Our Mission
Is to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.
Our History
Our Vision
We envision an inclusive community rooted in liberation where all persons can exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination.
On January 3, 1919, fifty people gathered with Rev. Robert Bagnall, the Great Lakes district organizer of the NAACP, to charter the Grand Rapids chapter. The National office of the NAACP granted a charter to the local chapter twenty-two days after the submission of their application. The officers of the branch were Thomas E. Benjamin, a railroad porter, who served as president; Basil Ray, a waiter, was appointed vice president; George M. Smith, a printing superintendent, was the group’s secretary; and J. Ed Jones, a custodian, became treasurer. Each charter member paid one dollar and received a subscription to Crisis magazine. The organization of the chapter in 1919 was a part of the larger expansion of NAACP branches all over the country. A historian of the NAACP noted that, at the time of the 1919 national conference of the NAACP in Cleveland, “there were 220 branches and 56,345 members, and the circulation of the Crisis stood at 100,000.
OUR OBJECTIVES
The following statement of objectives is found on the first page of the NAACP Constitution – the principal objectives of the Association shall be:
- To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens
- To achieve equality of rights and eliminate race prejudice among the citizens of the United States
- To remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes
- To seek enactment and enforcement of federal, state, and local laws securing civil rights
- To inform the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and to seek its elimination
- To educate persons as to their constitutional rights and to take all lawful action to secure the exercise thereof, and to take any other lawful action in furtherance of these objectives, consistent with the NAACP’s Articles of Incorporation and this Constitution.
If you have any questions regarding our staff or our organization, we invite you to reach out to us at 616-719-3478 today.