National NAACP chairman Bond to speak

The Charleston chapter of the NAACP will mark its 93rd year and celebrate the organization's centennial Friday with an annual banquet featuring keynote speaker Julian Bond.

Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People board since 1998, was 20 years old when he co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960 and emerged as a national civil rights leader.

Since then, Bond has distinguished himself as the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Georgia state legislator, a college instructor and a documentary narrator. He received the NAACP's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, in July.

The chapter will recognize several community figures during the dinner, which starts at 7 p.m. and is expected to draw about 1,000 supporters to the Charleston Area Convention Center, branch President Dot Scott said.

Mignon Clyburn, a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission, will receive the Trailblazer Award; Rep. David Mack III, D-North Charleston, will be given the J. Arthur Brown Award for his work in the state; and two high school students will receive the Septima Poinsette Clark Award: Burke High School valedictorian Alora Singletary and West Ashley High School honors student Brian McCann.

A special recognition award for minority-owned businesses will go to Ascue's Paint and Body Shop, a family-run operation in Mount Pleasant.

If you go

Tickets for the Charleston branch of the NAACP's 93rd annual Freedom Fund banquet are $100 each. They can be purchased by calling 805-8030 or visiting the branch office at 93 Spring St.