Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, one of America\u2019s most distinguished civil rights leaders, pastors, and advocates for justice, was awarded the\u00a0111th NAACP Spingarn Medal, the organization\u2019s highest honor, during the 117th NAACP National Convention in Chicago on July 22.<\/p>\n
The award recognizes Brown\u2019s more than seven decades of extraordinary leadership advancing civil rights, racial justice, voting rights, religious freedom, and human dignity.<\/p>\n
Hosted by acclaimed actor\u00a0Morris Chestnut, the ceremony brought together NAACP delegates, civil rights leaders, elected officials, clergy, business leaders, and advocates from across the nation. <\/p>\n
Special tributes honoring Rev. Dr. Brown were delivered by former Vice President\u00a0Kamala Harris, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, former Speaker of the House\u00a0Nancy Pelosi, California Governor\u00a0Gavin Newsom, and\u00a0Elder Holland\u00a0from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints each recognizing his unwavering commitment to justice and his profound influence on generations of leaders.<\/p>\n
Established in 1914 by Joel E. Spingarn, the\u00a0Spingarn Medal\u00a0is the NAACP\u2019s highest honor, presented annually to an African American whose achievements reflect the highest ideals of excellence, service, and leadership. <\/p>\n
Previous recipients include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Congressman James E. Clyburn, Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, and Vice President Kamala Harris. <\/p>\n
Held under the convention theme \u201cWe, the People,\u201d\u00a0the 117th NAACP National Convention convened thousands of activists, elected officials, business leaders, clergy, and community advocates committed to advancing civil rights, equity, and opportunity as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n
The medal was presented to Brown by\u00a0Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, a longtime friend, spiritual son, and fellow champion for justice and peace. In his heartfelt introduction, Haynes affectionately described Brown as\u00a0\u201cYou the Birthday,\u201d\u00a0a phrase from today\u2019s young culture meaning,\u00a0\u201cYou are amazing. You are awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haynes celebrated Brown\u2019s extraordinary life of service, recounting his many accomplishments, enduring influence, and unwavering commitment to preserving history of African Americans. Haynes praised Brown for using both his remarkable memory and his prophetic voice to uplift \u201cthe last, the least, and the left behind,\u201d noting that he has always understood the sacred responsibility of standing for those who cannot stand for themselves \u2013 to speak the truth.<\/p>\n
Concluding his tribute, Rev. Dr. Haynes offered a powerful charge:<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it is both providential and prophetic that we are honoring Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown today, because we need a Third Reconstruction in the face of a nation that is trying to dismantle the hard-fought gains of the Civil Rights Movement. Thank you, Amos C. Brown, and thank you, NAACP, for showing us the way toward that Third Reconstruction. \u201cYou the Birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his acceptance remarks, Rev. Dr. Brown honored the women who helped shape his life and ministry\u2014including his mother and father, sisters, his beloved wife,\u00a0Jane Smith Brown, and\u00a0Eliza Davis, founder of Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Spingarn Medal. This recognition is not simply about one individual\u2014it represents the countless people who have dedicated their lives to the ongoing pursuit of justice, equality, and human dignity. Our work continues.\u201d said\u00a0Brown.<\/p>\n
He also recognized on stage his longtime friend and fellow prophetic voice,\u00a0Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., urging that history faithfully preserve Wright\u2019s influence on a generation of leaders. Wright, the renowned Chicago pastor emeritus mentored then-Senator Barack Obama. <\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Spingarn Medal recipient is a powerful reminder that we must continue to celebrate our own\u2014to honor the women and men whose courage, sacrifice, and unwavering leadership have advanced the ongoing struggle for justice, equality, and democracy in America.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis recognition celebrates not only our father\u2019s extraordinary life of service but also the generations of people he has inspired to believe that justice requires both faith and action,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Kizzie Brown-Duah, Brown\u2019s daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family is deeply grateful to the NAACP for honoring a lifetime devoted to advancing freedom, dignity, and opportunity for all people.\u201d Said Brown\u2019s son, David Brown.<\/p>\n
This story came from the media relation department of the office of Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Special to The Post Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, one of America\u2019s most distinguished civil rights leaders,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[168076,184,168077,168078,7392,168079,168080,1307,8610,93,168081,168082,168083,7393,141633,168084,143,145,144,4823,23571],"class_list":["post-420758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-athletic-apparel","tag-bay-area","tag-business-scaling","tag-capital-access","tag-community-impact","tag-courtney-smith","tag-courtsmith","tag-economic-growth","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-featured","tag-financing-options","tag-ica-fund","tag-impact-investing","tag-job-creation","tag-jpmorgan-chase","tag-local-production","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-small-business","tag-supply-chain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}