This year the Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, Roslyn M. Brock, will present the prestigious Chairman’s Award to individuals and organizations who have used their distinct platforms to be agents of change.
The recipients are Brittany “Bree” Newsome; Justice League NYC; Concerned Student 1950 Collective at the University of Missouri, Columbia; The University of Mississippi NAACP College Chapter; Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III; Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley; Rev. Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant, and Jussie Smollett.
“It is a rare privilege for me to present the NAACP Chairman’s 2016 Award to an outstanding group of trailblazing leaders all under the age of 50 who have given voice and vision to the mantra that black lives matter,” Brock said in a statement.
The Collective organized a series of “Racism Lives Here” protest rallies that included a hunger strike by a graduate student and a pivotal boycott by its football team the Missouri Tigers that resulted in the resignations of the University of Missouri System President and the Chancellor. The group’s name, Concerned Student 1950, highlights the year the University of Missouri admitted its first black student. The campus activism led by the Concerned Students 1950 Collective inspired similar protests on college campuses across the nation.
“The five individuals and three organizations have raised awareness of social, educational, and economic injustice from college campuses, church pulpits and the streets, and exemplify what this award symbolizes – “Courage Will Not Skip this Generation.®”
The presentation will take place during the 47th NAACP Image Awards, broadcast live on Friday, February 5 (8 p.m. CST) on TV One.
