NAACP VENTURA COUNTY YOUTH COLLEGE CHAPTER Unit 1735

NAACP VENTURA COUNTY YOUTH & COLLEGE CHAPTER Unit # 1735

NAACP Youth & College Chapter

NAACP Y&C Structure NAACP Y&C National Office Baltimore, MD § National Director Stephanie L. Brown • Currently on the Board of Director Ø Shayla King Ø Zephanii Smith NAACP Y&C Region – 7 Regions § Region 1 Chair Zephanii Smith § California & Hawaii NAACP Y&C State Conference § California President Zephanii Smith NAACP Y&C Chapters Ventura County President Ka’sha Crawford § Ventura County Executive Board Member §

NAACP Ventura County Youth & College Executive Officers EXECUTIVE OFFICER Ka’sha M. Crawford Beth Shephard Keeya D. Luney President 1 st Vice President § Finance Committee § Membership Committee § Political Action Committee § Youth & College Connect 2 nd Vice President § Community/Publicity Committee § Community Coordinator § Fundraiser

NAACP Ventura County Youth & College Executive Officers Executive Officer 3 rd Vice President § Education § Juvenile Justice Treasurer Asst. Treasurer Secretary Asst. Secretary KJ Crawford Ajia M, Montgomery Jade M. Campbell Chondra M. Ward Chennaye Holloway

NAACP Ventura County Youth & College Executive Board Carzie Carter Justin Crawford Kiana Gleason Andrew Macias Michael Lee Executive Committee Chairs Finance Ajai M. Montgomery Membership Carzie Carter Political Action Carzie Carter Communication/ Keeya Luney Publicity Fundraiser Youth & College Chennaye Holloway Beth Shephard Connect Education Juvenile Justice Jade Campbell KJ Crawford

Y&C Chapter Structure The NAACP Youth & College Divisions are designed to create specific agendas that address issues facing young people in our community. Local units in the NAACP consist of Junior Youth Councils, High School Chapters and College Chapters that serve as the ground troops in the struggle for civil rights. Within the Youth and College Division of Ventura County, the Youth/College Council governing Executive committee and members consists of the following:

Y&C Chapter Structure (Cont. ) JUNIOR COUNCILS - Membership: Any person under the age of 13 Focus: Providing interactive and entertaining instruction on the history of Africans in the Diaspora (specifically the NAACP and the Civil Rights Movement). Basic leadership development and community service are also key focus areas. YOUTH COUNCILS - Membership: Any person under the age of 25 Focus: Providing and developing the skills necessary for leadership and activism. Mobilization, community education, and youth activities are essential focus areas of the Youth Council.

Y&C Chapter Structure (Cont. ) • HIGH SCHOOL CHAPTERS - Membership: Any person who is enrolled as a student in a high school or comparable secondary school. • Focus: Training and developing the skills necessary for leadership and activism. Mobilization, community education, and youth activities are essential focus areas of the Youth Council. • COLLEGE CHAPTERS- Membership: Any person under the age of 25 and/or currently enrolled as a student at a college or University. • Focus: Training and define-tuning intellectual and leadership skills manifest in an increased level of social and political activism.

NAACP Y&C Mission & Objectives • The NAACP believes strongly that future leaders must be developed today, and such development is ongoing in the Youth & College Division, created in 1936. Today there are more than 30, 000 young people representing 600 Youth Councils, High School Chapters and College Chapters actively involved in the fight for civil rights. The NAACP has one of the largest organized groups of young people of any secular organization in the country.

Mission • The mission of the NAACP Youth & College Division shall be to inform youth of the problems affecting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities; to advance the economic, education, social and political status of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities and their harmonious cooperation with other peoples; to stimulate an appreciation of the African Diaspora and other people of color’s contribution to civilization; and to develop an intelligent, militant effective youth leadership.

Vision & Objectives • Vision Developing a New Generation of Leadership • Objectives • Leadership and Activism Training • Proactive Political and Community Activism • Recruitment of new Youth Units • Maintenance of existing Youth Units • Public awareness of the necessity of youth involvement • To be the leaders and trendsetters in the area of youth leadership and civil rights training

Current Issues • Students have always been at the forefront of most major social movements. From the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s to the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980’s, student activism has forced society and the world to change. NAACP Youth Councils, High School Chapters and College Chapters all across America are engaged in social justice activism addressing issues at the local, state and national level. The primary focus issues for the Division are the following: • Economic Development • Education • Health • Juvenile Justice • Voter Empowerment

History NAACP Youth & College Division • In 1935, during the St. Louis Convention, a fiery address was made by one of the youth delegates, Miss Juanita Jackson, to create a department for youth. • This spirit of solidarity among black youths was sparked by years of racial discrimination, segregation, and mob violence. “Flesh and blood and the breath of life must be added to the skeleton we have constructed, ” declared youth member, Edward A. Lawrence in an article in the September, 1936 edition of The Crisis. • The year was marked by an increasingly aggressive and efficient level of activity within youth units, indicating not only intelligent leadership and loyalty on the part of the members; but a laudable spirit of cooperation among the young people.

The major national youth activities were mass meetings against inequalities in public education and demonstrations against lynching was evidenced in December, 1934 when Howard University Students organized and picketed a national Conference in Washington, DC when leaders refused to discuss lynching as a national crime. This demonstration led to congress enacting the Federal Anti-lynching Bill

NAACP Y&C New Era 2000 -2005: “Renewed Youth Activism” Beginning in 2000, the Youth & College Divisions ushered in a renewed spirit of leadership and activism in the NAACP. Notable events during this period included: South Carolina Youth & College Division helped lead the largest march in the south since the height of the civil rights movement, with over 100, 000 people participating in their King Day at the Dome mobilization in 2000. In 2001, death threats against black students at Penn State prompted an extended sit-in organized by the Penn State College Chapter and supported by NAACP college units from Howard University. In 2002, membership and leadership development within the Division were on -going and expanding, as the Phoenix Project was created under the leadership of Jeffery Johnson as a way to engage young people in juvenile detention facilities.

NAACP Y&C New Era (Cont. ) The National Take Affirmative Action Day was created in 2002 as a vehicle for young people to become engaged in the fight to protect this much needed policy. Youth units across the country mobilized in 2003 to call for the release of Marcus Dixon - an 18 year old African American honor student in Rome, Georgia who was convicted to ten years in prison for having consensual sex with a white classmate who was just three months shy of her 16 th birthday. As a result of the Youth and College Division national efforts, under the direction of Brandon T. Neal, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned Marcus Dixon's conviction. The NAACP Youth & College Division condemned off-campus parties held by predominately white fraternities at Clemson University and the University of California-San Diego where students mocked African Americans and civil rights icons in derogatory manners. As a result, the Division created the Campaign to End Campus Racism in 2007.

NAACP Y&C Today 2006 -2011: “The New Front Line” Under the direction of Stefanie L. Brown, the Youth & College Division continues to be one of the strongest and most capable elements in the NAACP. Through the implementation of the Division’s VOTE HARD youth civic engagement campaign in 2008, over 50, 000 young People have been registered to vote. Additional highlights during this time period include: • Thousands of NAACP youth members from around the nation rallied at the steps of the United States Supreme Court in advance of the court’s decision on the Gratz v. Bollinger case, regarding the University of Michigan’s undergraduate affirmative action admissions policy in 2006. • In 2007, youth units mobilized from across the country to Jena, Louisiana to march against the excessive punishment against six African American boys. In the same year, the Georgia Youth & College Division helped lead a national march in Atlanta, Georgia to keep the Voting Rights Act alive.

NAACP Y&C Today (Cont. ) On September 15, 2010 Mississippi State Youth & College Division mobilized over a 1000 young people to the state capitol to speak out for the freedom of the Scott Sisters. In 2011, the North Carolina Youth & College Division mobilized thousands of young people to the state capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina to address resegregation issues promoted by the Wake County School Board. Since it was founded in 1909, the NAACP has provided and trained more leaders for the black community than any other secular organization. Virtually every black American leader, public and private, local and national, learned the spirit of public service and the techniques of leadership through the NAACP. Roy Wilkins, Rosa Parks, Vernon Jordan, Julian Bond, Andrew Young, Patricia Harris, Thurgood Marshall, Ralph Bunche, Dr. Ronald Walters, and many others served their apprenticeships in the Association’s youth units – including the NAACP Chairman of the Board of Directors, Roslyn M. Brock and the President and CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous.

NAACP Y&C Today (Cont. ) Today there are over 600 NAACP Youth Councils, High School Chapters and College Chapters actively involved in social justice advocacy by addressing local issues as well as a national agenda made up of problems including: Education, Economic Empowerment, Health, Juvenile Justice, and Civic Engagement. The NAACP is the only major civil rights organization, which encourages young people to participate fully in all aspects of its structure, including membership on the National Board of Directors. Under the direction of Stefanie L. Brown, the Youth & College Division continues to be one of the strongest and most capable elements in the NAACP. Through the implementation of the Division’s VOTE HARD youth civic engagement campaign in 2008, over 50, 000 young people have been registered to vote.

Tea Party view of the NAACP

NAACP Fights Strange Fruit Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves Blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant south The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck for the rain to gather for the wind to suck for the sun to rot for the tree to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop

NAACP Recent Events Arrests in Central California Cross Burning Police in Arroyo Grande say four white "transients" will be charged in an incident that roiled a coastal community. Posted: July 23, 2011 "All of them, " Anabali said, "are covered with tattoos. " Kahn, he continued, "is the scariest looking of the four and has white supremacist markings. " "I think this gentleman is being discriminated against and used as a tool for blame of what's wrong in this community, " said John Hatcher, president of the Ventura County branch of the NAACP. It is 2011 and America has a Black president, but it is not an indication of progress in the realm of race relations; quite the contrary. Having a Black man in the Oval Office has brought out the vile disease of racism like never before, and it informs us that the White Supremacist tendencies of America’s history are still as divisive and destructive as ever. Ventura County Democratic Party official on his Twitter account last week in which he wrote that some east county Republicans who testified at a hearing in Oxnard should "just put your white hoods on already" do not represent the views of the county party, Chairman Richard Carter said Wednesday. Posted on Friday, July 01, 2011

Troy Anthony Davis The World will remember your Troy Davis 1968 -2011 TROY DAVIS NAME WILL LIVE ON Justice will not be achieved until we end the Death Penalty in the U. S.

NAACP Youth & College THEN………

NAACP Youth & College NOW

Civil Rights Leaders

NAACP Ventura County Chapter Leaders John R. Hatcher III Ventura County President Ka’sha M. Crawford Ventura County Y&C President OUR FUTURE Y&C Executive Officers Ka’sha Crawford ; Chondra Ward; Beth Shephard ; Carzie Carter

From the Schools to the Courts The NAACP defends the rights of all Minorities