CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For long, the ties have bound in a general way church and business for civil rights, a just society and a better world, which nonetheless wreaks in war in Afghanistan and other places.

But setbacks and disappointments never stop good men and women from striving on, as indicated by the American experience, from hope for the future at Jamestown to hope in Jackson, Miss.

Charles H. James III, better known to family and friends in Charleston as Chuck James, reminded listeners of the results of the struggle for change as speaker of the 100th anniversary observance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at West Virginia State University.

"Were it not for the members of the NAACP, this campus might be segregated," he said. "We might all be living in segregated housing, most of us would be working menial jobs and none of us could have voted for the African-American presidential candidate last fall."

He spoke to a predominantly black audience. However, the Charleston NAACP chimed in the October freedom ring in West Virginia for universal justice and fair play.

October also marked the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in a failed attempt to arm slaves in the surrounding area and set off a national slave rebellion. The raid, however, signaled that the Civil War wasn't far behind.

"We all know what the nation looks like from our youth of the past century with the mores of Reconstruction and Jim Crow laws firmly in place," James said. "Lynchings in the South and elsewhere were almost just something to go to on Sunday afternoon."

"But the NAACP, among other agencies for justice, has put a stop to lynchings as a pastime in this nation," he said, bringing to mind that an interracial group organized the NAACP after a black man was lynched in Springfield, Ill., Lincoln's former hometown, in 1908.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For long, the ties have bound in a general way church and business for civil rights, a just society and a better world, which nonetheless wreaks in war in Afghanistan and other places.

But setbacks and disappointments never stop good men and women from striving on, as indicated by the American experience, from hope for the future at Jamestown to hope in Jackson, Miss.

Charles H. James III, better known to family and friends in Charleston as Chuck James, reminded listeners of the results of the struggle for change as speaker of the 100th anniversary observance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at West Virginia State University.

"Were it not for the members of the NAACP, this campus might be segregated," he said. "We might all be living in segregated housing, most of us would be working menial jobs and none of us could have voted for the African-American presidential candidate last fall."

He spoke to a predominantly black audience. However, the Charleston NAACP chimed in the October freedom ring in West Virginia for universal justice and fair play.

October also marked the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in a failed attempt to arm slaves in the surrounding area and set off a national slave rebellion. The raid, however, signaled that the Civil War wasn't far behind.

"We all know what the nation looks like from our youth of the past century with the mores of Reconstruction and Jim Crow laws firmly in place," James said. "Lynchings in the South and elsewhere were almost just something to go to on Sunday afternoon."

"But the NAACP, among other agencies for justice, has put a stop to lynchings as a pastime in this nation," he said, bringing to mind that an interracial group organized the NAACP after a black man was lynched in Springfield, Ill., Lincoln's former hometown, in 1908.

Chuck James reminded of the long struggle for justice that goes on worldwide. He recalled from his heritage, the role of church and business in the struggle that bore fruit in West Virginia.

He noted that the Charleston Chapter of the NAACP was organized in 1918 by the Rev. Mordecai W. Johnson, pastor of First Baptist Church.

"My great-great-grandfather Francis James was the first pastor of First Baptist Church and my great grandfather C.H. James was chairman of the board of trustees and a personal friend of Rev. Johnson, who went on to be president of Howard University and a national stalwart of the NAACP," Chuck James said.

C.H. James and Son, wholesale fruits and produce, in 1916, represented the first of four generations of black-owned businesses by the James family.

For years, the James family supplied downtown hotels, restaurants and other members of the hospitality industry with fresh fruits and vegetables, and later with fresh eggs from farms, a welcome replacement of frozen eggs.

Chuck James follows in the footsteps of his forefathers who mixed business and church for the civic, civil and moral good. Chuck heads C.H. James Restaurant Holdings LLC, in Deerfield, Ill., which does business on the West Coast.

He and his ancestors reflect an old truth that the call is to business and church as well to work for peace and prosperity at home and abroad.

Peeks is a retired business/labor editor of the Gazette.