NEW YORK, NY July 13, 2009 —The nation's largest and oldest civil rights organization marks its 100-year anniversary with a celebration this week here in New York City.

The NAACP's annual convention started over the weekend, and featured speeches from Mayor Bloomberg, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Charles Schumer. But many of the thousands of delegates are looking ahead to Thursday: that's when President Obama will speak.

Rene Swafford is an attorney from Maryland. She hopes the president addresses the struggling economy, so that African-Americans won't be scapegoated.

SWAFFORD: Because everybody's hurting: black, white, Jewish, everybody. and everybody who's hurting is going to look for a dog to kick. And often times it's the members of the black community, so I'm hoping that he addresses that and hits it, on the head.

REPORTER: Today's speakers include Attorney General Eric Holder and Benjamin Jealous, the president and CEO of the NAACP.