OAKLAND — All of Maryland’s counties are now represented in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
A new branch for Garrett County was approved by the NAACP’s national office after more than 100 local residents signed up to be new members and petitioned for their own branch. This is the newest branch in the Maryland State Conference and the last county in the state to be officially chartered.
The mission of the NAACP is to “secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.”
The new local branch and its members will work actively to promote this important mission in Garrett county.
“I am excited to have Garrett County as the newest branch in the NAACP Maryland State Conference,” said Willie Flowers, president of the Maryland State Conference. “It gives me great pride to know that residents of Garrett County saw it important enough to extend the fight for justice and equality under the banner of the NAACP. I commend the charter members for their hard work.”
The new branch is working to establish a strategic plan for its activities over the next year and to reach out to the community to establish working relationships with community groups and with people interested in working to pursue common goals.
“We are proud to be part of this well-established organization,” said the new branch’s president, Daphne Gooding. “The NAACP has been successfully advocating for the rights of people since 1909.”
The NAACP is America’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was established in February 1909 in New York City by an interracial group of activists, partially in response to the 1908 Springfield race riot in Illinois. The NAACP’s founding members included white progressives Mary White Ovington, Henry Moskowitz, William English Walling and Oswald Garrison Villard, along with such African-Americans as W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida Wells-Barnett, Archibald Grimke and Mary Church Terrell.
Today, the NAACP is focused on such issues as inequality in jobs, education, health care and the criminal justice system, as well as protecting voting rights. The group also has pushed for the removal of Confederate flags and statues from public property.
Those who would like to learn more about the new branch or how to become a member may do so by email at contact.gcnaacp@gmail.com.
Article originally published in the Garrett County Republican, April 15, 2021
