The Pine Bluff Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will present the 33rd Annual Dove Freedom Fund Banquet at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge, 2906 E. Harding Ave. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m.
The local branch theme this year is “We Were Built For This!” according to a news release.
The keynote speaker will be Elizabeth Ann Eckford, a Civil Rights activist and one of the Little Rock Nine who integrated Central High School in Little Rock.
On Sept. 4, 1957, a 15-year-old Eckford was the first of nine Black students to arrive at the school that morning and was blocked from entering by armed members of the all-white Arkansas National Guard. She also faced an incensed, segregationist mob, according to her biography submitted by the NAACP.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Eckford and her eight classmates waited nearly three weeks before making a second attempt to attend Central High School, which resulted in a riot and prompted President Dwight Eisenhower to call in the 101st Airborne Division to escort the students. Although the Little Rock Nine successfully entered the school, they faced daily hatred from students and teachers throughout the year.
As Daisy Bates, the head of the NAACP’s Arkansas Branch at that time stated, the students “endured a volcano of hatred.” That trauma affected Eckford for decades, according to the biography.
After high school, Eckford attended Knox College for a year in 1959. Years later, she earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. She served in the U.S. Army for five years. Following her military career, Eckford worked in a variety of positions. She also served as a probation officer for 10 years, retiring in 2009.
NAACP BANQUET
The NAACP awards will be presented at the banquet. The event brings together a diverse group of citizens and community leaders, according to the release.
Because of the generous support of corporations, businesses, civic and community partners, the Pine Bluff Branch NAACP has successfully made a difference in the Pine Bluff community in recent years by:
Focusing on key issues that affect the citizens in the Pine Bluff community;
Giving scholarships to deserving youth and college students who live in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County;
Sponsoring health and voter education programs;
Advocating to eliminate racial prejudice, and to improve the political, educational, social and economic status of minority groups.
The Dove Freedom Fund Banquet is the NAACP’s major means of raising revenue to continue vital programs, according to the release.
“The Pine Bluff Branch NAACP is known nationwide for our award-winning programs and our commitment to justice and civil rights for all citizens. We continue to hold the honor of being one of the largest branches in the state of Arkansas. The branch supports a youth council and a college chapter at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,” according to the release.
Supporters are invited to make contributions to the efforts.
Banquet tickets are $50 per person.
Details: Event Coordinator Loretta Whitfield at (870) 489-4736 or Event Co-Chair Yvonne Denton at (870) 550-4247. Ivan Whitfield is the NAACP branch president.