Monique Morris talks about triumphs and struggles at NAACP banquet

View full sizeMike Greenlar / The Post StandardNAACP awards banquet keynote speaker Monique Morris of Wash D.C embraces fellow Delta Sigma Theta sorority member Jennifer Grant of Syracuse during the reception at the Double Tree Hotel in East Syracuse. 
While African Americans have overcome many racial pitfalls, the fight for social justice continues, said a civil rights advocate on Wednesday night. 
Monique Morris, vice president for research and advocacy at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people at the NAACP Syracuse/Onondaga 31st annual Freedom Awards Banquet. 
The event, dedicated to honoring people who have made a difference in the community, was held at the DoubleTree Hotel, off Carrier Circle, in DeWitt. 
Morris explained love is what stands at the core of the NAACP’s fight for social justice. 
We must recognize love as more than an emotion but as a tool to change our communities, she said. 
She also reminded the audience of NAACP figures who have changed African-American history. 
When African Americans were forced to live under “separate but equal” conditions, NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall took legal action to end segregation, she said.  When sharecropping systems exploited African-American labor, W.E.B Dubois, founder of the NAACP, demanded a change, Morris said. 
“I bring all this up because I believe in ‘sankofa’ — in order to know where you are going, you have to know where you’ve been,” she said. 
Despite the NAACP’s historical triumphs, she said the fight against social injustice is hardly over. 
Morris urged people to continue fighting injustices that plague communities of color: inadequate health care, unemployment, prison incarceration and inadequate educational systems. 
She encouraged young advocates to carry on the NAACP’s legacy of challenging discrimination to improve the lives of others. “ We will grow stronger, we will grow smarter” she said. “ And we’ll remain committed to use our power to implement the demands of justice because that’s just what we do at the NAACP.”