About the NAACP

  • The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is the oldest, largest and strongest civil rights organization in the United States.

  • The vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.

Objectives

  • 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.

Foundation

The NAACP was formed in 1909 in New York City by a group of black and white citizens committed to social justice. 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 marks the founding of the NAACP.

Founders

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

Structure

The NAACP is a network of more than 2,200 branches covering all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Japan and Germany. They are divided into seven regions and are managed and governed by a National Board of Directors. The NAACP is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Total membership exceeds 500,000.

Learn More

Visit https://www.naacp.org to learn more about the NAACP's leadership, mission, history and areas of strategic focus.