Wednesday March 8, 2017

Oregon State Senate- Senate Judiciary Committee

Senate Bill (SB) 496


Good morning Senators,


I’m Benny C. Williams
A citizen of the State of Oregon
A resident of Salem, Oregon
I’m also the President of the Salem Keizer Branch of the NAACP



Speaking personally and on behalf of the SK Branch of the NAACP, I’m here to express support for Senate Bill 496.


This is legislation whose time has come.


This bill allows the Grand Juries of all the 36 Counties of Oregon to come into the 21st century by having testimony recorded.


A version of this bill has been before this body for more than 32 years. The 1st version of this bill was brought before this body in 1985 by the distinguished Senator Margaret Carter.


This legislation will bring:
Fairness to our court system
Fairness to both the Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys
Fairness to the individuals being brought to justice
This legislation will reduce costs for our court system and finally,
Fairness to the families of those going through our judicial system


There are BAD people out there. There are KNUCKLEHEADS out there. And there are Good people out there.


They all deserve a fair and proper hearing by Grand Jury proceedings that allow them to completely understand the charges and those who bring these charges against them.


Thank you.

Our Annual Report

November 13, 2016

Ms. Cynthia Hobbs- AOWSAC Secretary
Mr. Gerald Hankerson- AOWSAC President
Alaska Oregon Washington State Area Conference
PO Box 4144
Renton, WA 98057


Re: Salem Keizer NAACP Branch 1166 (SK- NAACP), 2016 Annual Report [Rv]

Secretary Hobbs,

Please accept this written report.

The SK NAACP branch has had an outstanding year of involvement, engagement and communication in our community.

  • MLK Jr. National Holiday [Jan. 18th, 2016]
  1. Salem- Keizer experienced the largest citywide celebration in years. With the joint support of the Coalition of Churches we were able to have a Feed the Homeless morning with food, clothing & toiletries (supported by local high school & college students). 
  2. A quarter mile peaceful march promoting Dr. MLK Jr. The march themed around his famous quote- “I have decided to follow Love, Hate Is too great a Burden to Bare” was held in the afternoon.
  3. An evening Worship Service attended by our elected officials, clergy, law enforcement and citizenry culminated the day.

  • African American Youth leadership Conference (AAYLC) [April 15th, 2016]
  1. The oldest continuing youth conference for African American and students of Color in the Northwest- Our 15th Annual.
  2. Held at Western Oregon University (WOU), WOU played host to over 250 students.
  3. With workshops, a College Fair and Key Note speaker- Lou Radja, the students were motivated to see and better understand that they “have a Future”.

  • Juneteenth [June 18th, 2016]
  1. In conjunction with the Coalition of Churches we played host to about a hundred of our community residents from all walks of life.
  2. A proclamation from the Mayor of the City of Salem- Anna Peterson was presented and read.
  3. Food, games, meeting & greetings along with a verbal history of Juneteenth all led to a wonderful afternoon celebration & picnic.

  • World Beat [June 25th & 26th, 2016]
  1. This annual event brings “the World” of cultures, nations, people, foods, customs and traditions together over a two day weekend.
  2. SK NAACP supports these events to bring awareness to our long history of promoting and protecting Civil Rights.

  • Bridging the Gap [August 3, 2016]
  1. Thru the 1st half of the year (2016) this nation was made aware of the over use of force by law enforcement around the country. It’s target, young African American men.
  2. SK NAACP organized a Town Hall meeting that brought over 350 members of our joint communities (Salem & Keizer) out to be informed by our law enforcement agencies their commitment to fairness.
  3. The Salem and Keizer Police Chiefs, Sheriff of Marion County and the Marion County District Attorney joined the leadership of the NAACP and other organizations of Color and clergy to discuss the present and future our communities relative to the circumstances prevailing around the country.
  4. Elected officials both local, county and state were present and involved in the dialogue
  5. The local newspaper (StatesmanJournal) hailed the gathering for its timeliness and the tone of the conversation

  • Voting & Workers Rights
  1. This election year is of great importance. [As I write this, we are aware of the great disappointment at the Federal, State and local level its outcome].
  2. This branch spent the year doing voter registration for not just our community but for our young people. We have been into the high schools, dutifully sworn to do registrations.
  3. We hosted a seminar with experts to provide awareness to our community of the legal rights and protections they have in the workplace.

  • Salem Keizer NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet [October 15th, 2016]
  1. Our 8th Annual event was themed- “Stand Up, Speak Out, Be Counted & Vote”
  2. Our most successful FFB yet in terms of turnout and fundraising
  3. Former State Treasurer Jim Hill was our keynote speaker. Jim is the only African American to win election to statewide office in Oregon
  4. The SK NAACP Br. issued college scholarships to students of Color from the SK School District
  5. Public officials, law enforcement agencies, business leader and most importantly a vast cross- section of our communities attended

In summation, the SK NAACP branch has been very successful on many levels. Our Branch elections have been completed, our memberships are up and we are prepared to approach 2017 as we did here in 2016, to take on the wrongs that still prevail around us and be prepared for the on-coming of new issues to be faced. 

For eight (8) years we had our President- Barack Obama working in conjunction with the efforts of the NAACP to continue to move this country forward into a more civil and moral future, all the time with obstructionists fighting us. At the Federal level we now have that party in control of all three (3) branches of government. We now face the reality of outright resistance to this effort. We know the past, the future is yet to be seen. However with the recent past as a barometer, we must double down on our Mission Statement. Let us not forget, we are the NAACP, one hundred and seven years strong.

Sincerely,

Benny


Benny C. Williams