Editor

General Body Meeting Thursday, Feb. 18th

Members of the NAACP New Bedford Branch are invited to participate in our second General Body Meeting of the year via Zoom. Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 7:00pm https://umassd.zoom.us/j/99120335283?pwd=YTdlWUZpc0l5WTcvZytDTkVZSmEwQT09 Meeting ID: 991 2033 5283 Passcode: 1909

Events

Racism: Dismantling the System

The LSU Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, in partnership with Southern University's Nelson Mandela College of Government & Social Sciences, Louisiana Budget Project, NAACP Louisiana State Conference and LSU Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is pleased to present Racism: Dismantling the System, an ongoing series of conversations about structural racism and solution-oriented action toward equal opportunity and justice in our communities. The series will amplify the voices of community advocates, academics, journalists and more working for social justice in our nation and beyond. For more information, to see videos of previous discussions, and to register for upcoming...

Massachusetts anti-mascot legislation re-filed

[caption id="attachment_1586" align="aligncenter" width="800"] "Protest against Washington football team name”, by Fibonacci Blue, licensed under CC by 2.0[/caption] Professional sports teams are rapidly getting rid of their Native American mascots. And here in Massachusetts the Barnstable, Acton-Boxborough, Braintree, Quincy, and Walpole schools have all addressed them in recent months. But some Massachusetts towns are clinging to their racist mascots as desperately as others do their Confederate monuments. Dartmouth is one of about two dozen towns in Massachusetts that still won't give theirs up. While these towns and school boards root around their cupboards for the moral courage they seem to...

NAACP

Happy Birthday, NAACP!

If you've ever seen the seal of the NAACP, you've probably noticed a date prominently displayed right in the middle — 1909. What you may not know is that the NAACP was founded on this date, February 12th, in that year. Which makes today the NAACP's 112th birthday! Now in its second century, the NAACP has become the nation's largest and most widely recognized civil rights organization with more than a half-million members and supporters throughout the United States. The NAACP is the premier advocate for civil rights in the nation's communities, leading grassroots campaigns for equal opportunity and conducting...

New Bedford Branch joins calls to end Bristol County jail’s cooperation with ICE

In coalition with 17 organizations including the NAACP New Bedford Branch, Bristol County for Correctional Justice sent a letter to Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, urging the leaders to end the County’s cooperation with ICE: Dear Senator Warren and Senator Markey: In view of the ever-increasing and documented reports of mistreatment of ICE detainees in the custody of the Bristol County Immigration Facility, we, the undersigned organizations, community groups, and individuals of Southeast Massachusetts and beyond, implore you to take immediate action to contact the Department of Homeland Security and request that I.C.E. sever all ties with Sheriff Thomas...

CDC Toolkits

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) created a communication toolkit to help public health professionals, health departments, community organizations, and healthcare systems and providers reach people who may need COVID-19 prevention messaging in their own languages. Visit the CDC Toolkit page here The toolkit provides: Current messaging from a trusted source. Information in plain language available for downloading and sharing. Translated materials to help communities disseminate messages to a wider audience.

First stop on the school-to-prison pipeline

On February 3rd the Sentencing Project published a new study, Racial Disparities in Youth Incarceration Persist, by Josh Rovner, Senior Advocate Associate. It examines disparities in arrests of white children and children of color, and it does not paint an encouraging picture. For the NAACP the study's findings are no surprise. Black, Native, and Latino youth have been historically disciplined and arrested in disproportionate numbers and make up a lopsided percentage of those who are fed into the criminal justice system. The good news from the study is that in the last decade youth incarceration has been cut in half....

SROs and Juvenile Justice

For anyone unable to join last night's presentation on Juvenile Justice and SRO's — you missed an absolutely great program! Moriah Wiggins, Founding Co-Chair of IMPACT (Improving Multicultural Presence & Advocating for Community Transformation), co-hosted the Zoom meeting with Branch President Dr. LaSella Hall. Presenters included: Leon Smith, Esq., Executive Director, and Joshua Dankoff from Citizens for Juvenile Justice; Matthew Cregor, Staff Attorney, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee; and Ricardo Rosa, Ph.D., Co-chair, New Bedford Coalition to Save Our Schools/. In addition, we were joined by a number of members of the community, including school committee members and School Superintendent...

19th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast

19th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast Friday, January 29 9:00-11:00 a.m. On Friday, January 29, 2021, from 9 – 11 a.m., UMass Dartmouth will host the 19th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast in a virtual format featuring a keynote address by social justice activist Tamika D. Mallory, remarks from recently appointed Interim Chancellor Mark Fuller, and performances by the student-led D'SWORD Gospel Choir. The event’s theme Call to Action: Then and Now, will look back at the activist actions of Dr. King and how that legacy has translated into current racial equality movements. The...

Where do we stand?

The leadership of the NAACP New Bedford Branch has joined with SouthCoast Faith Leaders, UIA, and the ICC in supporting this reflection on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. As so many of us are still reeling from the spectacle of the shocking event that took place on January 6th in our nation's capital — and its unfolding drama — it is easy to forget the annual observance of the national holiday on January 18, 2021 honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Many of our SouthCoast faith communities typically honor King's life and legacy at this time of year, reflecting...