The Long Beach branch of the NAACP will receive a 2015 Thalheimer Award on Wednesday, July 15 at the NAACP National Convention, which is held from July 11 to July 15 in Philadelphia.
Each year, during the NAACP Convention, the Thalheimer Awards are given to branches for their excellence in the areas of Programs and Publication.
Twenty-seven awards are presented each year. The award represents the accomplishments of the NAACP branches.
Naomi Rainey, who has served as the branch’s president for over 15 years, will accept the award on behalf of the local branch.
Under her leadership, the branch has received 22 Thalheimer Awards and special program recognitions.
The Thalheimer Awards Committee considers various criteria when selecting branches and state conferences for the awards, including evaluating a branch’s core areas such as membership, political action, legal redress, education, economic development, voter empowerment, health, education, veterans, affairs, labor and industry, as well as analyzing the number of people who benefit from the noted activities and programs of the branches.
The award is named after Ross Julian Thalheimer, who was a Johns Hopkins University professor in philosophy and a University of Washington professor in philosophy and sociology. He was also president of the Thalheimer Foundation, Inc. from 1957 and 1977.
“The Long Beach Branch NAACP has addressed many racial and discrimination issues and have won many civil-rights cases,” Rainey said. “On a daily basis, civil-rights violations and infringements are investigated and resolved. Our city can boast today of its diversity and inclusiveness because of the struggle for equality and justice that the original Long Beach Branch NAACP founders fought for nearly 75 years.”
Philadelphia is where the organization was originally founded on Feb. 12, 1909. This year’s theme is “Pursuing Liberty in the Face of Injustice.” The NAACP is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year as the nation’s largest and oldest civil-rights organization in the world, according to NAACP officials.
The Long Beach branch was founded in 1940 by Ernest McBride, Sr. and two other community activists: Lillie Grisby and Zelma Lipscomb.
The branch launched efforts to hire African-American police officers and to end discrimination in employment and housing. The Long Beach branch’s efforts to put African-Americans on Long Beach’s police force was realized in 1950 when several black men were hired, and in 1979, Charles B. Ussery became Long Beach’s first African-American chief of police, according to NAACP officials.
Source: LB NAACP
