12/27/2025
Here’s how the NAACP showed up in the news in 2025:
Associated Press: Kamala Harris receives prestigious Chairman’s prize at NAACP Image Awards
Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.
Reuters: Keke Palmer wins entertainer of the year at NAACP Image Awards
“It’s so important that we come here together and celebrate one another,” Palmer said, accepting the award in Los Angeles. “Nobody has uplifted me more than you, all the people in this room.”
Associated Press: PHOTO COLLECTION: Bloody Sunday Commemoration
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and NAACP President Derrick Johnson, from left, march across the Edmund Pettus bridge during the 60th anniversary of the march to ensure that African Americans could exercise their constitutional right to vote, Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Selma, Ala.
MSNBC: The SAVE Act is bad for America. The John Lewis Act is what we need.
By Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP
Americans have come to rely on the promise that every citizen has the right to have their voice heard. But the U.S. House of Representatives largely erased that promise last week when, in a 220-208 vote, it passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. Don’t be fooled by its heroic-sounding name. This legislation aims to disenfranchise millions of voters, many of them people of color and women, and further concentrate power among those who are already powerful.
Essence: NAACP Sues Department Of Education Over DEI Rollbacks: Here’s What To Know
The NAACP argues that the Department’s recent actions “advance a misinterpretation” of federal civil rights laws and Supreme Court precedent—actions that, according to the group, violate its members’ rights to equal protection and to be free from viewpoint discrimination under the U.S. Constitution.
AXIOS: “State of the People Tour” seeks to energize Black communities
“Political outcomes are the result of community building,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told Axios. “And sometimes we conflate political transactions with movement work.”
MSNBC: America made a promise after George Floyd’s murder that Congress hasn’t kept
By Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP
George Floyd was a father. A friend. A human. And his life mattered. His murder was a tragedy. But it also revealed a truth. A truth that, for too long, too many in this nation have chosen to ignore: Police brutality against Black people is real, and it is systemic.
BBC News: Five Years Since the Murder of George Floyd
VIDEO: Patrice Willoughby, Chief of Policy and Legislative Affairs for the NAACP, joined BBC on May 24, 2025, to discuss the legacy of George Floyd five years after his murder and the lack of meaningful police reform.
CNN: Five Years After George Floyd’s Murder, Still No Police Reform
VIDEO: Dominik Whitehead, Chief of Field, Membership Growth and Unit Sustainability for the NAACP, joined CNN on March 25, 2025, to discuss the legacy of George Floyd five years after his murder.
NBC News: NAACP calls for emergency shutdown of Musk's supercomputer in Memphis
“Being the world’s richest man doesn’t give you the right to pollute Black communities and jeopardize the health of its residents,” NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement to NBC News. “We urge the health department to step in immediately.”
The New York Times: NAACP Won’t Invite Trump to Its National Convention, Breaking 116-Year Tradition
The NAACP will not invite President Trump to its national convention, breaking from a 116-year tradition of inviting the president to the marquee event of the largest and oldest U.S. civil rights organization. Derrick Johnson, the organization’s president, said in a statement that the decision was motivated by Mr. Trump’s policies, which he said had set back civil rights.
CBS News: NAACP president explains why Trump isn’t invited to annual convention
VIDEO: The NAACP is breaking a 116-year tradition of inviting the president to its annual convention, declining to invite President Trump this year. NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson joins “The Takeout” to discuss Mr. Trump’s budget bill and explain the organization’s reasoning for not extending an invitation to him.
Black Enterprise: NAACP Announces Nationwide Town Halls To Drive Black Voter Turnout For 2026 Midterms
The NAACP is organizing a nationwide series of town hall meetings aimed at energizing and mobilizing Black voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, CBS News reports. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said the effort is a direct response to ongoing challenges to voting access.
TIME: ‘We Are the Last of the Forgotten:’ Inside the Memphis Community Battling Elon Musk’s xAI
Abre’ Conner, the director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP, sees xAI’s Memphis conflict as part of a much larger struggle. “For decades, we know that the decision to place more pollution in certain communities has disproportionately impacted Black communities and other frontline communities,” she says. “And now with the data center boom, many are looking at places that have already been considered sacrifice zones.”
ABC News: NAACP files lawsuit against Texas for new congressional map, saying it discriminates against voters of color
A lawsuit was filed against Texas by the NAACP over the new congressional map that recently passed through the state legislature, arguing that it discriminates against voters of color and violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
NBC News: NAACP sues Missouri over Republican-led redistricting push
The Missouri-chapter of the NAACP sued Republican state leaders today to block a legislative special session to redraw new congressional maps that further favor the GOP.
Inside Climate News: Citing Climate Crisis, NAACP Expresses Opposition to Massive Alabama Data Center
In the letter, NAACP leaders wrote that energy demands from the data center and related backup generators would “contribute significantly to the current climate crisis and health issues” in Jefferson County.
Associated Press: From slavery to pollution, National Park employees flagged material deemed ‘disparaging’ to US
“Slavery is not a side story. It’s the engine of American economic growth for more than two centuries,” said Cedric Haynes, vice president of policy and legislative affairs with the NAACP. “And there are individuals who played a part in this.” It’s important to name the people who perpetuated slavery’s atrocities, he said, because that legacy is embedded in American laws, institutions and the nation’s wealth.
NBC News: NAACP spends to mobilize Black voters in California redistricting fight and New Jersey and Virginia governors’ races
“We cannot afford to sit this one out while Trump and the federal government chip away at our civil rights,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.
MSNBC: We need the Voting Rights Act and a functioning government
By Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP
Our nation faces two concurrent threats to the foundation of American democracy: the Supreme Court’s consideration of Louisiana v. Callais, which threatens to topple what remains of the Voting Rights Act, and the government shutdown.
USA Today: ‘No Kings’ organizers concerned about protests. But ‘courage is contagious.’
NAACP spokesperson Dominik Whitehead said his organization’s 116-year history and experience makes them “prepared for this moment.” “The concern does not stop us from the fight,” Whitehead said. “We are going to rise to the occasion.”
Red Cross: NAACP Board Chairman Leon Russell Champions Change for Sickle Cell Patients
Leon Russell still remembers those four-hour drives from his small hometown to the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville during the late 1950s and early 60s. His brother Amos was having another sickle cell crisis, and getting care meant navigating segregated facilities—carefully planning where a Black family in crisis would be welcome.
COURIER: NAACP has trained an 1,700+ army of voting rights experts and advocates ahead of 2025 elections
EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the 2025 elections in states like California, New Jersey, Virginia, and more, the NAACP has assembled and trained an army of 1,700+ voting rights advocates to ensure a free and fair election.
Here’s Why: NAACP Launches Radio Ads to Encourage Black Voters in California to Vote Yes on Prop 50
Last year, the NAACP warned the country about the impact of Project 2025 and a second Trump administration. Today, the organization is fighting Trump’s agenda all across the country, including the gerrymandering of maps in states like Texas and Missouri—two states with large Black populations.
Wall Street Journal: Exclusive: NAACP Logs Hundreds of Ballot-Box Complaints
The NAACP is responding to nearly 300 complaints of issues at the ballot box, particularly in Virginia, New Jersey and California, according to a spokesman for the civil-rights organization. Complaints include alleged access issues and intimidation tactics. Election officials from the states didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mother Jones: Racial Justice Campaigners Were Prop. 50’s Army in the Field
That’s what led the NAACP, in the weeks leading up to the election, to become one of the measure’s biggest direct supporters, including by door-knocking and deploying hundreds of poll monitors across the state. “There has been a long and steady march to kind of erode our voting rights,” said Phaedra Jackson, NAACP’s vice president of unit advocacy and effectiveness, reflecting on the conservative Supreme Court’s continuing attacks on the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
BET: 57th NAACP Image Awards set for February 28 on BET
NAACP and BET announced the “57th NAACP Image Awards” will air live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday, February 28, at 8:00 PM ET/PT on BET. Beloved comedian, actor, and multi-NAACP Image Award winner Deon Cole will return as host.
Reuters: Exclusive: NAACP pressing for ‘equity-first’ AI standards in medicine
It is the latest step in the NAACP’s year-long drive to embed equity within emerging health technologies, a campaign the group says is central to its civil rights mission and closing disparity gaps among Black Americans. The organization is convening briefings, mobilizing state-level efforts and strategizing a legislative push to help set ethical guardrails.
The New York Times: Trump’s Birthday Becomes Free National Park Day as MLK Day and Juneteenth Are Cut
Derrick Johnson, the chief executive of the NAACP, said in a statement that removing dates recognizing Black history was part of an effort “to distract and divide us by undermining progress attributed to the Black community.”
