CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO NAACP 2019 ANNUAL BANQUET
THEME: “WHEN WE FIGHT, WE WIN”
ARTIST/ACTIVIST BREE NEWSOME IS KEYNOTE SPEAKER
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Chapel Hill-Carrboro branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will hold its annual Freedom Fund Banquet at 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, at the Sheraton Hotel, located at 1 Europa Drive in Chapel Hill.
Keynote speaker Bree Newsome is an artist and justice activist who gained national attention in 2015 when she climbed the flagpole in front of the South Carolina Capitol and lowered the confederate flag. Soon after that, South Carolina officially removed the flag from state grounds.
“I’m honored to share my thoughts on the intersection of art, justice, resistance and direct action with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and its supporters,” Newsome said from her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I was born into a justice-focused household, and that’s why I’m organizing for justice here in my home town of Charlotte on a daily basis.”
Branch President Anna Richards said featuring people like Newsome is critical to increasing the reach and influence of the NAACP. “We’re fighting great justice battles throughout North Carolina—that’s why Bree is such a timely choice.”
Newsome is also an accomplished writer, musician and film maker who, at the age of 18, won a $40,000 scholarship from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In her senior year at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Newsome was a finalist for the prestigious Wasserman Award, whose past recipients include noted director and producer Spike Lee, for her short film, “Wake.”
Newsome exemplifies the artist as justice advocate, frequently interweaving the two passions.
In 2016 Newsome wrote, produced and directed a performance piece “Rise Up and Go” as part of The Monticello Summit, a four-day public summit on the legacy of slavery and freedom in America, held at the site of Thomas Jefferson’s former plantation.
Proceeds from the annual banquet support the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the national and state NAACP organizations and the local programming and outreach of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP branch.
Those interested can buy tickets online here or directly from members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP branch.