T
CP
Sbaro Lopez
E YO - Approaching it 75th
'birthd y" on February 12, 1984, the
ational iation for the Advance- -
ment of Colored Peqple AACP), has
carv d a unique and vitally important
niche in this country the nation's
large , oldest �d most effective civil )
right'S organization.
Actually, the CP' without
peers.
For while there are numerous national,
f
regional and local group importantly
involved in pr moting racial equality
in the tJ .S., none ha the longevity of
the 75 year-old AACP nor its mass
membership of clo to 400,000, in
more than 1,800 branches and coordinat­
ed by six taffed regional office .
o other group can match the AACP
for the variety of its program thrusts
as ell the ethnic, age and economic
diver ity of its membership. 0 other
civil right group ha the influence of
the AACP on both the national and the
local level decision maker in this coun­
try d no other group has produced a.
like number of 'graduate" from the
AACP ranks who have gone .on to
e tablish reputation in other fields
following their "training" within the
ociation.
" ,
CA OL
, Th ACP a the rust civil rights
organization to maintain a ashington
D.C. bureau where lobbyists worked
on a full-time basis in upport of civil
t right cau . This operation has been
ful that its recently retired
itchell had been
EA
DEPE
D
B E
RO�A PARKS
with the rnass , media than its accom­
plishments would warrant. History, for
those w�g to do. some research, is
replete with the AACP's involvement .
in many landmark event that have
improved race relations and the treat­
ment of America's largest minority
group,
The A ociation, for instance, was in
the forefront more than sixty yearsago
. in leading anti-lynching campaigns nd:
selective buying campaigns. The AACP
helped A frican liberation movement
leaders to bring their fights against
colonialism before the League of
ations organ' ed early Pan African
Conferences while, later taking a leader­
ship role in urging the U.S. overnment
and American busines corporations to
end upport of racism in South Africa.
enator" by many
. DUIO
of the AACP opera­
hundreds of branches
giv ial organization one of
the n ti n' be t examp es of partici­
patory demo r cy.
me four to five thousand voting
delegate nt every ummer by the
general membership to the ,s elation'
five-day annual convention represent the
highest leader hip body of the AACP_
•
The delegates' turn, determine the
A ociation' polici and programs and
authorize a 64-member elected board of
directo s to oversee their implementation
during the year by the AACP staff and
volunteer. .
The considerable and important work
done by the AACP around the country
eems often to have a lower priority
In 1910, the Association founded
The Crisis" magazine and Dr. W.E.B.
DuBoi was its first editor. 'The Crisis"
became this nation's leading national
Blac publication with ignificant and
continuing influence among Black that
AACP of lcials say has been unequaled
through the year _
It w the AACP that Jed the fight
to integrate the U _S_ Armed Forces
as well a the en ctment of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 .965 and 1968.
The A ciation pI yed a crucial role in
defeating the Pre ident ixon nomina­
tion of Judge Clement F., Haynesworth
and G. Harrold Carswell to the U.s.
Supreme Court.. The AACP also played
a crucial role in the passage of the Equal
Employment Opportunity Act or 1972.
FEBRUARY 1-7, 1984 THE e'TIZE
Pa 3
5 OF A-G
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ESOU
eE, A'
OP
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Historical facts tell only part of the
AACP story. The in Ivement of
human beings tell more.
L D .0
emon Jordan, who later disting­
uished himself a the Pre' dent of the
, .
ational Urban League, was the Sou ern
Field Director for the AACP when he
led Charlayne : Hunter and Hamilton
Holmes' through cro ds of ho ile white
to become the first Blacks enrolled in
the University of Georgia.
The Montgomery Bu Boycott, often
said to have sparked the modem-day
- --
ivil rights mov. rnent had a onsiderable
involvement of 1 cal and nati nal P
official.
r. Rosa Park the
refused to give her at on a
white man was the local
tary.
�
D. ixon who convened the meet-
ings to protest her arre t wa the Ala­
bama State President of the A P.
When the State of labarna su ceeded
AA P outlawed in the
s ociation's activi ts carried
on t truggle under the newly formed
•
Mont 0 er mprovement A iati n.
Robert L. Carter, then tile AACP
egal counsel and now a Federal Judge
headed the lawyers group that won the
legal suit that ended I the ontgomery
Bus Boycott.
,
UD LII'TU 0
The local AACP branch in Little
Rock Ark: led by rs. Daisy Bates
organized th su essful integration of
the Little R . h School where Pre -
ident', isenh er nt in Federal troop
to keep 'ord . One of the enterin
udents Erni Green later ser d as
"an Under ecretary of Lab r under Pres­
ident Carter and currently serves as a
member of the AACP's national board
of director . t
''Graduates'' of the AACP activism
include many - if not rno - of the
Blacks who have distinguished themselves
'in many fields. Some include Percy Sut­
ton, former anhattan Borough Presi­
dent and current Chairman of Inner City
Broadcastin owner of the nation's top
radio ation, -F: the late Whit­
ney M. Young, for r Director of the
ational Urban Lea ue ttomey Basil
Patterson former ew rk Secretary
. of tate and. Federal Judge athaniel
,J nes (ohio) and Constance Baker ot-
I" ....
. .. .. ... . . . . . . . .. . �
D
ley Y).
There are thousands more "gradu- I
ates" nat' nwide.
'. The AACP priorities, over the
year , have moved to atch the ne ds
and interests of Am:rican Blacks.
'A major emph . is placed to y
on the three year ld effort: Operation
Fair Share, which has brought many
I millions of dollars into the hands of
Black workers and entrepreneurs.
f
, I
I
• J •
TH OUOH
,I
To date, the Association has igned
leeven agree ents with national busine
organizations that have greed to put
Blacks on their boards of directors, hire .
and upgrade more Black employee,
make pure ases from minority vendors
.and inve t funds in Bla banks. Local I "
branches have followed suit and are nego- I '
tiating Fair Share Agreements with local
firms.
Vital ItO this pr ce , however. on
both the national and local level ,are the
several monitoring systems set up by the
AACP to make certain that the e busi­
ne s organizations live up to � e agree­
ments they have igned .
"
i
-
A special program of Operation Fair
Share was the recent Black Dollar Day
demonstration in which Blac s used 2
b.ill and Susan B. Anthony silver doll r
to make purcha during the L bor D y
ee end in order dramatize the e -
tent and imp rtan e of Black spending
in this country. -
Voter registration is another high t
priority effort with the P. The P:
iati n re istered m re than 50 000
per n la t year and it member will
attempt t regi ter m re than -million
before the 19 4 electi n .
The AA P involved m re than
.1& 000, youths in ademic ultural
technological and ientifi competi-
tions last year through it four year old
A T-SO Program.
An rpnym for fro-A ademi
Cultural Technological and S ientifi
Olympic A T-SO provides annual com­
petitions for high school udents in
academic subjects and performing arts.
national drive to create the
thrust for achievement in the las om
that . currently exhibited by Black
youths on the ba etball court and foot-
s