Jacksonville leaders and supporters of the NAACP packed the Hyatt Regency in downtown Jacksonville for the NAACP’s 48th Annual Freedom Fund Awards Dinner. The event honored local civil rights leaders and NAACP members for their tireless work for equality.
Among those attending included dignitaries Congresswoman Corrine Brown, Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown and Council member Kimberly Daniels, former State Senator Tony Hill along with Branch NAACP President, Isaiah P. Rumlin, Duval County School Superintendent, Nikolai Vitti, and Board Member, Connie Hall, who presented the student scholarships.
Attorney Wayne Hogan, a long time sponsor and Speaker Sponsor for this event, brought greetings and congratulated the NAACP members for their commitment to equal rights and voting rights. “Thanks for fighting to overcome injustice by exercising your right to vote and protecting access to the courts,” he said.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas was the evening’s keynote speaker. “Membership is not about the card, it’s about the mission,” she said. Jackson Lee said the mission is needed now more than ever before. She encouraged everyone to “take on justice” with a focus on Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, legislative and congressional redistricting plans, unfair obstacles to voting, and implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Florida. Jackson Lee also called on politicians in Washington to come together and find common ground to solve problems for people.
For more than 100 years, the NAACP has worked tirelessly to eradicate discrimination and challenge policies that negatively impact people of color and to improve the lives of all Americans.