Cincinnati Enquirer

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis will be guest speaker Wednesday at the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP's general membership meeting.

The meeting, which is free to the public, will start at 6 p.m. in the Thomas Moore building on Montgomery Road in Evanston. NAACP officials said Lewis would be introduced to the membership and residents and likely would deliver a motivational talk.

Lewis is the first African-American head coach in the Bengals' 35-year history. Some civil rights leaders hailed his hiring in January as a major coup for a city that has struggled with race relations the past two years.

"We want to let him know that we support him and that we are here for him," said Edith Thrower, the NAACP's third vice president and publicity chair.

"We consider him to be one of the bona fide black leaders in Cincinnati. We are looking forward to hearing from him, whatever he has to say," she said.

Thrower said she hopes this will be the start of a productive partnership between Lewis and the Cincinnati NAACP.

Lewis, who directed the Baltimore Ravens' defense that won the Super Bowl two years ago, is one of three black head coaches in the NFL and the eighth in league history. He was the first candidate of color ever interviewed by the Bengals for a head coaching position.

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