Fresno NAACP Honored with City Proclamation for 76 Years of Service

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Locals fellowshipping at Fresno City Hall ahead of the NAACP's official proclamation.

Earlier today, Fresno's NAACP 1038-B branch was presented with a city proclamation commemorating it's 76 years of service to the city. People gathered at Fresno City Hall for a special reception before the ceremony took place.

Dustin Candler, the President of Fresno's NAACP, expressed his mission in getting the organization back active in the community after being idle for a long period of time.

"We know the NAACP is the oldest civil rights organization on the planet," Candler said, acknowledging the organizations long standing history.

"We've been around forever, but it's just kind of been dormant. A lot of our younger population doesn't understand who the NAACP is, why we even exist. So we're trying to have that re-emergence, have that re-initiation to the public."

Candler says that the organization is working to incorporate the youth and get them more engaged through voting practices.

"Unfortunately, our younger population doesn't so much care about voting anymore, and we gotta get that fire lit back in there," Candler says.

Fresno City Council President, Nelson Esparza, emphasized why celebrating milestones for such historic organization like the NAACP, is so important in the community.

"It's extremely important. 76 years is nothing to seize at," Esparza said.

"Thats a long time for an organization to be around, a long time for the history of Fresno's NAACP chapter to be around."

He attributes celebrating events like this as a positive example to the community at large.

"All they've done for the community for seven decades plus, that's something to celebrate. That's something that should be recognized, and something that we should elevate for the broader community to know what to recognize."

As members of the NAACP and the community gathered to witness the proclamation, Candler expressed words of gratitude and acknowledged those who came before him. He says he aims to return Fresno's NAACP into the former power structure it once was.

"I want to see the NAACP being the NAACP of 1964-1965. That beacon of light. That corner of hope where someone can say I need help...and we know that we gotta resource where we can go that's gonna help us, and answer our concerns."

Candler says that he and the NAACP encourage people of all backgrounds to join the organization.