On July 16, 2009, President Barack Obama delivered a speech at the New York Hilton to participants attending “100 Years—Bold Dreams, Big Victories,” the 2009 annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He spoke for forty-five minutes to several thousand attendees. Obama used the one-hundred-year anniversary of the NAACP as an opportunity to review the history of the civil rights movement to date and to lay out what he saw as the next steps for fulfilling the organization’s mission. He described changes in law and public policy as the result of the efforts of individuals committed to the ideals of equal rights and justice, some whose contributions are well documented and others whose sacrifices are largely unknown. While acknowledging that racism still existed, Obama asserted that its impact was less strongly felt than at any other time in U.S. history. He continued his “big tent” approach to change: that bettering conditions for all Americans would result in improvements for African Americans. He argued that the path forward would be one in which government action would continue to be consequential but where personal responsibility was the essential component. With approaches that shared elements of politician and preacher, President Obama called for a sense of hope and urgency and a renewed commitment to social justice in improving the nation.