Opposing Republican-backed efforts to add more restrictions to voting was the theme of the Detroit Branch NAACP’s gala Sunday, which included appearances from civil rights icons and Democratic political leaders.
Thousands of people converged inside downtown Detroit’s Huntington Place for the 71st annual NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner, which raises money for the organization.
Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to attend formerly whites-only elementary school in Louisiana in 1960 honored with NAACP award Sunday. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, was also a featured guest and speaker.
“We are not, have never been a hopeless people, and we cannot start today,” Bridges said on stage.
Bridges was the recipient of the James Weldon Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award. She spoke about how her parents were driven by the desire for her children to have an education they lacked. Her father, a World War II veteran, was disillusioned by racial disparities in the military, she said.
“They were both sharecroppers in a tiny town in Mississippi where education was a luxury that they did not hold,” Bridges said. “We are all standing on the hopes and dreams of someone that came before us.”
Detroit Branch NAACP President Rev. Wendell Anthony said ahead of the dinner during a press conference Sunday afternoon security was beefed up after Saturday’s White House Correspondence Dinnner shooting where a suspect was arrested and charged with attempting to assassinate the president among other charges.
Jeffries thanked law enforcement and all who were tasked with keeping the dinner safe on Sunday.
“Political violence is never acceptable,” Jeffries said. “Here in America, we should be able to agree to disagree without ever being disagreeable with each other. At the same time, I can assure you that we will continue to speak truth to power at all times as we navigate our way through trials, the turbulence and the tribulation of this moment.”
Jeffries, among other speakers on stage including Anthony, mentioned the federal effort to require ID’s to vote in elections. Underpinning the proposal are conspiracy theories pushed by President Donald Trump and his allies suggesting large cities are somehow rigging their elections in favor of Democrats.
Despite there being no evidence to suggest large scale improprieties, Republican leaders have mostly capitulated to many within their base who believe Trump actually won the 2020 election.
Anthony told Michigan Chronicle during the afternoon press conference he expects to be a participant in a concerted effort to oppose the Americans for Citizens Voting proposal, which turned in well over the required 450,000 signatures last month needed to make the ballot. If the signatures are certified with the state, the Republican-backed initiative will make the November ballot.
“They have collected over 700,000 signatures — that means people have been keyed up for that, and they paid a lot of money to get these signatures. And sometimes people may not know what they’ve signed. Somebody in the store, post office asked you to sign and you signed because a person looks so pitiful.”
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist told Michigan Chronicle lying to get people to sign petitions should be illegal. Gilchrist last weekend earned the Democratic Party’s nomination for Secretary of State.
Gilchrist joined NAACP leaders Sunday calling for an opposition campaign against the GOP-backed voting initiative.
“Our message is it’s already illegal to vote if you’re not a citizen,” Gilchrist said. “If someone gets discovered attempting to do that, they get prosecuted and held accountable. We will need to make sure that we are reminded that we have already solved this problem, and that we don’t need attempts to make it harder for more people to vote or make it illegal to people who already can’t vote.”
Gilchrist said he expects there to be a strong coalition opposing the question should it the ballots of Michigan voters this November.
Eli Savit, who won the Democratic nomination for Attorney General at the Democratic convention this month, told Michigan Chronicle at the dinner Sunday the GOP voting effort would disenfranchise women and people with ethnic names.
“They’re going to disenfranchise married women, it’s also going to disenfranchise people without standard Anglo names,” Savit said. “When you talk about something like Rodriguez with a ‘z’ versus Rodrigues with an ‘s’ you are less likely to get an exact match. If you have an apostrophe in a name, if you’re name is Arabic… It’s intentional that they are trying to disenfranchise women and racial minorities.”
Anthony and other speakers on stage Sunday also honored the life and legacy of Rev. Jesse Jackson, who passed away earlier this year.
At one point, a group of middle school-aged kids recited Rev. Jesse Jackson’s “I am somebody. Jaelen Reaves, 16, sang in a tribute to Jackson, who was honored by speakers throughout the dinner.
Both of Michigan’s U.S. Senators spoke at the dinner Sunday, U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters. As did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who offered a “Big Gretch, out,” in the final words of her speech, her last at the dinner’s as the sitting governor.
Candidates for governor, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who left the Democratic Party to run as an independent in 2024, were meeting with guests throughout the night.
Duggan’s seat on the main stage remained despite no longer being the mayor of Detroit. Anthony, representing himself, endorsed Duggan for governor last year in a move that shocked some Democratic Party insiders.
Among the other guests Sunday night was New York Attorney General Letitia James, who gave an on stage shoutout to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in her remarks for standing against Trump administration amid efforts to obtain Michigan voters’ ballot data.
“AG Nessel is the holder of light and liberty in Michigan,” James said as Nessel recorded part of her remarks with her cell phone in her seat.
James was the recipient of the NAACP’s Ida B. Wells Freedom and Justice Award. She also condemned the violence at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night, saying “Political violence has no place in society… I yearn and pray for a compassionate, civil, competent and inclusive government in Washington, D.C.”
