Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, the nation’s largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization, said the group has continued to seek to ensure that communities of color remain informed.
The NAACP’s mission is that everyone receives the facts they need to make the best decisions for their families and communities while the fight against the pandemic goes forward, the president added.
Johnson appeared for a live interview with the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s morning news program, “Let It Be Known.”
He discussed the launch of “COVID.KNOW.MORE,” a campaign conceived with the intent of providing to Black Americans the most comprehensive suite of relevant information and resources on COVID-19 available, curated specifically for them.
“With the country showing increasing signs of reopening each day, the tendency exists among some to forget the most devastating impacts of COVID-19,” said Johnson.
“In many of our most vulnerable communities, the battle against the disease continues to rage on as Americans contend with not just high infection rates, but also the pandemic’s long term health implications and unprecedented economic setbacks.”
The mainstay of the NAACP’s ‘COVID. KNOW MORE’ effort is a now live, multifaceted online information hub housing a broad array of features designed to empower African Americans’ decision-making as they navigate the pandemic – at their convenience.
The hub, found at naacp.org/covidknowmore, exists as a user-friendly, central place for individuals, community groups, partners, and NAACP branches alike to see the latest news and information, research, resources, science-based guidance, and updates from medical experts.
The platform further reinforces the NAACP as the most visible and trusted resource for African Americans on the health crisis.
“The NAACP is continuing its work to help our most vulnerable citizens and communities safely navigate back to normalcy while countering the ongoing devastation of COVID-19,” notes Johnson.
“Through our pioneering ‘COVID Unmasked’ virtual town hall series, local mask distributions, and other COVID education efforts, the NAACP has been dedicated to fighting this pandemic from the outset. COVID. KNOW MORE is the natural evolution to continue to expand not only the information provided to our communities but also to address the long-term implications and impacts of the pandemic and systemic disparities.”
Johnson also discussed the importance of the Biden-Harris administration’s appointments of Black women like Kristen Clarke and Marcia Fudge to key posts.
“Highly-qualified individuals,” Johnson concluded.
Click here to view the entire discussion with President Johnson.
@StacyBrownMedia @NNPA_BlackPress @NAACP @DerrickNAACP @DrBenChavis @WhiteHouse
