NATCHEZ &8212; At a time when so many people are being marginalized and their rights trampled upon, the NAACP is as relevant today as it ever was.

That was the message speaker Annie A. Spell had for the hundreds who attended Sunday night&8217;s Natchez NAACP banquet.

Spell is an attorney in Franklinton, La., and president of the Greater Covington Parish Chapter of the NAACP &8212; in fact, one of the first white women to hold such a post.

The banquet, held at the Natchez Community Center, is held each year to honor late civil rights pioneer Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The sacrifices of King and fellow civil rights activists of the 1960s must be honored, Spell acknowledged. But, she added, the black community and whole nation also face significant challenges to their rights today.

Citing the banquet&8217;s theme of &8220;Looking Back, But Not Going Back,&8221; Spell said, &8220;we must use what we&8217;ve learned (in the past) to rise to the challenges of today.&8221;

Spell criticized the Bush administration for the wiretapping controversy and accused the administration of not providing adequate help for Katrina victims.

Today, she said, &8220;We suffer from poverty politics and unchecked totalitarianism.&8221;

But the White House wasn&8217;t her only target.

So was a Congress she said &8220;has failed to provide funding to (address) disparity in education&8221; and a judiciary she said is being packed with judges who protect the current administration.

At the same time, segregation, voter disenfranchisement and the like still plague the black community and other problems loom, such as the erosion of affirmative action, Spell said.

And she contends that&8217;s why joining the NAACP, attending meetings and encouraging others, including youth, to get involved is so important.

It&8217;s only $30 for an adult, and $10 for a minor, to join the organization, she noted.

The NAACP, among other tasks, educates people about their rights, conducts get-out-the-vote and voter registration drives, pushes for the investment of black dollars back into the black community, Spell pointed out.

Those activities are as important now as ever, she said, because &8220;the civil rights movement is not over.&8221;

In addition to Spell&8217;s firebrand speech &8212; which resulted in a standing ovation, two rounds of applause and a plaque in her honor &8212; the event included the awarding of the chapter&8217;s first Martin Luther King Jr. Award.

That honor went to longtime NAACP supporter Katie Ruth Moore of Natchez for, as one chapter official put it, &8220;how she brings people together.&8221;