FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Statesville Branch NAACP was presented the prestigious Thalheimer Award last week during the NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas.

Branch President Todd Scott was shocked and excited when he learned that the local organization had been named the award recipient – and he was honored to accept the award on behalf of the branch’s executive committee and membership.

“The Statesville Branch has a reputation throughout the state of leading, speaking out, and not being afraid to fight for justice, equality, and building relationships,” Scott said. 

Considered the civil rights organization’s highest honor in recognition of outstanding achievements by branches and local units, the Thalheimer Aard was created 80 years ago by Dr. Ross Thalheimer, a psychologist, professor and author.

The Statesville Branch, which has about 340 members, was recognized as the top branch among nominees with 250 to 499 members. The branch is committed to achieving “equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.”

NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Among the organization’s recent achievements:

The 2024 Annual Freedom Fund Banquet celebrated the chapter’s 90th year, attracting 27 sponsors and more than 300 attendees for an evening highlighted by guest speaker Dr. Anthony Davis, the president of Livingstone College.

Members of the Statesville Branch executive committee have worked to address a pay inequity and possible discrimination in the Statesville Sanitation Department; raised concerns with Hickory City Schools officials about the racial abuse and maltreatment of the Statesville High School football team following a football game at Hickory High School; and worked to ensure all children in the Statesville area have access to youth sports after a league was disbanded, leaving schools with a high percentage of minority students without a place to play.

The organization has supported many afterschool tutoring, mentoring, and 11 career focus development organizations in reaching impoverished and underrepresented youth. These mentors and coordinators include both Statesville Branch NAACP members and educators: Speak Life and Live, Men of Valor, Aftershock, Village Intervention Program, and Hoops for Christ. The Education Committee, in partnership with Iredell-Statesville Schools, took students shopping for clothing and school supplies, partnered with the Crosby Scholars program to provide college and career planning opportunities, and supported the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

The Statesville Branch’s Veterans Affairs Committee supports local veterans through clothing drives, by volunteering regularly at Fifth Street Ministries, donating coffee to the VA Hospital in Salisbury, and driving veterans to medical appointments.

Members also work diligently to ensure that residents, including eligible inmates at the Iredell County Detention Center, are registered to vote. Executive committee members advocate for justice-involved residents, and have met with the city council and police chief on numerous occasions to discuss concerns about crime and violence in the community. 

The branch has also engaged with community partners to address affordable housing crisis and workforce readiness, and also played an active role in efforts to clean up and restore the Green Street Cemetery.

MORE WORK TO DO

President Scott said the organization will not rest on its laurels. From voter registration drives to creating a youth and college division and growing the Statesville Branch’s membership, there is plenty of work ahead.

“The best thing about our membership is they don’t pass their torches they just light someone else’s,” he explained. “I’m not all ways correct and they’ll let me know. Our membership has hundreds of years of knowledge.”