"This Girl Can."

That's the nameplate on Latanya Graves' desk—and it perfectly captures the spirit she brings to everything she does.

Latanya Graves has served as President of the Black Hawk County NAACP since 2015, bringing passionate, action-oriented leadership to one of Iowa's oldest civil rights chapters. Under her guidance, the organization has remained a vital voice for justice, equality, and opportunity in the Cedar Valley.

Graves has dedicated her career to empowering others. She joined Hawkeye Community College in 1990 and became part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center when it opened in 1996. She later served as Assistant Director at Social Action Inc. beginning in 2002, where she continues to serve Black Hawk County's most vulnerable residents.

Graves earned her Bachelor's degree in Human Services from Upper Iowa University in 2010, where her research on sentencing disparities between Black and white drug offenders deepened her commitment to criminal justice reform. She continued her education at Capella University, pursuing her Master's degree in Human Services with a Specialization in Social and Community Services (2016).

Building Coalitions for Change

• Co-founded the 100 Strong Coalition in 2018, a grassroots organization addressing educational inequities in the Waterloo Community School District
• Advocated for more teachers and administrators of color in Waterloo schools
• Pushed for better treatment of staff and students and programs to support parents

Preserving Black History

• Serves as Co-Chair of the Grout Museum Black Stories Collective Project, a permanent exhibit documenting Black history in Waterloo launched after the museum recognized its collection had been deficient in representing the African American community that makes up over 20% of Waterloo's population

Criminal Justice Advocacy

• Leads the NAACP's work on criminal justice, education, and housing complaints
• Advocates for addressing sentencing disparities and the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans
• Called for police reforms including an Empowered Citizens Review Board and "Duty to Intervene" policies

Standing Against Hate

• Led the community response to hate incidents, including vandalism of political signs and distribution of white supremacist recruitment materials
• Called for FBI involvement in investigating hate crimes
• Consistently speaks at City Council meetings demanding accountability for racist rhetoric

Youth Empowerment

• Champions youth involvement in the NAACP, believing in the African proverb "it takes a village to raise a child"—while insisting that "now, it has to be the entire community"
• Works to get NAACP members into schools as mentors and advocates
• Presents the NAACP Youth Advocate Award at Juneteenth celebrations, recognizing those who support young people

Graves believes in collaboration and collective action. As she says: "If we're going to actually see change, it's going to take each and every one of us doing our part."

Her advocacy extends beyond race. "I don't like to see anyone mistreated," she explains. "It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter your race."

She has witnessed progress in Waterloo—people coming together across racial lines—while acknowledging the work that remains. When Waterloo was ranked among the worst places in America for Black residents, Graves wasn't surprised, but she saw it as a call to action: "This report came out, and we're going to hold you to it."

Graves was honored as a Women of Persimmon recipient in 2019, recognizing her extraordinary contributions to the Cedar Valley community.

For over a decade, Latanya Graves has carried forward the mission that Milton Fields began when he founded the Waterloo NAACP in 1921: fighting discrimination, building institutions, empowering youth, and demanding that Waterloo live up to its promise of equality for all.

As she often reminds the community: "We have to live here together, and if we want to make Waterloo great or the Cedar Valley great, we all have to work together to do that."

"When you stop looking at the color of a person's skin and get to know that person for who they truly are... [that's when change happens]."— Latanya Graves

 Key Founder: Milton Fields

The Waterloo NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was established to combat institutionalized segregation and racial discrimination that emerged during the growth of Black Hawk County’s African American population. 

Founding and Origins

• Established Date: The Waterloo chapter of the NAACP was officially founded in 1921.
• Key Founder: Milton Fields, the city's first prominent Black attorney, is credited as the primary founder of the Waterloo branch.
• Catalyst for Growth: The chapter formed as Waterloo’s African American community grew significantly during the Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1920, the Black population rose from just 29 individuals to nearly 1,000, primarily due to jobs at the Illinois Central Railroad and later at Rath Packing and John Deere. 

Historical Context and Key Challenges

• Segregation: African Americans in Waterloo were largely confined to a neighborhood known as the "Northeast Triangle" or "Smokey Row". Real estate agents and homeowners used restrictive covenants and informal bans to prevent Black residents from moving into other areas.
• Employment Discrimination: While local industries like Rath Packing began hiring Black workers in 1920, they were often restricted to lower-wage, dangerous positions in slaughterhouses and foundries.
• Legal Activism: Early leaders used the NAACP to fight these conditions. Founder Milton Fields famously took legal action in 1922 after being refused service at a local restaurant and spent years representing clients against restrictive housing covenants. 

Expansion and Civil Rights Impact

• Economic Empowerment: In the 1940s, NAACP leaders like Fields joined with Dr. Lee Furgerson and Judge William Parker to establish the Black Hawk Savings and Loan Association, which helped Black residents secure home loans when traditional banks would not.
• Labor and Civil Rights Synergy: In the 1950s and 60s, the local NAACP worked closely with the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA) Local P-46. Activists like Anna Mae Weems and Jimmie Porter emerged from these combined movements, eventually bringing Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Waterloo in 1959.
• Educational Reform: In the 1960s, the chapter and local students pushed for school desegregation, leading to a comprehensive plan adopted by the school board in 1968 despite significant white opposition. 

Today, the Waterloo NAACP remains active as part of the nation's oldest civil rights organization, continuing to address racial disparities in housing, employment, and law enforcement in the Cedar Valley.