58th Annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner

DETROIT, April 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Detroit NAACP is once again pleased to announce plans for 58^th Annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner. As you know, this is one of the significant iconic events here in the city of Detroit and throughout this region. There is no other event like this in our state or our nation. It is more than a dinner. It is an assembly of a diversity of races, professions, city, suburban, and rural – from the grassroots to corporate America. We seek to bring together - once a year - a grand networking of people who might not otherwise ever encounter each other during their day-to-day work.

The Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner provides an opportunity to bring people together over diverse issues that may ultimately lead to developing a common agenda. Our agenda is always freedom, justice and equal opportunity for all. The theme of this year's dinner is "Freedom Must Never Be Defaulted, It Must Forever Be Exalted!"

This is directly in line with the Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. over 50 years ago which committed itself to never defaulting on the issue of freedom. Even though, after coming to the city of Detroit in June 1963 and then delivering his second speech in Washington, DC in August of 1963, he said that the check had been issued in the bank of freedom and it came back marked insufficient funds.

Today, we are still attempting to collect from the bank of freedom and justice. This is why we are pleased to present freedom fighters like attorney Jocelyn F. Benson, Dean of WSU Law School with our Great Expectation Award and Senior Editor Bankole Thompson of the Michigan Chronicle, author and social justice advocate our second Great Expectation Award.

We certainly are pleased to announce the presentation of the Mary Church Terrell Freedom & Justice Award to the first woman Executive Director of Detroit Branch NAACP and current Detroit Council member JoAnn Nichols Watson for championing the causes of the city of Detroit for women and poor people during her tenure.

And certainly we are exceptionally pleased that the Ida B. Wells Freedom and Justice Award will be presented to the Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, university professor, MSNBC commentator, social justice advocate, author and prolific fighter for justice.

These individuals reflect the spirit of freedom and justice and the continuing struggle for justice by many in our nation who believe that freedom must never be defaulted. As our nation continues to face the challenge of joblessness, home foreclosures, the need for full implementation of health care for all Americans and the constant attacks on voting rights and public policy that beats the people down as opposed to lifting the people up - we are pleased to announce that our keynote speaker will be the first woman to serve as Speaker of the US House of Representatives – the Honorable Nancy Pelosi of California. Representative Pelosi is anxious and excited about coming to the city of Detroit at this very critical time in our history. She will speak to issues from a national point of view that have a lasting impact on those of us who live in the city of Detroit.

The dinner is scheduled for Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 5pm at the New Cobo Convention Center in downtown Detroit.

For further information, you may contact us at 313-871-2087.

CONTACT: WardHill Omni Media
LaToya Henry, 313-447-6404 (c) 
Tonie Bell, 313-802-1817 (c)

SOURCE Detroit Branch NAACP