Her comments focusedon our enduring quest for equality and referenced  a hymn from the early 20th Century called "Something Within."

"Let their spirit guide us as we claim the spirit of old.  There's something within me that holds the reins.  There's somthing within me that banishes pain,  something within me I cannot explain.  All that I know America is there is something within.  There is something within."

Evers-Williams owns a home in Bend, but is currently a distinguished scholar at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.

She was the chairwoman of the NAACP from 1995 to 1998.