BLOOMINGTON -- Congresswoman Barbara Lee, fresh off a historic vote on health care reform in Washington, D.C., urged local NAACP members on Sunday to "take bold action" to fight injustice and achieve dreams.

"Last year, many believed health care was just a bold dream," she said, "but a president from Illinois said, 'Yes, we can.'"

Lee was the keynote speaker at the NAACP's annual Freedom Fund Banquet at The Parke Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington. The event was part of the national organization's centennial celebration. About 350 people attended.

"You just can't imagine what it took to get this health bill passed," Lee said. "It was brutal. It was exhausting," she said of the work which she said began in March.

Lee represents California's 9th District, which includes Berkeley and Oakland in the San Francisco Bay area. She was introduced by her son, Craig Lee, an employee of State Farm Insurance Cos.

The NAACP is a very central part of President Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 election, Lee said. She cited voter turnout of 66 percent among black Americans in the election.

"We've come a long way since the founding of the NAACP, but we have a long way to go to achieve great victories," she said.

"Racism is still alive and well in America," she added, citing discrepancies in poverty levels, sickness and HIV/AIDS infection between the black and white communities.

"Now is the time to take bold action to effect change in our society," she said. "Yes, we can."

Along those lines, Mike Williams, president of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP branch, said the local group is planning on getting more involved in the political arena.

Williams commended Lee as a role model others may wish to emulate.

"Congresswoman Lee is a fine example of someone who was not a registered voter, on welfare, a single mother, now she's the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus," he added.

"She's living the American dream. We want to denote further to young people that if you have bold dreams, you can have bold victories."

The Rev. Frank L. McSwain, pastor of Mount Pisgah Baptist Church, received this year's Merlin Kennedy Community Service Award. McSwain is co-president of Central Illinois Men Against Domestic Abuse, and president and CEO of the Family and Community Resource Center.

The Roy Wilkins Award went to Ronald Swan, chief of the Illinois State University Police, who wrote the article "From the Ashes of Tragedy: the Birth of the NAACP." Swan also sometimes sends ISU students to NAACP meetings.

The Harry Hightower Youth Community Service Award was given to Melissa Summers, a senior at Normal Community High School, who has volunteered at the Jesus Coffee House and the Baby Fold.

The local NAACP branch, which has about 500 members, has been in existence for 91 years. Williams said the branch will have a celebration for its centennial in nine years, and the group will "blow the roof off" the place.