Joe Biden to speak at NAACP dinner in Detroit on May 19

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony is gearing up for the Detroit NAACP 69th annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, but not before announcing this year's special guest.

"It is our unique privilege and pleasure to announce that our keynote speaker for this historic event will be none other than the 46th President Joseph R. Biden," Anthony said during a press conference on Wednesday.

The event, scheduled for May 19 at Huntington Place in Detroit, is known as one of the largest sit-down dinners in the country – garnering about 10,000 attendees.

Biden's appearance "comes at a critical time in our nation's history," Anthony said. "We face tremendous international challenges, coupled with domestic and local issues that seek to divide us."

But the reverend emphasized that the dinner and the work of the NAACP is about coming together.

"It is our belief that if we work together as a people, that we can resolve these issues for the benefit of all Americans," Anthony said.

During his appearance, the president will also receive the James Weldon Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award for a life of dedicated service to the American people – people that the reverend is now calling on to get involved.

"Good people cannot be silent," Anthony said. "Democracy, in our view, is on the table. I don't know what it takes for people to understand that – that our freedom is at stake."

With a presidential election ahead, the NAACP argues that voters need to take their "souls to the polls."

"We are the only branch in the nation that has ever hosted a sitting president," Anthony said.

The Biden-Harris campaign confirmed the appearance on Wednesday.

"When Rev. Anthony says it's the hottest dinner, it's not only the hottest dinner, but it is the largest dinner," said Gary Torgow, the chair of the Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner. "There are more people that attend this dinner in Detroit, Michigan than any event around the country. It's the 69th annual, and every year it gets bigger and better and more important."

For more information, visit DetroitNAACP.org