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OUR MISSION
Is to achieve equity, political rights and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination and accelerate well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.
We envision an inclusive community rooted in liberation where all persons can exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination.
Our Values
Collaborative, Committed, Ethical, Transparent, Visionary
Our Theory of Change
We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities. Our work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people.
STOP RACISM
Join us in the war against the racial disparities that are still too prevalent in America.
Hate has no voice here
WE NEED YOU IN THE FIGHT
Each and every NAACP member makes a difference to the complex, ongoing work of advancing racial equity.
Join this multigenerational network of activists dismantling structural racism by using your power to take action on the most pressing issues of our time.
YOUR MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
Membership gives us a nationwide footprint of freedom fighters that are ready to take care of the business at hand.
"We Are the Change We Seek."
President Barack Obama
EDUCATE-EMPOWER-ENGAGE
OUR ENDURING COMMITMENTS
Our "DNA"
Our purpose is grounded in three approaches woven deeply into the fabric of who we are. Collectively, we refer to them as our ‘DNA,’ and we embed them affirmatively in all our work.
Decoration Day May 1, 1865
This 1865 Photo from the Library of Congress shows the graves of the Union soldiers after former slaves and free Black men moved the bodies from a mass grave. The 21st Colored Infantry along with the 54th Massachusetts and the 34th and 104th United States Colored Troops held a celebration on May 1, 1865, the first “Decoration Day,” which later became Memorial Day. The plaque in Hampton Park Commemorating the first Memorial Day was dedicated in 2010.
We reflect on Decoration Day May 1, 1865 in Charleston South Carolina where recently freed Black men, women and children honored deceased Union Soldiers who died from disease or starvation at a Confederate Prisoner of War Camp known as the Washington Horse Racecourse.
The 257 soldiers who died there were dumped into a shallow mass grave and on April 25, 1865, citizens and soldiers alike deserted Charleston after the news finally reached them that Robert E. Lee had surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant two weeks earlier in Appomattox Court House Virginia. Twenty seven recently freed Black men uncovered and reburied each of the Union soldiers who had died for the freedom of 4 million slaves in America, in their own individual graves.
After decorating each grave, Blacks in the area gathered for a parade, words of gratitude and songs that remind us to remember, to honor and give thanks.
This Memorial Day we reflect on those across all American Wars who died that we might enjoy the freedoms of democracy. Freedoms that we cannot take for granted and that we must stand together to defend and protect.
Please consider standing with the West Chester NAACP by joining or renewing your membership today.
I pray that the words from this song, sung on the first Decoration (Memorial) Day will encourage you:
“Oh, beautiful our heroes proved in liberating strife,
Who more than self, their country loved, and mercy more than life.
America, America may God thy gold refine.
Til all success, be nobleness and every gain divine!”
Dr. Rev. Richelle Foreman Gunter- President WC branch of the NAACP
