For the first time in over 40 year, the national NAACP convention is returning to Boston — and finding a changed and evolving city, leaders said.
“The last time the convention was in Boston was 1982, and as a — I count the generations — fourth generation Bostonian I can truly say, we are not the Boston of the 1980s,” said NAACP Boston Branch President Tanisha Sullivan said on a CBS Boston segment aired Sunday. “Thank goodness, we have made some progress, especially when it comes to race relations in the city. But we still have a lot of work to do.”
The 114th NAACP National Convention is scheduled to be held from July 28 to Aug. 1 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, overlapping with the organization’s ACT-SO youth competition from July 26 to July 29.
This convention is an opportunity for Boston to “reintroduce ourselves,” Sullivan said.
“We have to be honest about our reception nationally, and locally sometimes, that we are among this country’s most racist cities,” said Sullivan. “I don’t think we should run away from that. I think we should acknowledge it, and use this as an opportunity to say to folks look, that may be where we’ve been, but this is where we’re trying to go.”
The convention features dozens of events, including a block party, Gospelfest, plenary sessions and workshops on climate justice, campaigns and health, and a wide list of speakers including Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State and ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, rapper and activist Meek Mill and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
This year’s theme is “thrive together,” Sullivan said, noting “we continue to do the work and need to continue to do the work to help ensure that all of us, regardless of where we come from, regardless of our background, actually had the opportunity to thrive.”
Going into the convention, Sullivan said, the mission of the organization has evolved over the last 114 years and is “deeply rooted in public policy.”
“That means focusing on public policy in the education space, in the health space, in the environmental space, in the economic space, with a recognition that in order for all of us to thrive, in order for all of us to truly access the benefits that this country has to offer, all aspects of our society have to be rooted in structures that advance that mission,” said Sullivan.
Tickets for the convention are available to the general public in advance discounted on the NAACP website until July 27 and on-site.
