A new online campaign against police misconduct and violence will be featured at the NAACP’s convention next week in New York City at the Hilton Hotel. The convention will also mark the civil rights organization’s 100th birthday, and joining them for the celebration will be President Barack Obama in his first visit to New York City as president.
The new civil rights initiative to fight crime and insure resident safety is called the “Rapid Response System” and will combine cell phone and online computer technology. It will provide “a quick, effective way for citizens to report instances of police misconduct, and to help public safety officials move beyond the ‘tough on crime’ policies that have lost their effectiveness.’ The Rapid Response System will be located on the .
This year’s convention theme is “Bold Dreams, Big Victories.” It will address the ongoing struggle for civil and human rights. NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous has recently been stressing that the struggle for civil rights is far from over.
At the recent 5th Annual NAACP Leadership 500 Summit held in Arizona, delegates discussed among other things maintaining family connectivity in tough economic times. “Civil and human rights are the cause of our generation,” said President Jealous at the event.
The NAACP has recently placed before Congress and the nation the need to develop a post-Katrina jobs and development campaign for the Gulf Coast, along with case of death row inmate Troy Davis in Georgia.
NAACP Chair Julian Bond is expected to receive the organization’s Spingarn award at a Thursday dinner.
Delegates also hope to receive a resolution from Congress apologizing for slavery. According to the Detroit Free Press: “The group is looking forward to some sort of ceremony during a historically significant year for Black people that includes the NAACP’s 100th anniversary, the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the 80th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the first year of the nation’s first African American president.”
The Senate recently passed such a resolution with a clause that said it can’t be used for legal claims for reparations or other remedies. Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus said they will vote against it in the House of Representatives. President Obama does not support reparations.
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