Reflection: Back Bay Mission’s Pennington Honored with Top NAACP Award

Written by Rev. James Pennington Executive Director of Back Bay Mission, Biloxi, Miss.

To my utter surprise—and deep humility—I was honored to receive The President’s Citizen of the Year Award at the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet on Saturday evening, Aug. 23, 2025.

This year’s theme—The Fierce Urgency of NOW!—could not have been more fitting.

The award was presented by Herschell Pargo, president of the Biloxi Chapter of the NAACP, with the words, “This is being presented to the individual who best embodies the Spirit of Resilience of Biloxi.”

To hear those words spoken in that space, surrounded by pillars of strength, wisdom, and perseverance, touched me more deeply than I can say. It was not just an award—it was a sacred affirmation.

I cannot begin to express the depth of honor I feel in receiving this recognition—especially at this moment in our nation and our state, when so many of the hard-won rights and freedoms secured by generations before us are being eroded.

To be lifted up by the NAACP in this season of struggle and resilience was a reminder that the work is never done, and that each of us is called to keep showing up.

For more than 45 years, my life’s calling has been to walk alongside communities pushed to the margins—seeking justice for those whose voices are often silenced.

That journey has taken me through movements for housing, healthcare, food security, HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, civil rights, human rights, and LGBTQIA rights and inclusion.

Each of these struggles is deeply connected, because oppression is never one-dimensional.

Fighting for the dignity of people living with HIV, advocating for LGBTQIA inclusion, standing with unhoused neighbors, and defending voting rights are all part of the same call to justice: to create a world where every single person is seen, valued, and free.

It has not always been easy; at times it has been exhausting, even heartbreaking. But it has always been profoundly meaningful.

To now serve as executive director of Back Bay Mission is, for me, the culmination of so much of that journey—an opportunity to “bring it all together” in one place:

• Housing the unhoused,
• Feeding the hungry,
• Amplifying the silenced,
• Supporting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention,
• Ensuring LGBTQIA neighbors are included and embraced, and
• Building a stronger, more compassionate community where everyone has a seat at the table.

“This award does not belong to me alone,” I told attendees. “It belongs to all of us who believe that justice, equity, and human dignity are worth the struggle, worth the late nights, worth the risk, worth the tears.”

And yet, I must confess, this moment of recognition carried a particular weight. In my role, because of the funding we receive from HUD and other government partners, I often have to temper my voice—sometimes forced into neutrality when my spirit longs to speak boldly and prophetically.

At times it feels like my hands and tongue are tied. Yet, receiving this award reminded me that even when we feel constrained, the truth finds a way to shine through. Justice has a way of speaking for itself.

When President Pargo called me forward in that banquet room at the IP Casino, my spirit was lifted. My eyes filled with tears as he put his arm around me and said, “We surprised you, didn’t we, James?” 

And with tears in my eyes, I could only respond, “I am honored to be surrounded by a room full of people who have fought the good fight and who will continue this work of justice until everyone is free.”

In that moment, I felt a sense of grounding—a deep awareness that my journey has, in many ways, come full circle. Mississippi has claimed me, and I have claimed it in return. 

This place, with all its pain and all its promise, has become the soil where my roots have deepened and my commitment has taken shape.

I remain committed to this community, to the Spirit of Resilience that sustains us, and to the unending pursuit of justice, equity, inclusion, and freedom—not just for some, but for all.

The fierce urgency of now demands nothing less.