Bay County NAACP Youth Council First Annual Coloring, Art & Essay Contest March 1st

BAY COUNTY, FL - The Bay County NAACP Youth Council was established in the late 1940s. More than a quarter of a century after its inception, the Bay County NAACP Youth Council is still fully committed to ensuring a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race by developing a new generation of civil rights and community leaders. We work with young leaders to beef up their advocacy skills and celebrate their talents all while tackling current issues which impact them and are important to them.

We, the NAACP YOUTH COUNCIL of Bay County, cordially invite youth ages K-12th grade to participate in our Black History Celebration. It will be held March 1, 2025, 9:30AM - 12PM at the Bay County Public Library. This year’s theme is: “Young Leaders Standing for Freedom.” This Black History Coloring, Art & Essay Contest is designed to encourage young people to think creatively about our history and learn more about it in a new light. 

This year’s contest focuses on young people who played significant roles in advancing the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and the 1960s. 

A list of gallant youth and young adult leaders standing for racial justice during The Movement would include: Ruby Nell Bridges Hall, John Lewis, The Little Rock Nine, The Greensboro Four, The Three Civil Rights Workers in Mississippi, The youth of the Birmingham’s Children’s Crusade and Claudette Colvin. 

1. Ruby Nell Bridges Hall The first African American child to attend an all-white Elementary School in the South. She integrated the New Orleans school system by court order on November 14, 1960. 

2. John Lewis One of the founding members and a former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 

3. The Little Rock Nine The nine African Americans who were involved in the desegregating of Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. 

4. The Greensboro Four Four freshmen from North Carolina A & T University led sit-ins at the Greensboro Woolworth Store Lunch Counter. The Greensboro sit-ins were not the first during the Civil Rights Movement. However, their actions led to a national sentiment at a critical period in U. S. history. Their actions influenced, energized and galvanized countless young people to stand courageously in solidarity to confront social injustice. 

5. The Three Civil Rights Workers They were murdered on June 21, 1964, near Philadelphia, Mississippi for working to register Black people to vote during Freedom Summer. 

6. The Birmingham’s Children’s Crusade A pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement when hundreds of students marched in Birmingham, Alabama. They insisted on speaking with the mayor regarding segregation in their city. 

7. Claudette Colvin At age 16 was the first arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, preceding the more publicized incident with the arrest of Rosa Parks nine months earlier.