The Black Agenda

President Richard T. Smith (Special Guest)

Richard T. Smith is a native of Trenton, New Jersey.  He attended Trenton State College, currently known as the College of New Jersey, where he was a Speech Communication & Theater Major.  In addition, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, New York & Atlantic County College. 

In March of 2004, Richard was appointed by former Governor James McGreevey and presently serves as one of the seven Commissioners on the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. In January of 2013, he was unanimously elected by his fellow Commissioners to serve as the Commissions Chairman. On October 12th– 2013 at the Annual NAACP New Jersey State Conference Convention, Richard was elected to serve as the President of the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP. Richard was re-elected overwhelmingly at the State Convention held on October 10, 2015. In October of 2017, Richard ran unopposed and was elected to serve another two-year term. Richard was re-elected in 2019 and once again ran unopposed in 2021.

In July of 2017 at the NAACP National Convention in Baltimore, members of Region II that consist of New England, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania & Delaware voted to have Richard become a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors and was sworn-in on February 17, 2018, in New York, NY.

He has been honored by numerous organizations such as, the Political Congress of Black Woman, Order of the Eastern Stars, Coalition of Black Trade Unionist, the Vineland African-American Community Development Corporation and the Grapevine Newspaper as one of Vineland, New Jersey's hometown heroes just to name a few. President Smith is respected as a passionate, fearless freedom fighter and is wholeheartedly committed to continuing his lifelong fight for civil rights, equal opportunity and social justice.

 

Richelle Terese (Host)

Richelle is the NAACP New Jersey State Conference Communications, Press and Publicity Committee Chair. and a 2021 Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) Senior Fellow. She is committed to her work as a freelance marketer, assisting community organizations with communications, media, graphic design, community engagement, research, campaigns, and program planning/coordination. Richelle studied at Rutgers University majoring in Africana Studies (Black studies), History and Education.