 Almost 20 years now we have not been in South Carolina as our region has progressed around the states and so finally because of the removal of the confederate flag we are back home and we are very excited to do so. Another person who could not be with us is Gloria Sweetlove who is the Region 5 Chair and also a member of the National Board. We are hoping that Dr. Liner and Randolph, the immediate past president will be joining us as well as shortly we know Reverend Dr. Nelson B. Rivers, the third will be here. Charles White of course who is our former SEC Southeastern Regional Director and a former National Field Director is here and has had quite a bit to make sure that this goes off in great form. Our current Southeast Regional Director is Mr. Kevin Miles who is standing here with us. We have an expecting representative Kevin Govan to be with us as well. There are other members of other branches who are here who are also very excited that we are finally coming home to have our regional convention. So today we wanted to make it known and make it plain that we are very excited about having an opportunity to be at home. I am not going to try to introduce our president and CEO. I'm going to leave that up to someone else but once he speaks you'll know why I don't feel capable of introducing our dynamic president and CEO. At this time I would like to present the president and CEO of Experience Columbia, Mr. Bill Ellen. Good afternoon. We are extremely excited for this day and obviously a month from now next month we'll be even more excited that the event is finally here. I have to tell you for over the last year we've been talking about two major events coming into Columbia. You may know in two weeks we got the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament and then next month we've got the NAACP. In Reverend White I have to tell you I have to stay sharp because that's a lot of ends, a lot of A's and a lot of C's to keep up with. But we're excited about this day. It's been a long time coming, it's been too long. Welcome back to Columbia, South Carolina. We're excited to have you here. I know Cheryl Swanson and her team at the convention center look forward to welcoming you next month and we look forward to you coming into town and having a great experience in Columbia and we want you to come back. Again, it's been too long. Welcome. We're glad to have you here. We're looking forward to the next month. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Ellen. And as you've indicated, yes, we are all looking forward to it and I'm sure that we will agree that there is no place like home and we are very pleased that we can finally come home. While we are getting other people in place, let me go ahead and ask that our mayor, the mayor of the city of Columbia, and we call him our mayor because when you're the mayor of the capital city, you're the mayor of all the other cities as well. So please welcome Mayor Steve Benjamin, who will make some remarks regarding a welcome. Thank you. Okay. All right. Sounds good. Well, thank you all so much for being here and I won't be very long as at least our local press knows we actually have a city council meeting going on right now and it is budget season. So we practice government by ambush here. So if you're not at the table, then you're on the menu. So I got to go back and make sure we spend some time during the budget. But I would not let anything keep me away from this press conference and in this announcement welcoming, of course, our friends from here across South Carolina here, but also my friends, Derek Johnson and Charles White in particular, to Columbia. As many of you know, the NAACP is the world's oldest, largest, most respected civil rights organization. When other organizations may not have been bold enough to fight the fights that needed to be fought throughout American history, particularly over the course of the 20th century, the NAACP was always front and center. The story of South Carolina and the South Carolina Conference of Branches of the NAACP goes arm in arm with the story of the African seed and the American sun producing leaders over the course of the entire last century as part of this century that helped define the course of America. The decision nearly, I guess, 60 years ago to raise a Confederate battle flag in the position of sovereignty over our state capital and to remove it and put in the place of honor on the state capital grounds disrupted a strong and meaningful relationship that now has taken on a new life with the removal of the flag. It allows people to see what we know Columbia to be. We are home to people from every one of the 194 sovereign nations on the face of the earth. We speak 90 different languages. We follow various different religions. We are, the story of this community is central to the discussion of civil rights here in America and to have the opportunity to host Region 5, the mothership of the NAACP, the most powerful, the most prominent region of the NAACP back here in Columbia is humbling as a child of the NAACP and I will say this without any hesitancy that everything I've been able to do in the course of my personal and professional and political life is because of the training I received as an NAACP youth leader as a college chapter president at the University of South Carolina as a state youth and college division president. We were given opportunities to show leadership at a very young age that helped lay a true foundation for us to go out and do the good things that our leaders knew that we could do. I'm thankful for the foundation that I received here at the association and so thankful to have the opportunity as mayor now of this great city to welcome the NAACP back to Columbia South Carolina. This is a big day, this is a big day and it serves as a harbinger of even greater things to come and I have to say thank you so much to our leaders on the local level, on the state level, regional and national level of the NAACP for doing what was right even when it wasn't popular and for sticking it out in the interest not just of local issues or state issues but the interests of greater humanity. And I want to say thank you, thank you so much. Is nothing going to go up next? Yes. Let me introduce you. Okay, thank you so much. We regret that we've had to take you away from your city council but we want you to stay as long as you can but get on back over there and fight and make sure this thing goes right. When you talk about a big day, you can't talk about a big day unless you got a what? A big doubt. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Reverend Dr. Nelson B. Rivers III to the podium. Dr. Rivers. Good afternoon everyone. I am the Reverend Nelson B. Rivers III and invited and commanded to be here by Reverend Charles L. White Jr. I do want to recognize the president and CEO of the NAACP, also a child of Region 5, the mayor of this great city who served in leadership when I was state director here for the NAACP in Columbia who I saw then had the makings of all he has become and even yet more to come. Let me thank Brother Goldman for his introduction. James Goldman served as state president back during the days when we started the flag fight and he knows all about what we've been through. Also he was there for the Buffalo Room when they refused to allow black people to eat in the Buffalo Room. James Goldman was one of the five men refused service along with Charles White at the Buffalo Room. Madam State President, Murphy I saw you, God bless you. Thank you so much and for all here. They asked me to talk briefly about the flag. The Confederate battle flag, we started that fight. At least I joined the fight in 1978. The first person I recall saying statewide that the flag ought to come down was Senator at that time House Representative member Kay Patterson, later Senator Patterson. After that Dr. Gibson as the state president we marched all over South Carolina. Jim Clyburn at the time human affairs commissioner had to wear a bulletproof vest in Greenville in 1987 when we called for the flag to come down under the leadership of the late Earl Schinholster. And then we called on the flag to come down all over the state. We marched on Myrtle Beach, we marched in Hilton Head. So this fight was not a new fight. In 1999 the mayor of Charleston, Joe Riley, invited us to come to the dedication of a memorial to the Africans who were enslaved and brutalized in Charleston at Sullivan's Island. I said to the mayor at that time on the stage, isn't it a shame that we can honor the dead Africans but insult their living descendants every day by flying that racist symbol above our capital. And I said then to Lonnie Randolph and said to later to the right of James that the time had come for us to boycott the state of South Carolina. That was July of 1999. It just so happens that weeks later we were at the NAACP National Convention in New York City and from the floor of the convention led by our own CEO at the time, Kwaesun Fume, as well as our resolution committee, they adopted on the floor without a voice vote against it. Unanimously, the sanctions against South Carolina that led to the sanctions against Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama. The South Carolina sanctions started in July of 1999. We went into negotiations. We were told many times nothing could change, nothing would change. And then Senator Arthur Ravanel, bless his soul, had helped us by having a rally before we had our rally. After the rally he called the NAACP the National Association for Retarded People and we thank him because his rally had 6,000, our rally had 50,000, had a lot to do with him calling us retarded. We marched 50,000 strong or almost across the street and the flag started to come down. Senator McConnell told me to my face that the flag would never come down as long as he was in the Senate, long as he was anywhere around in South Carolina. I said to Senator McConnell, you must not know me. I'm from Charleston. I'm from the land of Never. Everything you ever told me I would never do, I've done or will do, and we're going to take the flag down. That was January of 1999. We had the first king dead to dawn, 50,000 people. They told us in the State Senate and the House it still wouldn't come down, but the boycott started. People started leaving the state, they wouldn't have come to the state. And the next thing you know there was a deal cut and NAACP was sold out on the deal. We were sold out on the deal. We never would have accepted the deal. We didn't think we needed a monument for black people off of King at the expense of keeping that red rag above the dawn. The flag stayed up because it stayed up too long because people cut a deal on us that they shouldn't have done. But here behold, years later, the flag, when we marched out there in 2000, we declared then we don't know how long it would take or when it would take. That was July the 5th, 2000, that the flag would come down. Painfully, but surely, when they killed the 9 at Emanuel, friends of mine, the church where I was buried, don't you know on July the 10th, the same people who told me to my face and I'll face, it would never come down. They came down. They came down from blood. They came down because of terrorism. They came down because of innocent lives shed, but it did come down. That's why in South Carolina we ignore people who tell us justice will never be done. It might not be now, but it will happen because it has to happen. So I'm excited that the region is coming. I served as regional director for five years. I followed Earl Schinholster. Charles White followed me. And we know this is the heart of the NACP. Region 5, as go Region 5, goes to whole association. And of course, we're excited that a child of Region 5 is from Detroit, but he grew up and learned who he was in Mississippi and down at Tougaloo College. He's now the national president and chief executive of the NACP, came up as a state youth leader, a tremendous lawyer and friend and brother. Why don't you welcome Derek Jones, the president and CEO of the National Office of the NAACP. I want to thank you, Reverend Rivers and to Mayor Benjamin. If you need to go to protect your budget, I understand. There you go. Symbols matter. The symbol of the Confederacy is an offensive symbol. And as a result of that, the NAACP made a value judgment not to visit South Carolina. Symbols matter. Because of that value judgment, that symbol of the Confederacy is no longer flying at the state capitol. So we have a new value proposition that the NAACP will now return to South Carolina. For me, it's a great opportunity because we're returning during the time a friend of mine is serving as mayor. What a symbol that is. An individual who developed political chops through the NAACP now serving as the capital city mayor. A city that the NAACP will return to after a victorious journey of taking down the Confederate flag. In NAACP, we are the largest and oldest civil rights organization in the country. At 110 years old, 2200 units in 47 states, we are proud to convene March 28th, 29th and 30th in Columbia, South Carolina. It is important for not only this community, but for the nation to understand that in a democracy, our vote is our currency, but our voice should resonate with a value system of inclusion. So as we stand here today, beginning to converge on this city, we want to thank this mayor, this community, this state conference president, Ms. Murphy, this branch president, Ms. Gardner, for inviting us to participate at this moment in this city. This is a press conference, not opportunity for a speech. So if the press have any questions, I think this is a great time, because I have learned in my tenure, you only get 30 seconds. So at this time, I want to open it up before we bring up the state conference president so the mayor can get ready and protect this budget, and we can all begin to prepare for the convening of the civil rights conference. But we hope that the community of this state would join us for the training so we can align our voices in ways in which we can make democracy work for all, not only in the federal political discourse, but also locally. The most important thing that NAACP has done for this nation is become the conscience of the nation in the public policy space. And so this convening would allow our delegates, our members and friends to be trained on how to be stronger advocates to bring a value system of inclusion into our public policy conversation. Let me add something really quick too, and I'll take lead. It's important to note that because of the Confederate battle flag man removed from our state capital in the end of economic sanctions against South Carolina, we're not only hosting this institute, Leadership Training Institute with NAACP, but we would not have March Madness here in this community. To some people, some people focus on sports a lot more than they do on other things. But for this action, March Madness would not be in Columbia for the first time since 1970 or thereabouts. I've spent over the last eight years several moments with economic development prospects, with those who want to visit our community to bring conferences or other revenue generating opportunities to this community because they saw the potentialist community, but they would not come because they didn't feel that the state of South Carolina would do the right thing in removing the Confederate battle flag. So the opportunity to quantify exactly what we've lost or what we could have lost, but for this decision, I would tell you it's significant just from my personal experience. The opportunities now are huge and significant. The role, again, that the NAACP has played not only in this discussion, but in helping shape the arc of South Carolina in this country for the last century cannot be overstated. But I do want to make sure that those who are listening within the sound of my voice, viewing the entirety of this press conference, or just 30 seconds of it, as the President recognized, realize this is not just about the NAACP, but conferences of every shape, size, economic development decisions of every shape and size over the arc of a significant number of years have passed in South Carolina or would not consider South Carolina simply because of the battle flag flying at our state capital. So the leadership of the NAACP in leading to take the flag down and out of a position of honor at the state capital were newer to the benefit of South Carolinians for generations to come. So thank y'all. All right. Any other questions before we move to the next speaker? Thank you. Thank you very much. At this time, I am honored to introduce a State Representative from South Carolina. Please welcome Representative Govan. Thank you very much, Mr. Gaulman, to our State President of the NAACP, Ms. Murphy. It's a deed, and the other distinguished ladies and gentlemen that are here. It's a pleasure to stand here before you in support of this great event. It's great to see that the NAACP is once again going to host this event here. I think my good friend, Mayor Benjamin, made it clear that where there's no struggle, there's no progress. And ladies and gentlemen, what we've seen is that, of course, with the NAACP once again hosting events here that there has been some progress. But I just want you to know, as a member and chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, we stand shoulder in shoulder with these other organizations to indicate that we still, despite what progress is made, that we still have a very long way to go. And as a member and chairman of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, which is a body, 501C4 organization, 44 members strong with members in both the South Carolina House and Senate, the second largest Legislative Black Caucus in these United States of America, that South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus stands ready, motivated, and prepared to do what we have to do as policy instigators, if you would. Those individuals who are responsible for public policy of moving the ball forward in the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina are key issues, not only in terms of economic development, health care, criminal justice reform, but education as well. And we look forward. I'm real thankful, and I got to say this from the heart. You know, I've been in the General Assembly 26 years, so I can remember some of these very fights and where this whole movement started as far as the modern-day efforts since the early 90s in terms of dealing with the challenge of this state, including the Confederate flag. But I want to just thank President Murphy for all that she's done in terms of reaching out to the caucus, and we certainly extend their hand also because we can get more accomplished when we stand together as opposed to when we stand apart. There are critical issues that this caucus wants to take on. In fact, we just came from a meeting, and if you all are not aware, on next Monday we will begin debating an $8.5 billion budget. And as of tomorrow, we will take up the omnibus education bill of which legislative members of the Legislative Black Caucus have been championing education in this state for a number of years. We'd always get credit for what we do, but that's not unusual when it comes to African-Americans. And if you look at the history of South Carolina where public education really got a start, it was members of our General Assembly during the radical Reconstruction period who decided that education needed to be the purview of the many and not of the few. And so we're going to begin tomorrow to deal with the largest reform bill that we've had in a number of years, and certainly we're going to solicit all those who are interested in public education their support to make positive changes to that legislation to ensure that all our kids, all of our children have access to not just a minimally adequate but more importantly a high quality education for every child regardless of race or zip code. So having said that, I just want to again thank you all for reaching out to us. We look forward to working with you. We extend Mr. National President. We extend a hand of welcome to this great state, which we hope to be greater because we're going to keep pressing forward, Madam President, along with you and the Action Network and other entities represented here. We're going to press forward in terms of trying to move it to the next level of greatness. So thank you all so much. And if anyone has any questions for me, because of time, let me thank you very much. Thank you so much. Very, very, very briefly, we're going to hear from our regional director, Mr. Kevin Miles. Good afternoon. I just wanted to briefly mention to you all what the Civil Rights and Advocacy Training Institute is. This is our premier training opportunity in the NAACP and we will be welcoming approximately 500 leaders from all throughout the South, from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee into Columbia, South Carolina so that we can do some very detailed training on how we can take our work in the areas of education and economic development and health and political action and all of those things and develop real policy inputs so that we can be much more effective in our civic engagement work and in our public policy work at the state level, at the local level and at the federal level. And all of that is going to emanate from right here in Columbia, South Carolina and as the director of the Southeast region of the NAACP, I just wanted to take a moment to say how thankful we are that Columbia, South Carolina has welcomed us back with open arms and we are anxious to get back to work here. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased and honored. Many of us, first of all, if you're an NAACP board member and some others, you don't get paid to do this, okay? You need to understand that. We have a young lady with us who has a day job so she couldn't get here early enough to do this free work. But please, won't you welcome South Carolina State Conference President, Ms. Brenda Murphy to the stage to close us out. Amen. Good afternoon to all. I just want to say to our national executive staff, I truly appreciate your being here today for this press conference. We are really proud to be able to host the training, the regional training this year. I'm not going to say very much other than I want to also, and I know Mayor Benjamin is already left, the best mayor in this country, but I want to thank him and the Columbia experience for helping us to make this happen. So again, thanks to all of you. Thank you, Mayor.