MIAMI — The Miami-Dade branch of the National Association for the Advan-cement of Colored People (NAACP) will hold its Annual Freedom Fund Gala Saturday, Oct. 11, an event that will also celebrate the organization's 20-year history in South Florida.
The keynote speaker at the black-tie event will be author and George-town University professor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, whose latest book, April 4, 1968, examines the final day and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The book also explores how King’s death changed the country.
Dyson was named one of Ebony magazine's most influential African Americans in 2003, according to The Hoya, Georgetown University’s newspaper. He is an outspoken political commentator on national TV and is the former host of “The Michael Eric Dyson Radio Show” on National Public Radio, the newspaper reported.
An author of numerous books, Dyson is currently a sociology professor at Georgetown.
The NAACP on Saturday will honor a number of local leaders at the event, including Dr. Rudy Crew, who was recently ousted as the county’s school superintendent. Crew will receive the Dr. Robert Ingram Wings of Success Award.
Other honorees include Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, Miami Times publisher Garth Reeves, Father Richard L.M. Barry, who will receive a civil rights award, and WPLG anchor Michael Putney, who will be honored with the organization's Theodore Gibson Spirit of Excellence Award.
One organization, the Family Christian Association of America, will also be honored.
The Miami-Dade NAACP was founded in 1988, 79 years after the creation of the national organization. The branch is headed by Bishop Victor T. Curry, senior pastor at New Birth Cathedral of Faith International in Opa-locka.
IF YOU GO:
What: Miami-Dade NAACP Annual Freedom Fund Gala.
When: Saturday, Oct. 11.
Where: Hyatt Regency Hotel, 400 SW 2nd Avenue, Miami.
Time: Reception begins at 6:00 p.m., dinner begins at 7:15 p.m.
Tickets: $100.
Contact: For tickets and sponsorship information, 305-691-3464 or 305-685-8694., or log onto www.naacpmiamidade.org.
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