NC NAACP officials: State convention set for Fayetteville

The North Carolina NAACP will hold its 79th state convention in Fayetteville later this month, state and local officials announced in a press conference on Thursday.

The event is scheduled for Oct. 15 at the Bordeaux Convention Center on Owen Drive.

“From the impact of COVID-19 to the rising inflation impacting our economy, there are many issues impacting Black North Carolinians, which we will address during our one-day convention here in Fayetteville, North Carolina,” said Da’Quan Marcell Love, the state’s executive director, at the press conference Thursday morning in Festival Park.

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Thursday’s press conference was also attended by Deborah Dicks Maxwell, president of the state conference; Jimmy Buxton, president of the Fayetteville chapter; and Cardell Hunt, the committee chair for the local branch.

Love said the convention was expected to draw 500 civil rights activists from the state’s 100 counties and would provide an economic boost of at least $250,000. The day before the convention, activists will participate in training in Fayetteville, he said.

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The city last played host to the state convention in 2014.

Love said the city was chosen because of its diversity.

“Moreover, it is a city that is on the move and growing,” he said.

He also praised what he called the phenomenal work of Buxton and the Fayetteville branch.

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The Fayetteville convention is scheduled to be the NAACP’s first statewide convention since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Love said. The event comes as the state and nation ready for critical midterm elections.

“It is a challenge simply because of the fact that all of our units right now are doing the important civil rights work of getting voters out to the polls, making sure Black voters are able to get to the polls for early voting, absentee, etc.” Love said about organizing this year’s event. “This is a very busy time for us at the NAACP.”

He added that the organization had extended invitations to both candidates for U.S. Senate, Democrat Cheri Beasley and Republican Ted Budd, to address convention delegates. He said the organization was awaiting their response.

At the convention, the state chapter will honor retiring U.S. Congressman G.K. Butterfield with a Lifetime Achievement award.

Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins, who is the first minority woman to serve in that position, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the local chapter. Hawkins is planning to retire in January.

Maxwell said the convention theme this year is “Refocus, Reset and Revive: Building Power and Moving Forward.”

“We are resetting our vision and goals,” said Maxwell, who lives in Wilmington. She said the intent was to revive units to tackle issues such as education, health care, criminal justice, voting rights and economic development.

This year’s state NAACP convention comes at a challenging time for the organization. Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service revoked the organization’s tax-exempt status because it failed to file tax returns for three years.

Love was appointed by the national chapter of the NAACP, and he said in an August interview with WRAL, that he is serving as a consultant to help the organization fix its finances and refocus on its civil rights mission.

Tension between the state and national conferences was highlighted at a press conference Wednesday in Raleigh, where a faction of the state conference accused the national chapter of disenfranchisement.

Myron B. Pitts can be reached at  mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC NAACP officials: State convention set for Fayetteville