The NAACP Garland Unit will host a Political Forum at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, April 1. The forum will be held at the North Garland Branch Library, located at 3845 North Garland Ave.
Attendees will have an opportunity to question and get to know the candidates in the May 6 local election.
Those who wish, may also join the forum virtually via Zoom. Login details are available at GarlandTXNAACP.org.
For those unable to attend this forum, mark your calendars now to attend the Garland Association for Hispanic Affairs’ candidate forum. The forum is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, at Gale Fields Recreation Center, 1701 Dairy Road.
NAACP Garland Unit history:
The Garland Unit of the NAACP was chartered July 6, 1984, with 127 members. Goldie Locke served as founding president and Johnnie O. Steadham was first vice president, along with 18 Executive Committee members.
Two of the original 18 board members are still active: Chester Johnson currently serves as chair of Legal Redress and Carol Montgomery is active on two committees. Richard Dockery, NAACP regional director, chaired the standing-room-only organizational meeting where two key issues were addressed: 1). the firing of African American police officer Sam Allen; 2). substandard schools in the minority area of Garland. Sam Allen later rehired as a Garland firefighter.
To address schools, the Garland Unit became a plaintiff to the original school desegregation court order filed by the United States Justice Department and the Texas Education Agency. This judgment remains in effect.