NAACP moving from Baltimore to Washington, DC

The NAACP is moving its headquarters from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced on Monday.

The civil rights organization plans to occupy space in the Frank D. Reeves Center of Municipal Affairs, though a timeline for the move has not yet been announced. Though unintended, the building’s namesake is an NAACP lawyer who helped litigate the Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit that desegregated American schools.

The complex is a former government building that has been renovated for mixed-use, including housing and office space. 

“This exceptional opportunity to bring our national headquarters to DC will allow us to be even more proactive in serving the Black community, and confronting the serious challenges facing the nation,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement. 

The move comes amid heightened tensions in the country following the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd’s death has led to increased focus on police brutality, prompting Congress to quickly act on police reform. 

”As we have witnessed over the last month, our country is on the cusp of real change that is long overdue,” Johnson said. “A new home in Washington will allow us to not only fully participate in the growth of this great city, but to also amplify the voices of the Black people as we fight for the crucial policy changes and economic empowerment needed in communities across the country.”