Boston Declares Year of Black Excellence, Plans First NAACP Convention in 40 Years

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6198 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

Boston launches a year of black excellence and announces its first National NAACP Convention hosting in 40 years. Mayor Martin J. Walsh kicked off Black History Month at City Hall with remarks crediting NAACP Boston branch past president Michael Curry for securing the July convention bid, declaring 2020 a year of sustained engagement rather than a single month of recognition.

Walsh opened with a tribute to Clarence "Jeep" Jones, the former Boston Redevelopment Authority chair who died the preceding Saturday, and led a formal certificate presentation honoring the late City Councilor Chuck Turner, 1940–2019, accepted by Darren Howell. Keynote speaker Cornell William Brooks, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and NAACP national president from 2014 to 2017, closed with a direct economic challenge: "We won't stop until black family wealth in Boston exceeds the nation and leads the nation." The John D. O'Brien School eighth-grade varsity choir, directed by Michael Bradley, performed throughout the program, closing with a full-audience rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

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Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6198 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.