‘The Fierce Urgency of NOW’: Battle Creek NAACP Hosts 90th Freedom Fund Dinner to inspire action

Editor’s note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave’s On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — Urgency will be the main course served during the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples’ (NAACP) Battle Creek Branch’s  90th Annual Freedom Fund Dinner on Friday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Battle Creek, 50 Capital Ave SW, in Battle Creek, MI.

“There’s just this fierce urgency of now,” says Lynn Ward Gray, Chairperson of the Freedom Fund Dinner. “We can’t wait for somebody else to do it. We have to do it. We have to be the ones to save our communities and our families. We have to act now because literally our future depends on it.”

The dinner and program begin at 6 p.m. with the theme “The Fierce Urgency of NOW!”  It will include a celebration of the 2025 Image Award recipients and the NAACP Battle Creek’s 100-plus years of service to the greater Battle Creek area. There will also be a special tribute to past NAACP Battle Creek leadership and military veterans.

Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening is Emiorra Austin, a Battle Creek native and graduate of Lakeview High School and Central Michigan University. She is a Senior Account Executive at SeyferthPR.

Prior to the dinner and program, a Black Business Expo featuring five local entrepreneurs will begin at 5 p.m., followed by a reception at 5:30 p.m. that will include a photo booth.

The keynote speaker for the dinner is Yvonne White, President NAACP Michigan State Conference and Assistant Treasurer with the NAACP National Board of Directors.

Prior to her retirement in March 2020, White was employed as a project manager for more than 35 years by the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, a leader in developing education, training, personal development, and work/family programs to assist UAW-represented General Motors employees in meeting the challenges of the fast-changing, worldwide automotive industry.

“Having served at the forefront of the civil rights movement with her heroine and childhood mentor, Rosa L. Parks, Yvonne is a strong advocate for civil and human rights, and youth empowerment. She believes that education is the bedrock of social and economic development,” according to the NAACP website.

As the oldest civil rights organization in the world, the NAACP, Gray says, “has a responsibility to shine a light on historical events and give people action items so they can feel empowered to change the narrative for all of us.”

Among the challenges facing the city’s African American community are access to quality, safe, affordable housing; educational opportunities that will prepare them for the jobs of the future; and having the financial means to pay the cost of things like childcare and transportation, Gray says.

There’s a level of anxiousness and anxiety that she says has to be turned around.

“I think right now so many people feel bombarded by the daily ‘What’s next?” This includes everything from buying groceries to keeping the lights on or being able to afford childcare.

“So many things are happening at a very rapid pace which seem self-inflicted by a political climate that continues to what it seems like ignore the cries of people who are hurting right now,” Gray says. “We know there is anxiety on our left and on our right about what’s happening in our world today, but our branch and our members know this is not new; we’ve been on the social justice frontlines for 100-plus years.”

Proceeds from the Freedom Fund Dinner are used for operating expenses and funding programs offered by the local NAACP. Some examples of NAACP Battle Creek branch programs and initiatives include the Heritage Quiz Bowl, voter registration/education, GOTV initiatives, legal redress, and Youth Council.

“It always starts with us. What are we willing to do? What sacrifices are we willing to make for ourselves and each other?” Gray says. “As Americans, we don’t sit on the sidelines, we act.”For more information, email bcminaacp@gmail.com or call (269) 274-5036.