The NAACP is holding its 107th national convention in Cincinnati this July. The organization announced Tuesday the theme will be "Our lives matter, Our votes count."
Vice-Chairman Leon Russell says the organization wants to reassure members that it cares about them.
"We are concerned about our communities," he says. "Whether it be the water they drink, or the kind of policing that they receive in their communities. We understand that justice can't be delivered if you don't have the appropriate people delivering it."
"In every community we deal with the issues of education," Russell says. "We deal with the issues of healthcare. We deal with criminal justice issues every day. We deal with educational and economic development issues every day. But we understand that it's who we put in policy making positions that have the greatest impact."
Russell says it's important for members to be involved in the electoral process at the local, state and national level in order to help direct social change.
Big Name Attendees
The event comes just ahead of this summer's political nominating conventions. Russell expects the major candidates will attend.
"They most certainly will be invited to do so," Russell says. "We've obviously extended an initiation to the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, to come back to Cincinnati."
Obama addressed the NAACP convention the last time it was held here in 2008.
The event will be held July 16 - 20. The Republican National Convention in Cleveland runs from from July 18-21. The Democrats meet in Philadelphia July 25-28.
Local Leader To Be Honored
The NAACP plans to honor a Cincinnatian with its 101st Spingarn Medal. Judge Nathaniel R. Jones was selected by unanimous vote, according to Russell.
Jones is a retired from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to that he served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland and was Assistant General Counsel to President Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. He served as general counsel of the NAACP and helped South Africa draft its new constitution after apartheid. The federal building and U.S. courthouse in his hometown of Youngstown, Oh. is named in his honor.
The Spingarn Medal is "presented annually to the man or woman of African descent and American citizenship who has made the highest achievement during the preceding year or in consideration of an overall body of work by an individual."
