor very much. I’m going to be engaging you with those very powerful numbers that you have offered on what the tea party recognizes, uh, or is recognized as. Might I add my own P.S.? All those who wore sheets a long time ago have now lifted them off and started wearing [applause], uh, clothing, uh, with a name, say, I am part of the tea party. Don’t you be fooled.  [voices: “That’s right.”, applause] Those who used to wear sheets are now being able to walk down the aisle and speak as a patriot because you will not speak loudly about the lack of integrity of this movement. Don’t let anybody tell you that those who spit on us as we were walking to vote on a health care bill for all of America or those who said Congresswoman Jackson-Lee’s braids were too tight in her hair had anything to do with justice and equality and empowerment of the American people. Don’t let them fool you on that [applause]….

….But let me just say this. We have had a challenging time with African-Americans on the question of immigration. As it first begun, uh, it looked as if it was a job killer bill for all of you. It looked as if these were folk who were interlopers who were attempting to move in on your territory. My brothers and sisters, once they begin to divide us [voices: “That’s right.”], once they begin to point out this one and that one [voices: “Yes.”], for many of you don’t realize that immigrants are Haitians, they are Liberians, they’re Nigerians, and they come to this nation as we did, first in the bottom of a belly of slave boat, to make for a greater time. Wouldn’t it be better if we linked arms with them to find the justice that is [inaudible] our people. [applause]….

….Immigration reform is not something we should be frightened about. We should grab it and make it ours and make it work for us as it works for those who are seeking a better life. Now let me just pose why you should look to this, uh, if you can’t bring yourself to, uh, use the terminology civil rights, uh, then use the terminology human rights and human dignity. For I would compare two disparate situations which will hopefully turn the light bulb on – Arizona, there might be some of our constituents saying, go ahead, right on. But if you understand what the Arizona law says, and thank you NAACP, it says that if you as a police officer, police state that we are fighting against [voices: “Yes.” “That’s right.”], all the places that we look askance and say oh my goodness, look what they’re doing in Sudan. But if you are in Arizona the police officer has a right, if they have reasonable suspicion, and I am strong supporter of law enforcement, I’m on the Judiciary, I want them to be treated fairly, but every human being has the ability to have human error….so if they have reasonable suspicion, uh, masterful attorney, they can stop you, they can ask you papers that you left at home because you were going to Seven Eleven, they can arrest you criminally and immigration in the United States is a civil responsibility, it is not a criminal responsibility unless you are someone who perpetrated a criminal act, but they can arrest you criminally, put you in jail and throw you out of the country….

[Discussion of New York’s “stop and frisk” procedure affecting a disproportionate percentage of minorities.]….

….Do you see where I’m coming from when you talk about immigration reform? That we can’t push any of this off because the tea party and others will say that is great, we want to divide you along those lines.

I remember very, uh, conspicuously going out, uh, on the, uh, uh, veranda or going out on the grounds of the Congress on that Sunday when we voted on the health care bill to engage these wonderful Americans. And I really mean that I was sincerely trying to glean from them what their angst was. And there were a few sprinkled people of color. Of course, is a democracy and they’re allowed to be there. The only thing I could get from them in responding to my question of do you understand what the bill was, was the flipping of the bird. You all understand what the bird is? [voice: “Right.”] Everybody got to understand what the bird is. All right. Nobody understands what the bird, some do. But, in any event, they were [laughter], Pastor,  [voice: “I understand.”] that is the only thing that I could get. That was, uh, some are still looking dumbfounded, the finger, uh, was the only thing that I could get. [laughter] Um, and I could not get anyone to communicate why they were so angry about this health care bill which was going to provide them with an opportunity.

I say this to say, that when you look at immigration, look at the fine line. It is the underpinnings of divisiveness, it is the underpinnings of seeking to lock up people for their distinction, and it is the underpinnings of confusion, uh, and, uh, if you will, uh, abject unfairness….

….Many times, uh, the NAACP will be challenged and say what are they in this business for? Reverend, this is not, uh, a civil rights issue. [voice: “That’s right.”] Don’t let anybody tell you what your business is. [applause, voices: “That’s right.”] Don’t let anybody tell the NAACP [applause] what your business is about. [applause]….

And on the agenda of the convention:

NAACP considers resolution condemning racism in Tea Party movement.

At the organization’s national convention this week, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will propose a resolution “condemning racism within the tea party movement.” The resolution calls upon “all people of good will to repudiate the racism of the Tea Parties, and to stand in opposition to its drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era.” NAACP leaders said the resolution was “necessary” to make people “seriously” consider what leaders “believe is a racist element within the tea party movement.” Tea Party leaders, however, vehemently deny allegations of racism and call the proposed resolution “unfair”….”

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos

NAACP in Kansas City: Michelle Obama – photos

First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the NAACP National Convention for its first plenary session, focusing her remarks on the problems of childhood obesity and her effort to address the problem through her Let’s Move campaign. Prior to her speech Senator Claire McCaskill (D) and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D) addressed the audience with brief remarks.

First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City.

Yeah, we know. The main press riser was 110 feet from the stage and we weren’t lugging a 400 mm telephoto lens because they’re really heavy and we can’t afford one.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D).

Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D).

Photographers on the main press riser.

The much smaller cut riser to the right of the stage was so packed it looked like a raft with survivors of the Titanic, except in this case they were holding really expensive cameras.

An introductory hug – Roslyn Brock, Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, greets First Lady Michelle Obama after introducing her.

There was standing room only at the back of the seating area.

A standing ovation from the audience after Michelle Obama’s speech.

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous speaking to the media on the main press riser after Michelle Obama’s speech.

There was so much crowd noise after the session ended that we really couldn’t hear what anyone was saying on the press riser during the press availability. A credentialed still photographer handed me his high end camera and asked me to take a picture of him with Benjamin Todd Jealous. Guess what happens when you hand a Ferrari over to someone who doesn’t have one? The result ain’t pretty. And no, I didn’t drop the camera.

Previously:

The 101st NAACP National Convention in Kansas City

NAACP in Kansas City: Benjamin Todd Jealous at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at the opening press conference

NAACP in Kansas City: Sunday – photos