For the Advancement of All People...

All this week, New York will welcome members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as they convene in New York to celebrate their centennial. It’s fitting that this milestone be held here: New York is the birthplace of the NAACP. In 1909, its first conference took place at the Henry Street Settlement House on the Lower East Side.

From its inception, Jewish Americans were active in the organization. In fact, one of the co-founders of the NAACP was Henry Moskowitz, a Jewish social worker, who worked alongside W.E.B. Du Bois and others to create a group dedicated to civil rights.

New York Mayor Bloomberg, who will speak at the convention this week, has a personal connection to the organization. When he was younger, he saw his father, who made little money as a bookkeeper, write a check to the cause. He asked ‘Why the NAACP?’ and his father replied, “An injustice against one is an injustice against all and we all have to fight in the battle because we all benefit from that fight… there should be justice among all of us.”

In this spirit, we wish a wholehearted congratulations to the NAACP on 100 years of amazing work and welcome them (back) to New York.