“Over 10,000 attendees are expected to come into town for the convention, held between July 12 and 17, and nine convention hotels have been designated for the duration of the convention.”—Brad Brown, president of the Miami-Dade chapter of the NAACP 

By Jason Jeffers
Staff Writer 

Next week, the NAACP will be coming to Miami for its 94^th Annual Convention. It’s the first time the convention is returning to the South Florida area since 1980.

“It’s exciting. It’s going to be great for our community and will greatly impact local black businesses and businesses in general,” said Dr. Brad Brown, president of the Miami-Dade chapter of the NAACP.

The convention has stayed away from the Miami area for the last 23 years, primarily due to the largely publicized “snubbing” of former South African President Nelson Mandela by county and City of Miami officials when he visited the region in 1990.

“I would hope that everyone will have a terrific time this year, so that we can come back to Miami Beach soon,” said Brown. “There are only a few cities in the country that can accommodate a convention of this magnitude; this is one of them.”

The organization was first formed in 1909 with the agenda of promoting the equality of rights, eradicating racial prejudice among the people of the United States and to advance the interests of colored citizens.

Brown explained that the primary goal of the convention was to allow the organization to set policy and to vote a new member into the national board of directors. However, several other events will be scheduled around the convention, such as a health summit, a trade and industry show, a minority vendor’s expo, a job fair, a gospel extravaganza, and a comedy night.

One of the other highlights of the week will be the Academic, Cultural, Technological, Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), a youth competition that will present awards in a variety of disciplines.

“We’re going to have over 2,000 young people competing for scholarships in a number of different fields, from vocal performance to physics,” said Brown.

Over 10,000 attendees are expected to come into town for the convention, held between July 12 and 17, and nine convention hotels have been designated for the duration of the convention, said Brown. Most of the events will take place at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

“I think it’s going to be quite good for hotel and restaurant business,” said David Kelsey, president of the South Beach Hotel and Restaurant Association. “We’re delighted they’re coming and we want to welcome them.”

Brown explained that the organization remains as relevant now as it did during the years of the civil rights struggle.

“We’re facing a real upswing in efforts to attack the economic and social gains we’ve made in the last 40 years,” said Brown. “We had a narrow victory recently in relation to affirmative action, and we’re seeing more and more right wing judges being appointed.”

“We’re making a lot of progress, but we have to realize, as with any minority, that no victory is secure,” said Brown. “It takes constant vigilance to combat the forces that are trying to turn the clock back.”

In the meantime, all eyes are on next week’s convention.

“It’s going to be the biggest one ever,” said Brown. “We’re looking forward to it.”