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general interests of the Association.

Foundation Of 4,000
Of course, many Afro-Americans are still neither willing nor ready to do anything to establish our independence which, in turn, will guarantee the guarantees of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

Therefore, this message is being sent to those, no matter how small in number, who understand and are ready to act decisively. To be precise, my plan needs a foundation of only 4,000 who want to make life better for the 30,000,000 Afro-Americans who are deprived of the basics of human dignity in our own homeland.

I have already outlined the NAACP's tremendous contributions - open housing, equal pay for Black teachers, the continuing struggle to end the mental genocide of the racist television depictions and an end to lynchings and power over blacks through indiscriminate mob violence. And I also mentioned the creation of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, both all-Black WWII Air Force units. Other NAACP achievements are the desegregation of the armed forces and public schools. And in 1955, when Rosa Parks started the Montgomery bus boycott, she was that city's secretary of the NAACP.

The fact that we owe the NAACP is obvious. But I don't base my case for resurrecting it on a historic basis alone. Just look at what a 1,000,000-member NAACP could do for us today. And many Afro-Americans are going to need a dependable organization to fall back on next year after the losing political fantasy many of them are involved in becomes apparent.

Beware The Ides Of 1984
I predict that our rights are going to be jeopardized after the 1984 elections, the likes of which have not been seen since the days of Jim Crow. And Blacks are going to need something more than charismatic promises and anti-Reaganism.

That "something" is going to be the stability of the 1,800 chapter-structure, leadership and legal brains of our biggest civil rights group. But we need at least 400,000 new "links" (members) in our new Chain of Freedom.

Therefore, I want you non-NAACP members to join me in doubling the size of the NAACP. We must remember that our history is not a passive history of accepting discrimination, but an activist history of opposing it. And we can motivate our people only if we can market that cultural heritage. Black History Month provides this opportunity. February is the 75th birthday of the Association. It has been marching for us for 75 years in pursuit of justice and freedom. 

[[Boxed inset lower left]] 
HOW YOU CAN HELP
As our Black History Month gift to the community, we are making this unique offer to you.

If you belong to a group or organization that wants to distribute copies of this magazine, we will provide them to you free of cost - if you will pay for shipping ($12.00 for each box of 325 magazines) See pages 2 and 15 for address.

Please establish a distribution network for us to give them away free - so that we may spread the word and the message: Join the NAACP!

[[Boxed image of newspaper article]]
EUROPEAN AND SOUTH AMERICAN PRESS CREDITS N. A. A. C. P. WITH LYNCHING DECLINE

Newspapers throughout Europe and South America are crediting the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People with the decline in lynching figures during the past five years, according to clippings received at the National Office of the N. A. A. C. P. through the Foreign Press Service.

Among the newspapers commenting on the lynching decline are Nachrichten of Basel and Der Bund of Bern, both in Switzerland; the Tageblatt of Cologne, Germany; El Heraldo De Sonsonale of Salvador; and newspapers in Czecho-Slovakia.

The comments are unanimous in attributing the decline in lynching to the anti-lynching campaign of the N. A. A. C. P.

The Detroit Independent April 16, 1925

[[Image of marchers carrying a coffin with a sign "Here lies Jim Crow".

The Key

The NAACP is our chain of strength in the struggle to enjoy the basic rights of the Constitution and each of us is a link in that chain. Therefore, throughout this membership campaign utilizing television, radio and print, I will emphasize: "If you knew our history, you'd know why you should be a NAACP member. Get the facts during Black History Month!"

In my opinion, most Blacks do not join the NAACP because they do not know that the NAACP's struggle is their struggle - and always has been. If we can make that association by using our history, we can double the membership of the Association. 

I am presenting on public television during February a four-part special Black History Month series called "The Longest Struggle," an exciting and historic account of the obstacles - lynchings, segregation, Jim Crow, etc., - and how the NAACP has helped us surmount them. But we need you to do more than watch and learn. 

The Plan

Here's the plan: If 4,000 of you will become "links" in our "freedom chain" by purchasing a $10 NAACP membership and also sell four memberships to your friends—and ask that each of them sell four memberships to their friends—we will have 52,000 new members, created by our foundation of 4,000 freedom-hungry Afro-Americans. Certainly, between now and February, 4,000 out of 30,000,000 Blacks can do that. Write me and register as a "link."

I have secured 3,333 new youth memberships from Pepsi-Cola Company to be given free to 3,333 young people who will become active in youth chapters of the NAACP—especially on college campuses—or establish new ones.

We need each of these young "links" to sell three $3 youth memberships each. As our future leaders this is good experience and they are earning a place in our freedom struggle. If you know of young adults who fit this description, send me their names and addresses for free memberships (while they last)—but they must agree to sell three more. This will give us another 10,000 new memberships.

We also need local coordinators to volunteer to promote this campaign. In some areas, we will use radio promotions during February that will utilize a Black History Month/NAACP History Quiz. If you watch the TV series, you'll know the answers—and you may win a prize. Window banners will be posted in stores and schools, reminding us of "The Longest Struggle."

Advertising of the TV series in the Black newspapers and magazines each week will supplement the campaign. We will make available to our coordinators, NAACP chapters, groups, churches, schools and colleges, a special four-color edition of this magazine on the NAACP (containing a membership form)—something we all need for our library. At our speaking engagements during Black History Month, NAACP Executive Director Dr. Benjamin Hooks and I will ask the audiences to fill out the NAACP membership coupon in the magazine. 

Also during February, we want you to demonstrate your economic power ($180 billion which equals the GNP of the ninth largest nation in the free world) by writing "NAACP" on checks and credit card imprints when you pay bills during Black History Month.

This multi-media campaign to sell memberships by increasing awareness of the NAACP's historic role in making today's benefits possible will help all of us understand why we need to pay something back to (Join) the guardian of our freedoms.

It is campaign based on solid marketing principles and efficient usage of the media and the often overlooked fact that ethnic culture is an inclining factor in determining the life chances of a racial group in a culturally pluralistic society.

Will You Help?

The battle is joined, will you join the NAACP? If you're serious about helping to create a freedom safety net, become a "link" in our Chain of Freedom.

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