DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — In council on Friday, the City of Los Angeles marked the 100th Anniversary of the NAACP, the civil rights organization that was founded on Lincoln's Birthday in 1909. Councilmembers Eric Garcetti, Bernard Parks and Jan Perry introduced the political players, including President-CEO Ben Jealous and Chairman Julian Bond.

"We won't take credit for Obama being in the White House," said Bond. He did note that it was the organization's leadership on many of the steps, especially in the civil rights era, that made the the idea of a Black president easier to accept.

The National Asscociation for the Advancement of Colored People first formed in New York in respond to violence against blacks. In 1914, the Los Angeles Branch begin in the home of Drs. John and Vada Somerville, both graduates of the USC School of Dentistry. The 40th NAACP Image Awards, recently held at the Shrine Auditorium, kicked off the year-long centennial celebration.