Black History Month is about appreciating the ethnic values of the African American history. The UK National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also known as the NAACP, has accomplished the ideas of unity and service to others in its tenth anniversary year on the UK campus.

“We wanted to put a physical place with the name. The NAACP has really made it home for a lot of UK students and also a center of belonging. Sometimes there will be 20 to 30 people in here. And we’ll just be laughing and having a good time and conversation,” said NAACP President Chandler Frierson.

The organization has roughly 25 to 40 members who are active in the chapter. Although there are many minority organizations like NAACP on campus, such as the Black Student Union and MANRRS, the NAACP focuses on civic engagement and political awareness. The NAACP also has many volunteer opportunities. They recently had one of their largest community service events called the “Kroger Shop and Share.” The organization collected donations for GreenHouse17, a local domestic violence shelter in Lexington.

The Martin Luther King Center is one of the NAACP student organization supporters, acting as a home for students and their organizations to have a space to meet, collaborate ideas and develop and grow as an organization. The NAACP at UK recently held its first general body meeting in which they discussed the stigmas in the black community.

“We help solidify the socioeconomic and cultural equality of all students at the university. Other people have those similar initiatives or populations,” Frierson said.

The NAACP is not only a collegiate organization but also a national organization. The NAACP is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 to advance justice for African Americans. Notable members of the organization are W. E. B. Du Bois and Mary White Ovington. The NAACP also has a community organization for those who may not be in college. There is a Kentucky region NAACP, with the largest branches being in Louisville and Lexington.

“We are fortunate to have a broad network of members throughout the nation,” said NAACP freshman representative Raven Reeves.

The organization has been on campus since they were chartered in 2010. With the chapter approaching their anniversary date, the organization has put an emphasis on creating discussions about the stigmas in the black community.

“Through our general body meeting’s we’ve gotten a lot of feedback. They were intentional in what we’ve discussed and helped [students] feel like they belong at UK,” Frierson said.

For anyone interested in joining the NAACP, go to the general body meetings to get in contact with the membership chair and sign up. The NAACP does have a Twitter or Instagram and can be contacted that way as well.

Twitter: @uky_naacp

Instagram: @uky_naacp