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naacp

Philadelphia has once again been chosen to hold an organization’s biggest event of the year — and its theme reflects some of the most prominent movements on Penn’s campus this year.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will hold its 106th annual convention this week at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Events began on July 8 and run until July 15.

The NAACP is a civil rights organization whose mission is to “ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.”

The purpose of the annual convention is to establish the actions and policies for the NAACP for the upcoming year. The theme of this year’s convention is “pursuing liberty in the face of injustice.”

Penn student groups have followed a similar theme this past year, holding protests and demonstrations on campus. Groups like Students Organizing for Unity and Liberation, with the help of campus resources like Makuu, organized protests following the Ferguson riots last August as well as after other alleged acts of police brutality throughout the year. They have also participated in city-wide civil rights protests.

The first event starts on Thursday, July 9 with the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics opening ceremony. Sponsored by the NAACP since 1978, ACT-SO is a program designed to recognize African American youth accomplishment in academics, technology and art.

Advanced registration for the convention closed in May and included full and one-day event registration for $25-$315. However, on-site registration will take place in the Philadelphia Convention Center starting Friday, July 10.

This is the sixth time Philadelphia has held the NAACP convention since 1910. Recent host cities include Orlando, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada. Next year the convention will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Notable speakers scheduled at the convention include President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf.

To learn more about the convention or to see a full event schedule, students can visit the convention’s website.

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