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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The annual Freedom Fund Banquet of NAACP Wilkes-Barre saw a keynote speech from a state official who wants to broaden the definition of what freedom means.</p><p>Members of the local branch of the NAACP, along with members of the state and local government and others, gathered in Genetti&#8217;s Hotel and Conference Center Friday evening. The event&#8217;s keynote speaker was Brandon J. Flood, secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons after having recently been appointed by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.</p><p>Flood is himself a beneficiary of a pardon, having spent a total of nine years in prison for drug sale charges. Flood told the story of how he turned his life around after prison, falling in love with politics after reading an autobiography of Malcolm X. After being released from prison, he took to attempting to get an internship with a lawmaker in Harrisburg.</p><p>&#8220;I figured there were 253 legislators; one of them would have to relent and give me an internship,&#8221; he joked.</p><p>After successfully doing so, Flood spent the better part of a decade working in the state House, eventually serving as executive director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus. Flood struck up a relationship with Fetterman, often sending Fetterman policy ideas as a self-described &#8220;policy wonk,&#8221; when eventually it came up in conversation that Flood was working his way through the process to receive a pardon for his convictions.</p><p>This led Fetterman to appoint Flood to his current position, given his unique role of having seen both sides of the process.</p><p>Flood said the pardoning system is a vital one, as it represents a hope for complete change for people who have reinvented themselves after convictions. According to Flood, many people who have been rehabilitated by the system are still held back from their full potential due to their conviction.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re limited. You&#8217;re not able to maximize your potential,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We want people to maximize their potential.&#8221;</p><p>He described the process of bringing the pardon system, which he described as a &#8220;reset button,&#8221; into the 21st century, by attempting to streamline the operation by pushing the application process to be online for the first time in its history. Previously applicants could only apply with a paper form.</p><p>The organization also handed out three awards Friday night, with two of the group&#8217;s members, Toni Mathis and Larry Singleton, being given the President&#8217;s Award for their years of service to the NAACP Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Mathis acted as the branch&#8217;s secretary for a total of 19 years, while Singleton spent 17 years as the branch&#8217;s First Vice President.</p><p>The branch also recognized Charlotte Ledbetter with the Diversity Leadership Award. Ledbetter has spent years, especially in the Scranton area, organizing community events for Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month, and said she dedicates as much energy as she can to helping the local poor and homeless.</p><p>&#8220;I also encourage the young people to get out and vote,&#8221; Ledbetter said. &#8220;Go to city council meetings. Go to any meeting you can go to &#8230; Get out there and try to be a leader. Do what you can. Don&#8217;t worry about what everybody else is doing.&#8221;</p><p>Mathis and Singleton were recognized with a proclamation from state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, while Ledbetter received a similar proclamation from state Sen. John Blake, D-Archbald.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Brandon J. Flood, secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, delivers the keynote address at the annual Freedom Fund Banquet held by NAACP Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_flood.jpg</photo0><caption0>Brandon J. Flood, secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, delivers the keynote address at the annual Freedom Fund Banquet held by NAACP Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Patrick Kernan | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_ledbetter.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Charlotte Ledbetter receives the Diversity Leadership Award at the NAACP&#8217;s banquet Friday evening. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_ledbetter.jpg</photo1><caption1>Charlotte Ledbetter receives the Diversity Leadership Award at the NAACP&#8217;s banquet Friday evening. </caption1><photoCredit1>Patrick Kernan | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

NAACP keynote speaker highlights importance of pardon system