From the Desk of the President...
Hello Freedom Fighters, it’s been a while since our last News Letter “The Work”. The Miami Dade Branch of the NAACP had a stellar year in 2018 and with your help we are striving to have an even more exceptional year for 2019. During our last newsletter, we were gearing up for our Freedom Fund Soiree which was a huge Success with over 800 people in attendance. We honored our past presidents and shared a brief History of 30 year existence culminating with Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Gillum providing the keynote address.
The Freedom Fund Weekend of events included a political Round table discussion at Miami Dade College North Campus with local politicians as panelist. Thank you all for your support and stay tuned for our 2019 Freedom Fund Gala. We continued the political roundtable discussion by co-sponsoring with Opa Locka CDC -the Opa Locka Mayoral and Commissioner Forums respectively.
Our civic engagement chair Mrs. Paulette Bartlett did an outstanding Job of registering voters, coordinating rides to the polls and providing dinners for voters at the North Dade Library. With the passing of Amendment 4 Mrs. Bartlett along with our branch members, Civic Engagement partners which consist of local Sororities, Fraternities, Churches, and The Progressive Fire Association continue to register our returning Citizens that are eligible.
We had our election of officers for the Miami Dade Branch and installed our Executive Committee members at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Miami Gardens, Where Pastor Author Jackson III is the Servant Leader and our new Chair of Religious Affairs for the Branch.
We had a significant win with regarding the Fire Fighter Lt. Webster case regarding the defacing of his family photos and draping a noose over the photos as well. Four of the six Fire Fighters have been charged which begins to set the tone that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.
Our young adult committee led by the Dynamic Nandy Godfrey is growing by leaps and bounds and we look forward to engaging more young progressive adults to continue the legacy of the NAACP. There is so much more to share regarding the work that Miami Dade Branch has done regarding Housing, Economic Development, Criminal Justice, and Health Care. You will find some of the information in this edition of "The Work".
Thanks again for your support, please read and share this newsletter with friends and family. I look forward to seeing you at our next general meeting which our generally held on the Third Mondays of every month at New Way Baptist Church 16800 NW 22nd ave starting at 7:00 p.m. Freedom Fighters lets keep the fire burning as we fight for civil rights and social justice for all.
In Unity,
Ruban Roberts
President
Miami Dade Branch of the NAACP
