CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Civic engagement is when we work to address the issues and concerns of the community in order to effect positive change for and in that community.  Since our founding in 1923, the New Rochelle Branch of the NAACP has led the fight for fair and equal treatment of minorities throughout our city – desegregation of the New Rochelle schools, challenging and changing the form of the City Council from at-large council representation to district council members, stopping gerrymandering in order to keep a majority minority council district intact, hosting seminars dedicated to the health, welfare, and education of community members.  Those are just a few examples of what we have done, and will continue to do to further the mission of the NAACP – “… to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.”  

 

The New Rochelle Branch of the NAACP is asking for your help with Civic Engagement?

 

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

• Arthur Ashe

Start where you are

Some obstacles that stand between us and the achievement of our mission are crystal clear, some are more difficult to see.  Look around you (where you work, where you live, where you socialize, where you receive healthcare, etc.).  What do you see?  Is something happening that doesn’t seem right?  Or, is something not happening that you think should be happening?  That’s the start we’re looking for – right where you are.

 

Use what you have

Everyone has skills that can be utilized to further the mission of the NAACP – laborer, writer, artist, speaker, organizer, website designer, teacher, driver, fashion designer, Mother, Father, Son, Daughter, etc. every job has a skill set that can be used for civic engagement.  What matters is that you want to use what you have to help the New Rochelle Branch of the NAACP effect positive change in our community.

 

Do what you can

Rallying for a cause, voter registration drives, community meetings, benefit dinners, scholarship awards, etc. – there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that we need to do and everything that we want to do.  However, you can still engage – write a letter to elected officials, make telephone calls, use social media and your social networks, make telephone calls, make a sign, come to a meeting, etc.  Civic engagement comes in all forms, and it doesn’t have to take up all of your time.  If we all do a little, we can accomplish a lot.  We’re not asking for everything, we’re just asking you to do what you can to help the New Rochelle Branch of the NAACP effect positive change in our community.