For the first time in 40 years, the NAACP will be hosting its national convention in Boston, a city where prominent Black figures such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mel King all lived. This year, the convention, which runs through August 1, will be featuring a lineup of high-profile guest speakers from across the country. Here are just some names to look out for.
“Our city will be buzzing,” Lori Nelson, Boston’s Senior Advisor for Racial Justice in the Equity & Inclusion Cabinet told The Boston Globe. “People will be able to experience what we are as a destination city.”
The full list of speakers can be viewed here.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., speaks during an immigration rally asking Congress to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), citizenship for workers and to pass President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)AP
U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley will be speaking at the Juanita Jackson Mitchell Youth Awards on July 31. Pressley, known for her progressive politics as a member of “The Squad,” was the first woman of color elected to Congress from Massachusetts. In her positon, Pressley has fought for reproductive justice, women’s rights and educational equality.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during the Hillary Rodham Clinton awards ceremony at Georgetown University in Washington on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. The award is given annually by Clinton and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security for leadership in promoting women’s rights and peace around the globe. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be speaking at the Spingarn Freedom Fund Awards Dinner on August 1 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Clinton has been a champion for women’s rights for decades. As the First Lady, she co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and worked on initiatives like the Children’s Health Insurance Program. In 2016, she became the first female presidential nominee of a major political party.
Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris speaks at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. The 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC) is taking place from Feb. 17 to Feb. 19, 2023 at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)AP
Vice President Kamala Harris will be speaking at the NAACP’s Open Public Mass Meeting on Saturday, July 29. Vice President Harris is the first woman of color to hold the position. She is of Indian and Jamaican descent. Growing up, the Vice President and her sister Maya Harris, who worked as a senior policy adviser in the Clinton campaign, were inspired by their parent’s commitment to activism and justice. Vice President Harris has brought this sense of justice to her political life. As Vice President, she has worked to protect voting rights, reproductive rights and to get America vaccinated.
In this April 2, 2019, file photo, rapper Meek Mill speaks at a gathering in Philadelphia to push for drastic changes to Pennsylvania’s probation system. Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s office wants a new trial with a new judge for rapper Meek Mill. Larry Krasner submitted the brief Wednesday, May 22, 2019. He said former Judge Genece Brinkley’s court “abused its discretion” after sentencing Mill in 2017 to two to four years in prison for violating an old gun charge. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)AP
Rapper Meek Mill will be speaking at the Plenary Session on Sunday, July 30. Mill, who is known for hits like “Dreams and Nightmares” and “Amen” has also been a vocal activist. In 2018, after he was released from incarceration over a crime he said he never committed, he founded the REFORM Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing the number of young people who are unjustly punished by the criminal justice system. The REFORM Alliance pools leaders from a variety of fields like activism, entrepreneurship, politics and business to advocate for criminal justice reform in America.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. chairs the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards jury. 2013 photo by Joshua Gunter, The Plain DealerJoshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer
Henry Louis Gates Jr. will also be speaking at the Plenary Session on July 30. Gates serves as the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Gates is well-known for his significant contributions to African-American literature and culture, particularly in the field of African-American studies. He his TV series “Finding Your Roots” has been instrumental in encouraging people from various backgrounds to explore their own genealogy and understand the interconnectedness of human history.
Now former Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Geraldine S. Hines speaks during her swearing-in ceremony at the John Adams Courthouse, Thursday, July 31, 2014. (Photo by Angela Rowlings/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Geraldine S. Hines will be speaking at the Race and Justice Workshop: We Are Done Dying: Combating Over-Policing on July 29. Hines is a former Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, she now teaches at Boston College Law School. She was the first Black woman to serve on the Commonwealth’s highest court. While on the bench, Hines authored two groundbreaking opinions. In Commonwealth v. Warren, she wrote that a Black man running from the police in Boston, “might just as easily be motivated by the desire to void the recurring indignity of being racially profiled as by the desire to hide criminal activity.” And in Commonwealth v. Brangan, she wrote an opinion that changed the bail procedure in the Commonwealth to consider a defendant’s financial circumstances in setting bail.