The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is the oldest, largest and strongest Civil Rights Organization in the United States. The principal objective of the NAACP is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority group citizens of the United States.

The NAACP is committed to achievement through non-violence and relies upon the press, the petition, the ballot and the courts, and is persistent in the use of legal and moral persuasion even in the face of overt and violent racial hostility.

FOUNDATION

The NAACP was formed in 1909 in New York City by a group of black and white citizens committed to helping to right social injustices. On February 12, over the signatures of 60 persons, the "Call" was issued for a meeting on the concept of creating an organization that would be an aggressive watchdog of Negro liberties. This event marked the founding of the NAACP. The organization was backed by the New York Evening Post.

FOUNDERS

Mary White Ovington, Dr. Henry Moscowitz, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William English Walling, Ida Wells-Barnett and W.E.B. DuBois led the "Call" to renew the struggle for civil and political liberty.

STRUCTURE

Benjamin Jealous is the President and Chief Executive Officer and the official spokesperson for the NAACP. The Chairman of the Board is Mr. Julian Bond.

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