Brockton Area Branch NAACP

There are positives about Brockton High School

Brockton High School has been making the headlines for months but mostly in a negative way. Every city or town has challenges. Brockton High School is working through those challenges.

Negatives

• Deficits
• Discipinary problems
• Security and safety issues
• Teacher shortage
• Students becoming homeless

Positives:

• the students
• teachers
• the drama club
• the choir and Matt Cunningham
• sports

and last but not least - Kevin McCaskill

I have one word, Patience. Let's give the new principal a chance to turn things around. His job is challenging but he is working hard and is committed. During his short time as principal meaninful changes have been made.

Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting. Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else.

-Phyllis Ellis

With the resignation of Kathleen Ehlers, Ward 1, the City Council together with the School Committee will have to vote to fill the vacancy.

A special meeting has been called on April 11 at 6pm to vote on the next Ward 1 School Committee member.

To date, the candidates are:

• William Wells
• Nicole Gatling
• Jorge Vega
• Janice Fitzgerard

the qualifications:

• shall be a qualified voter;
• be prepared to complete the remaining School Committee term;
• a City of Brockton resident of Ward 1

The deadline to submit a letter of interest is April 5 at 4:30. If you are interested and meet the qualifications, send your letter of interest to the City of Brockton, Office of the City Clerk, 45 School St., Brockton, MA 02301 or by Email at CityClerk@cobma.us.

Note: Although the City Councll and School Committee will vote on the vacancy, the residents of Brockton should see and hear from all candidates of interest. The Brockton Area Branch NAACP has been asked to host a forum prior to April 11. If the candidates are interested, it will be done.

On February 27th, the Political Action Committee held the first event of the series entitled "Why We Don't Vote," held at the beautiful Enso Flats Art Gallery. This event was curated to get real time information from voters about why they don't come out to the polls during election season. 

The meeting was kicked off with a history of voting for African Americans in America by Mr. Willie Wilson, which led into a deeper conversation about voting history in the city of Brockton. Following Mr. Wilson, a representative from CommonCause Massachusetts spoke to attendees about some of the historical legislation around voting, the current legislation that the state is looking to pass around voting, and provided attendees with access to register to vote. 

Attendees were also provided with the opportunity to ask questions of the presenters, and provide their own insight on why they believe voters don't turn out to the polls. At the conclusion of the meeting, a Call to Action was issued, and attendees were informed about the next meeting in the series. "

-Dr. Patricia Jackson, Chair

Political Action Committee

Phenomenal Women of 2024

The Women in NAACP Committee of the Brockton Area Branch NAACP hosted its 3rd Annual Phenomenal Women Award Ceremony, an afternoon dedicated to honoring the exceptional achievements and positive impact of ten extraordinary women in the Brockton community.

The event, held at Generations on Saturday, March 16, 2024, brought together community leaders, supporters, elected officials and the honorees' friends and family for an afternoon of recognition, inspiration, and celebration.

The WIN Committee received an impressive amount of nominations. The ladies of WIN carefully selected ten phenomenal women from diverse backgrounds, each of whom has made a lasting and positive impact in the Brockton community. These outstanding individuals were recognized for their dedication, leadership, and contributions across various sectors, ranging from education and healthcare to business and community service.

The honored women are as follows:

1. Donna Frett

2. Nancy Herman- Centers

3. Bri Nichols

4. Nancy Rousseau

5. Shaynah Barnes- Monro

6. Eva Gilbert

7. Dr. Liza Talusan

8. Jasmine Bradsher

9. Ivelisse Caraballo

10. Dr. Soraya Presume Calixte

The Phenomenal Women Award Ceremony featured inspiring speeches, heartfelt tributes, and moving stories that showcased the resilience, compassion, and strength of the honorees. The event served as a platform to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of these phenomenal women while reinforcing the importance of community support and empowerment.

-Courtney Henderson, Chair

WIN Committee

Brockton Area Branch NAACP 3rd 2024 Academic Scholarship - Deadline April 15, 2024

The Education Committee is happy to announce that we will be giving away three (3) $1,000 scholarships to senior level high school students of color for 2024. This will be our third year providing these scholarships. The requirements are the following, you must be a student of color, have at least a 3.0 GPA, must be a senior in high school and must be a Brockton resident. All other information will be listed on the Google form which is part of the application process.

We have reached out to various Brockton School District administrators and staff, as well as the neighboring schools where some of our Brockton senior students attend. The deadline for submitting applications is April 15 2024. Just like in 2023, we have created a flyer with a QR code and students can get access to the application by scanning the code right off of the flyer.  Students should check in with their school administrators or guidance counselors to get access to the flyer if they don't have one. If you have further questions, please contact Leona Martin, at leonamartin89@gmail. 

 We are looking forward to obtaining more outstanding applicants this year, along with reading some great essays! We are two weeks away from the deadline, so please encourage students that meet the requirements to apply! An asards ceremony will be planned for mid-May so we can celebrate the winners.

Leona Martin, Chair

Education Committee

Local ACTSO Competition - April 27, 2024

The local ACTSO 2024 Competition will be held on Satuday, April 27 at West Middle School.

This year we have students competing in STEM, humanities, business, and performing and visual arts.

Please come out and support the students.

If you would like to be a judge in any of these categories, please reach out to presidentphyllis@naacp-brocktonbranch.org.

The National ACTSO competition will be held in Las Vegas, July 11 thru July 14..

What is ACT-SO?

The NAACP's Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics is a yearlong achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students.

ACT-SO includes 30 competitions in STEM, humanities, business, and performing, visual and culinary arts. Almost 300,000 young people have participated from the program since its inception.

-Phyllis Ellis, Chair

ACTSO Committee

ACTSO is a stepping stone to greatness!

Mental Health Event

Keep an eye out for our upcoming mental health event slated for the month of May. Details on the event date will be revealed shortly. This collaborative effort between the WIN Committee, the South Shore Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and Family & Community Resources, Inc. aims to provide valuable insights and support on various topics like postpartum depression, men's mental health and more. "

Read your Deed!

The first event will be held by the Housing Committee in partnership with the Legal Redress Committee. The event is called: Read Your Deed. This event will discuss the history of restrictive covenants in the United States as they pertained to the sale of homes to African Americans, and the plan for future efforts to ensure that all deeds in the city of Brockton are free from covenants that restrict the sale of homes to African Americans. 

Political Scorecards

The Political Action Committee will host a Part 2 of Why We Don't Vote. This event will focus on political scorecards and informing voters on how their elected officials decided on matters that directly or indirectly affect them.

Please review a new initiative: Prostate Cancer Equity Program in Massachusetts.

This program is being launched by AdMeTech Foundation, in partnership with leading experts at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General Hospital, and other clinical organizations.

The mission of this program is to save lives, deliver high-quality care and eliminate health inequalities.

Prostate cancer, striking 1 in 8 American men, is the most common and the second most lethal male cancer.

Any Massachusetts man 40 and older is welcome to take part. The program’s priority focus is on Black, African American, Hispanic and Latino men, who are at even higher risk of the disease, delayed diagnosis, poor quality care, and death.

For more information: admetech.org

The Brockton Area Branch NAACP is extremely busy. If you would like to join our organization and become a member of any of the active commitees, please contact: presidentphyllis@naacp-brocktonbranch.org

Committees

• ACT-SO - The Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological & Scientific Olympics mentoring program for high school students. With ACT-SO, the NAACP is providing an instrument through which African-American youth are encouraged and inspired toward excellence in academic and cultural pursuits while benefiting from the maximum support of their communities;
• The Committee on Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs shall: (1) seek to establish a working relationship with those agencies in government, national, state and local, having the responsibility in the affairs of members of the various Armed Services and Veterans and to see that the programs to which they are responsible are administered fairly and justly to members of the minority community; (2) study conditions pertaining to veterans and members of the Military Service and their dependents and/or survivors in the community; (3) serve as a center of information on matters affecting the members of the Active Military, Reserves, State National Guard and Veterans; (4) maintain a repository of materials, information and forms to be used in assisting veterans and/or dependents of veterans and military personnel with their problems; (5) receive and act on all complaints relative to acts of discrimination on account of race, color, creed, or denial of benefits to which they are entitled because of discrimination; (6) prepare a quarterly report on committee activities to be submitted to the Executive Committee of the Unit and the National Director of Armed Services and Veterans Affairs.ed Services and Veterans’ Affairs. 
• Education - The Committee on Education shall: (1) seek to eliminate segregation and other discriminatory. practices in public education; (2) study local educational conditions affecting minority groups; (3) investigate the public school system and school zoning; (4) familiarize itself with textbook material there from which racially derogatory; (5) seek to stimulate school attendance; (6) keep informed of school conditions and strive to correct abuses where found; (7) investigate the effects of standardized and high stakes testing practices; (8) teacher certification; (9) promote parental involvement in education; and (10) aim to be a center of popular education on the race question and on the work of the Association.
• Health - The Health Committee shall: (1) work to promote, protect and maintain the health of African Americans; (2) assess the health needs of the community; (3) advocate for equal access to health education, care, treatment and research for all Americans; (4) sponsor health-related activities such as health forums, fairs and workshops highlighting issues of importance to people of color; and (5) support health initiatives of the Association
• Housing - The Committee on Housing shall:) (1) study housing conditions in the local community; (2) receive and seek to address complaints of discrimination; (3) oppose all restrictive practices whether public or private; and (4) disseminate information and render such other assistance which may eliminate discrimination in housing.
• Legal Redress - The Legal Redress Committee shall: (1) investigate all cases reported to it; (2) supervise all litigation in which the Unit is interested; and (3) keep the National Office and the Branch informed on the progress of every case. It shall not give general legal advice.
• Political Action - The Political Action Committee shall: (1) seek to increase registration and voting; (2) work for the enactment of municipal, state and federal legislation designed to improve the educational, political and economic status of minority groups; (3) seek the repeal of racially discriminatory legislation; (4) work to improve the administration of justice; (5) work to secure equal enforcement of the law; and (6) keep the National Office and the Unit informed of all proposed legislation which affects minority groups. The Committee shall be nonpartisan and shall not endorse candidates for public office
• WIN (Women in NAACP) WIN shall address within the framework of the NAACP, civil rights issues affecting women and children and shall carry out other civil and cultural activities to enhance membership and provide financial support to the Branch. The purpose WIN is (1) to enhance the leadership role of women; (2) to serve as an advocacy vehicle to address the social, economic, political, educational, health and welfare issues affecting women; (3) to advocate for the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual development of children and (4) to support the policies as well as the on-going mission and vision of the NAACP. 

Brockton Area Branch NAACP

PO Box 1535

Brockton, MA 02303

(781) 807-1092