National NAACP convention kicks off with Day of Action tour in Boston
BOSTON - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) kicked off its national convention Friday with a Day of Action, with dozens of members taking a bus tour through Boston neighborhoods.
During the tour, members visited several grassroots organizations impacting Black and Brown communities. The first stop was in Mattapan at an affordable housing complex, where members heard from a panel discussing issued surrounding the high cost of living. Among those taking part was Lawrence Woffore, visiting from the NAACP branch in Selma, Alabama.
"It's different, this is much more cosmopolitan, we are much more rural but we needed to share, we needed to engage each other and I think by osmosis we can learn from each other," said Woffore.
"It's going to help us activate folks in the community, get folks to engage around community needs, what's happening in Boston and making folks come out and vote," said Cokina Fuller, the Labor and Industry Chair of Boston's NAACP branch.
The group also visited the Freedom House in Dorchester, where they heard from an organization called Greatest Minds, where young people spoke about the importance of education and careers.
"We do college, careers and community service, so that young people have the resources and networks in their own neighborhoods," said George Chip Greenidge, the executive director of Greatest Minds.
"We are continuing, each day, to disrupt cultural narratives around the identity of our young men and our young women and our community," said Charmaine Arthur, the CEO of Freedom House.
The last time the NAACP held their annual convention in Boston was 1982. Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to address the convention.
"I was 12 years old in 1982," said Greenidge, who said he attended the convention at the time. "So now 40 years later, it's great to bring a young group of people with me and to actually have the same experience knowing that the national organization is brought here to Boston."
Members also visited Roxbury, where they met with Streets of Hope, a group dedicated to environmental issues.