NAACP Image Awards | Thursday February 12, 2009
Did You Know?
- 1909
On February 12th, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a multiracial group of activists, who answered "The Call," in New York, New York. They initially called themselves the National Negro Committee. - 1913
In April, Dr. Joel E. Spingarn instituted the Spingarn Medal, a gold medal that was to be awarded annually to an American Negro of ³highest achievement² for the proceeding year or years. - 1939
On April 9th, after the Daughters of the American Revolution barred Marian Anderson from performing at their Constitutional Hall in Washington DC, the NAACP successfully moved to have her appear at the Lincoln Memorial that Easter Sunday where more than seventy five thousand people attended the open air concert broadcast nationally by radio. - 1942
The Association worked with studio executives and politicians to establish an ad hoc committee with the major film studios to monitor the image and portrayal of African Americans on the silver screen. - 1960
Senator John F. Kennedy addressed an audience of seven thousand at the NAACP Civil Rights Rally at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, just four days before he secured the Democratic Presidential Nomination. - 1975
On August 6, President Ford signed H.R. 6219, amending and extending certain provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, culminating a two-year effort by the Washington Bureau and cooperating organizations. The 1974 Act extended protection of the right to register and vote to non-English speaking groups, especially Hispanics. - 1987
On the 25th anniversary of the use of federal troops to enforce integration of the Little Rockıs Central High, the NAACP reunited the Little Rock Nine and NAACP leader Daisy Bates at ceremonies at the Arkansas Capital. - 1991
Following the victory in the Republican gubernatorial primary by former Klansman and neo-Nazi David Duke, the NAACP Louisiana State Conference launched a voter registration and Get-Out-The-Vote campaign resulting in Dukeıs defeat. - 2006
As part of our on-going efforts to the diversity of emerging talent in Hollywood, the NAACP united with several networks to create Master Degree Writing Fellowships. - 2009
On February 12th, the 40th NAACP Image Awards aired live celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the NAACP to the day.
Chairman's Award Recipients
Honorable Al Gore
Former Vice President Al Gore is chairman of Current TV, an Emmy award winning, independently owned cable and satellite television nonfiction network for young people based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism. He also serves as chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to sustainable investing.
Al Gore is a member of the board of directors of Apple, a senior adviser to Google, and a partner with the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He is a Visiting Professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and chairs the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit organization designed to help solve the climate crisis.
Al Gore was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1982 and the U.S. Senate in 1984 and 1990. He was inaugurated as the forty-fifth vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993, and served eight years. During the Administration, Al Gore was a central member of President Clinton's economic team. He served as President of the Senate, a Cabinet member, a member of the National Security Council, and as the leader of a wide range of Administration initiatives.
He is the author of the bestsellers Earth in the Balance and An Inconvenient Truth and is the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary. Al Gore is the co-winner, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for âinforming the world of the dangers posed by climate change.â He and his wife, Tipper, live in Nashville, Tennessee. They have four children and three grandchildren.
Dr. Wangari Muta Maatha
Professor Wangari Muta Maathai is internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She has addressed the United Nations on several occasions, and has spoken on behalf of women at special sessions of the General Assembly during the five-year review of the Earth Summit. Dr. Maathai served on the commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future. She and the Green Belt Movement have received numerous awards, most notably the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Maathai serves on the boards of organizations including Green Belt Movement International, World Learning for International Development, Green Cross International, Worldwide Network of Women in Environmental Work, Democracy Coalition Project, Global Crop Diversity Trust and Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. She also serves as patron to three global campaigns: Congo Basin Forest Fund, Billion Tree Campaign and Mottainai Campaign in Japan.
From 2005-2008, Maathai served as the Presiding Officer of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ECOSOCC was formed to advise the African Union on issues related to African civil society. Dr. Maathai was honored with an appointment as Goodwill Ambassador to the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem, and was later named co-chair of the Congo Basin Forest Fund, where she serves in an advocacy role for the region's conservation and protection.
