lbcanaacp.org
September, October, November, December 2014
Long Beach Branch
NAACP Newsletter
Special Topic – Education
Long Beach Branch NAACP Welcomes Dr. Jane Conley,
President CSULB, and Dr. Carmen Taylor, Vice President for
Student Services
Naomi Rainey,
President, Long
Beach Branch
NAACP
To learn more about the NAACP and its
activities, visit www.lbcanaacp.org and
www.naacp.org.
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Spring 2016
NAACP Education (National and Local)
The fundamental goal of the NAACP's education advocacy agenda is to provide all students
access to quality education. The NAACP Education Department seeks to accomplish this
goal through policy development, training, collaboration, negotiation, legislation, litigation,
and agitation. The NAACP Education Department's resources are strategically focused on
three major objectives:
1. Preventing Racial Discrimination in Educational Programs and Services;
2. Advancing Educational Excellence; and
3. Promoting an Equal Opportunity Education Agenda.
The NAACP Education Department coordinates, supports, and advises, the more than,
2,200 NAACP units efforts to annually meet these objectives through a nationwide emphasis
on program development, capacity building, and collaboration. Through these elements, the
NAACP seeks to:
1. Empower students, parents and local advocates to assess their local
schools, school districts, universities, and state educational agencies
through data collection and the production of substantive research on key
educational equity issues.
2. Empower students, parents and local advocates to assist their local
schools, school districts, universities and state educational agencies
through training, and collaborative technical assistance designed to
prevent discrimination in educational programs and services.
3. Empower students, parents and local advocates to advance educational
excellence through programmatic support and development based on
sound research, strategic planning and strong collaborative networks.
Now more than ever, the NAACP must stand poised to address the pertinent education
issues affecting our children across the nation. Through a renewed emphasis on strong
education advocacy efforts at the local, state, and federal level, the NAACP seeks to rekindle
the fire for excellence in education knowing that the success of our children depends on our
organization.
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NAACP Scholarship Program (National and Local)
“Achieving excellence in education requires achieving equity in education. These principles
must be perfectly aligned, for if there is no equity in education, there can be no educational
excellence.”
— Dr. John H. Jackson
Former National Director of Education
Since its inception in 1909, the NAACP has taken a leading role in fighting to secure
positive, equitable changes in educational institutions throughout the nation. The NAACP
recognizes, however, that far too many of America’s most promising citizens are still
prevented from pursuing their educational goals due to limited financial resources. In an
effort to promote equal opportunity in education, the NAACP annually offers the Earl G.
Graves, Agnes Jones Jackson, Louis Stokes, Lillian & Samuel Sutton, Roy Wilkins and
Hubertus W. V. Willems scholarships.
In FY 2003, over two thousand (2,000) students requested NAACP Scholarship
information. Of the students who requested information, the NAACP received two hundred
twenty-eight (228) completed applications, of which sixty-two (62) were awarded. These
scholarships are representative of the Association’s commitment to ensuring that all
Americans have the opportunity to pursue their educational goals.
Now more than ever, the NAACP stands poised to address the pertinent education issues
affecting students across the nation. Through advocacy and policy development at the local,
state and federal level, the NAACP will continue to “rekindle the fire” for educational
excellence in communities across the nation.
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Spring 2016
What Is ACT-SO?
ACT-SO is an acronym for Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics. ACT-SO is a yearlong
enrichment program designed to recruit, stimulate, improve and encourage high academic and cultural achievement
among African-American high school students. The ACT-SO program centers around the dedication and commitment
of community volunteers and business leaders; to serve as mentors and coaches to promote academic and artistic
excellence among African-American students. There are 25 categories of competition in the sciences, humanities,
performing and visual arts.
Who Sponsors ACT-SO?
ACT-SO is sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which is the
nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. ACT-SO receives support from schools, community, organizations,
churches, foundations, private corporations and individuals.
Who Founded ACT-SO?
Vernon Jarrett (1913-2004), a renowned author and journalist, initiated the idea of a program that would promote and
reward academic achievers the same way sports heroes are honored. The first national ACT-SO competition was held
in 1978 in Portland Oregon.
Who Is Eligible To Participate?
High school students of African descent, who are citizens of the United States, enrolled in grades 9-12 and are amateurs
in the categories of competition are able to participate.
ACT-SO Timeline
Local Program
September: Local Programs kick off their ACT-SO program.
September through March/April: Local programs conduct mentoring and local enrichment programs.
March/April: Programs host their local ACT-SO competitions
National Competition
March/April through July: Students continue their mentorship and enrichment programs to prepare for
the National ACT-SO Competition.
July: The National Competition
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Spring 2016
Back to School / Stay in School Program (BTS/SIS)
This program has begun its 22nd year of preparing, inspiring and instructing youth of all ages with the "tools" necessary
to graduate high school. Founded in 1984, the program is composed of more than 30 sites located at churches, schools
and community centers across the nation.
BTS/SIS is a program dedicated to providing students from elementary school to high school with academic and social
support. The program aims to enhance student success by reducing the absenteeism and dropout rate, providing a higher
level of academic and cultural enrichment, increasing parental involvement and improving overall perceptions about
public schools.
The program consists of four main components:
1. The annual Back to School Rallies that encourage communities to join their local NAACP
branch in motivating students about going back to school.
2. Academic Enrichment Programs that provide students with extra academic support.
3. Parent/Family Workshops that work to improve parents involvement in their child's education
as well as improve their own educational and technological abilities.
4. The Reducing Absenteeism and Dropout Campaign that recognizes improvements in student
behavior and attendance.
BTS/SIS Implementation Procedures
Any NAACP branch may implement the BTS/SIS program by completing the BTS/SIS Branch Registration Form and
submitting a BTS/SIS Proposal. The information will be reviewed by the National Education and Branch & Field
Departments. All approved BTS/SIS programs must be registered through the National Education and Finance
Departments. Complete BTS/SIS program information may be found on this webpage or by contacting the National
Education Department at 410-580-5760.
BTS/SIS Student Requirements
Student must meet the following criteria to be enrolled in the BTS/SIS program:
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•
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•
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Enrolled in a public school
Must be in grades K-12
Receive a referral from school administrator (i.e. principal, counselor, or teacher)
Preference is given to students who live in low-income communities
Students previously expelled, suspended or who have dropped out should be given serious
consideration
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Spring 2016
Landmark Case: Brown v. Board of Education
May 17, 1954 marks a defining moment in the history of the United States. On that day, the
Supreme Court declared the doctrine of “separate but equal” unconstitutional and handed
LDF the most celebrated victory in its storied history.
Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown was ultimately unanimous, it occurred only
after a hard-fought, multi-year campaign to persuade all nine justices to overturn the “separate
but equal” doctrine that their predecessors had endorsed in the Court’s infamous 1896 Plessy v.
Ferguson decision. This campaign was conceived in the 1930s by Charles Hamilton Houston,
then Dean of Howard Law School, and brilliantly executed in a series of cases over the next
two decades by his star pupil, Thurgood Marshall, who became LDF’s first Director-Counsel.
Brown itself was not a single case, but rather a coordinated group of five lawsuits against school
districts in Kansas, South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. To
litigate these cases, Marshall recruited the nation’s best attorneys, including Robert Carter,
Jack Greenberg, Constance Baker Motley, Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, Louis Redding,
Charles and John Scott, Harold R. Boulware, James Nabrit, and George E.C. Hayes. These
LDF lawyers were assisted by a brain trust of legal scholars, including future federal district
court judges Louis Pollack and Jack Weinstein, along with William Coleman, the first black
person to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk. In addition, LDF relied upon research by
historians, such as John Hope Franklin, and an array of social science arguments. This
research included psychologist Kenneth Clark’s now famous doll experiments, which
demonstrated the impact of segregation on black children - Clark found black children were
led to believe that black dolls were inferior to white dolls and, by extension, that they were
inferior to their white peers.
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Landmark Case: Brown v. Board of Education (cont.)
After the five cases were heard together by the Court in December 1952, the outcome remained
uncertain. The Court ordered the parties to answer a series of questions about the specific
intent of the Congressmen and Senators who framed the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution and about the Court’s power to dismantle segregation. Then the Court scheduled
another oral argument in December 1953. Wrapping up his presentation to the Court in that
second hearing, Marshall emphasized that segregation was rooted in the desire to keep “the
people who were formerly in slavery as near to that stage as is possible.” Even with such
powerful arguments from Marshall and other LDF attorneys, it took another five months for
the newly appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren’s behind-the-scenes lobbying to yield a
unanimous decision.
Recognizing the controversial nature of its decision, the Court waited another year to issue an
order enforcing the decision in Brown II. Even then, the Court was unwilling to establish a firm
timetable for dismantling segregation. It ruled only that public schools desegregate “with all
deliberate speed.” Unfortunately, desegregation was neither deliberate nor speedy. In the face
of fierce and often violent “massive resistance, ” LDF sued hundreds of school districts across
the country to vindicate the promise of Brown. It was not until LDF’s subsequent victories in
Green v. County School Board (1968) and Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971) that the Supreme
Court issued mandates that segregation be dismantled “root and branch,” outlined specific
factors to be considered to eliminate effects of segregation, and ensured that federal district
courts had the authority to do so.
Even today, the work of Brown is far from finished . Over 200 school desegregation cases
remain open on federal court dockets; LDF alone has nearly 100 of these cases. Recent
Supreme Court decisions have made it harder to achieve and maintain school
desegregation. As a result of these developments and other factors, public school children are
more racially isolated now than at any point in the past four decades. This backsliding makes
it even more critical for LDF to continue defending the principles articulated in Brown and
leading the ongoing struggle to provide an equal opportunity to learn for children in every one
of our nation’s classrooms. As then Senator Obama observed in a 2008 speech in
Philadelphia, “segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools 50 years after Brown v. Board
of Education – and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the
pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.”
The legal victory in Brown did not transform the country overnight, and much work
remains. But striking down segregation in the nation’s public schools provided a major
catalyst for the civil rights movement, making possible advances in desegregating housing,
public accommodations, and institutions of higher education. The decision gave hope to
millions of Americans by permanently discrediting the legal rationale underpinning the racial
caste system that had been endorsed or accepted by governments at all levels since the end of
the nineteenth century. And its impact has been felt by every American.
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Education Committee Responsibilities According to the NAACP Bylaws
The Committee on Education shall: (1) seek to eliminate segregation and
other discriminatory practices in public education; (2)study local
educational conditions affecting minority groups; (3)investigate the public
school system and school zoning; (4) familiarize itself with textbook
material there from which is racially derogatory; (5)seek to stimulate school
attendance; (6) keep informed of school conditions and strive to correct
abuses where found; (7) investigate the effects of standardized and high
stakes testing practices; (8) teacher certification; (9) promote parental
involvement in education; and (10) aim to be a center of popular education
on the race question and on the work of the Association.
The Long Beach Branch NAACP urge you to learn about the national,
state, and local leaders who make decisions that impact education in our
community.
National Level
• Secretary of Education
State Level
• Superintendent of Public Instruction
• State Board of Education
• Chancellor (California State Universities)
• Board of Trustees (California State Universities)
• President (University of California)
• Board of Regents (University of California)
Local Level
• Superintendent
• Local Board of Education
School Site
• School Principal
• Teachers, Counselors, Administrators and Support Staff
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Membership Application
Please Print
This is an invitation to join to NAACP. This is the right time to help the NAACP make our society inclusive for everyone Date _______________________
Mr./Mrs./Ms. _____________________________________________
Telephone No. (
) __________________________
Street Address:
_______________________________________________________________________________
City _________________________________ State _____________________ Zip ____________
Branch Affiliation
_________________________________________________________________________
Date of Birth _________________________________
Renewal Membership No. __________________________________
Regular Annual Membership
☐ Regular Adult Lifetime Membership
$30.00 ☐Youth Life $100.00 ☐Youth with Crisis $15.00 ☐Bronze Life $400.00 ☐Youth without Crisis $10.00 ☐Silver Life $750.00 ☐ Annual Corporate $5,000 ☐Gold Life $1,500.00 ☐ Diamond Life $2,500.00 Please make checks payable to: Lon g Bea c h Br an c h o f the NAA C P Mail application and check to: NAACP • Lon g Be ach • P.O. Box 1594 • L on g Bea c h, CA 9 080 1 Thank you for
“Joining the Fight for Freedom”
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