10/16/2009 Lt. Governor Lawton helps NAACP celebrate 100th Anniversary
10/16/2009

Monday, October 12, 2009 Lt. Governor Lawton attends 21^st Century Classrooms Collaboration

 

Lt. Governor Lawton discussed classroom technology’s role in preparing students for a global 21^st-century workforce in remarks at the 21^st Century Classrooms Collaboration on Monday at UW-Madison’s Grainger Hall.

 

Left) Lt. Governor Lawton speaks with the president of ePals.

 

The 21^st Century Classrooms Collaboration, hosted by the Morgridge Family Foundation, focused on the role of technology in promoting student achievement and equipping students with the technological skills required for professional success in all sectors.

 

During her remarks, Lt. Governor Lawton described her Arts and Creativity in Education Task Force, an initiative that addresses the essential role that arts education and the development of students’ creative capacities play in their success in reaching their full potential, in the quality of life in Wisconsin communities, and as an animating force in Wisconsin’s economy.

 

Friday, October 16, 2009 Lt. Governor Lawton helps NAACP celebrate 100^th Anniversary

 

Lt. Governor Lawton delivered the keynote address at the 57^th annual Racine NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet on Friday evening, noting that even though the NAACP had made substantial strides in securing equality for African Americans, the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. first articulated in 1963 remains far from full realization.

 

Left) Lt. Governor Lawton delivers the keynote address at the 57^th annual Racine NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet as NAACP Racine President Michael Shields looks on.

 

The Racine NAACP’s 57^th anniversary and Freedom Fund Banquet, entitled “Big Dreams, Bold Victories,” coincided with the 100^th anniversary of the national NAACP.

 

“For one hundred years the NAACP has been a powerful civilizing force in this democracy, and we know that a democracy cannot endure unless all of its citizens enjoy equal rights and protections,” Lawton said.

 

Lt. Governor Lawton commended NAACP members for their hard-fought victories, but she acknowledged that discrepancies in income, educational attainment, infant mortality and unemployment between African Americans and whites create a moral imperative to continue pursuing the dream of freedom and equality among all races.

 

“If we are to make Martin Luther King’s dream a reality, we cannot pretend not to see the scar tissue of decades of economic depression concentrated in a single race,” Lawton said. “We have to talk about it.”

 

Pictured left) Pastor Mark Freeman, NAACP Racine President Michael Shields, Lt. Governor Lawton and Pastor Fred Richman at the 57^th annual Racine NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet.

 

“We cannot simply lay a veneer of good will and intentions over the top of a troubled history. Mere talk about eliminating the vestiges of discrimination is not enough to engender a sustainable economy unless we clean out the infection and suture every layer in that deep wound,” Lawton said.

 

Lt. Governor Lawton underscored her belief that the Racine community is capable of scoring big victories in civil rights, and she urged the local NAACP members to continue fueling public debate around issues of race and inequality.

 

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