A year ago, then-candidate Barack Obama spoke before the NAACP’s 99th convention in Cincinnati, Ohio and rocked the house.
Tonight in New York City, President Barack Obama will bring down the house.
Obama will fulfill the promise made last year:
So I’m grateful to you for all you’ve done for this campaign, but we’ve got work to do and we cannot rest. And I know that if you put your shoulders to the wheel of history and take up the cause of perfecting our union just as earlier generations of Americans did before you; if you take up the fight for opportunity and equality and prosperity for all; if you march with me and fight with me, and get your friends registered to vote, and if you stand with me this fall – then not only will we help close the responsibility deficit in this country, and not only will we help achieve social justice and economic justice for all, but I will come back here next year on the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, and I will stand before you as the President of the United States of America.
Obama will address the Spingarn Dinner at the NAACP Centennial Convention. The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by an African American. This year’s honoree is NAACP Chairman Julian Bond.
You can view a live webcast of Obama’s address here at 7:00pm ET.