The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP and pronounced N-double-A-C-P, is one of the oldest and most influential radical civil rights organizations in the United States.[3] Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination".[4] Its name, retained in accord with tradition, is one of the last surviving uses of the term colored people. The NAACP bestows the annual Image Awards for achievement in the arts and entertainment, and the annual Spingarn Medals for outstanding positive achievement of any kind, on deserving African Americans.

The NAACP's headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional regional offices in California, New York, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia, and Texas. Each regional office is responsible for coordinating the efforts of state conferences in the states included in that region.

Local, youth, and college chapters organize activities for individual members. The NAACP is run nationally by a 64-member board led by a chair. The board elects one person as the President and chief executive officer for the organization; Benjamin Jealous is its most recent (and youngest) President, selected to replace Bruce K. Gordon, who resigned in March 2007. Civil Rights Movement activist and former Georgia State Senator Julian Bond remains as chairman.

Al Sharpton was a member of the NAACP

Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and radio talk show host.[1][2] In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election. He hosts his own radio talk show, Keepin’ It Real[3] and makes regular guest appearances on Fox News (including The O'Reilly Factor[4][5][6]) CNN, and MSNBC.