Episode 138: For the Advancement of Colored People
On the eve of Founders’s Day, L. Joy brings the President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Derrick Johnson to the front of the class to discuss the nation’s premier civil rights organization. President Johnson also weighs in on a federal civil rights agenda under a new administration, the role of civil rights organizations in our communities and what accountability looks like.
OUR GUEST
Derrick Johnson serves as President and CEO of the NAACP, a title he has held since October of 2017. President Johnson formerly served as vice chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, as well as state president for the Mississippi State Conference NAACP. A longstanding member and leader of the NAACP, Mr. Johnson has helped guide the Association through a period of re-envisioning and reinvigoration.
Under President Johnson’s leadership, the NAACP has undertaken such efforts as the 2018 “Log Out” Facebook Campaign, pressuring Facebook after reports of Russian hackers targeting African Americans, the Jamestown to Jamestown Partnership, marking the 400th year enslaved Africans first touched the shores of America, the 2020 We are Done Dying Campaign, exposing the inequities embedded into the American healthcare system and the country at large, and most recently the victorious 2020 Supreme Court lawsuit NAACP vs. Trump, which prevents Donald Trump’s administration from rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for millions of young immigrants.
President Johnson also continues to be on the frontlines on some of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to Attorney General William Barr’s nomination and overseeing the NAACP’s vote to impeach President Donald J. Trump at the 110th National Convention in Detroit, among other achievements.
President Johnson is frequently featured on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC and many others, advocating on behalf of the Black community and all those who are affected by systemic oppression and prejudice.
