The following entry has been contributed by Yolanda J. Payne, M.S. Ed. M, a Vice-President at the NAACP's Mid-Manhattan Branch.

This past Saturday February 12, 2011 marked the 102nd anniversary of the founding of the NAACP.  Founded on February 12, 1909 in New York City W. E. B Dubois the great Harvard –educated scholar and voice of black people along with Mary White Ovington, Ida B. Wells, Henry Moskowitz and William English Walling, a multi-racial, group of social/political activists, laid the foundation for what would become the nations leading historic Civil Rights Organization.   

Conceived during the height of racial unrest, moral and social injustice, the birth of the NAACP spawned a movement that would change the nation through its legal advocacy and social agitation over the course of the next 100 years.

These great founders envisioned a nation where African Americans would achieve racial equality. It’s premise was based on the fact that the nation could not be justified if it failed to live up to it’s obligation that every citizen be guaranteed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  This group of social/political activist challenged the nation to live up to these obligations embodied in the emancipation proclamation.  

100 years after it’s founding the nation swore in its nations first African American President whose inaugural speech echoed the words of Abraham Lincoln (the great emancipator) and breathed life into the Dr. King’s dream.

The NAACP has been that force that continues to challenge the nation to live up to the true meaning of its creed.  It is a beacon of light in a nation who too often tries to forget its ugly past and attempts to turn back the wheels of time.  The NAACP has been the bedrock of the black community, a bridge over troubled waters and the soul of black folks.