NAACP president elect, Benjamin Todd Jealous

Those in attendance at the annual convention for the nation’s oldest civil rights organization July 12-17 said they are preparing for upcoming battles that must be won to ensure that what past activists fought to achieve will not be lost.

“We gained the right to send our children to any school, but local schools are falling apart and they seem to be re-segregating by the day. We gained the right to live in any neighborhood but the cost of hous­ing in too many cities and towns has become exclusively high. We gained the right to join the local union but it is harder to unionize and union jobs are hard to find. We gained the right to go to any hospital, but the cost of health care is exorbitant, good cover­age is too scarce, and too often the act of saving your own life becomes a fast track to personal bankruptcy. We gained the right to not be ter­rorized by the Klan but street gangs are now bigger more widespread and just as deadly,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, the NAACP’s national president elect during his remarks to the NAACP’s general body on July 14 at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, OH.

Among the highlights of the NAACP’s 99th Annual convention themed “Power, Justice, Freedom, Vote!” were appearances by the presidential candidates for both ma­jor political parties which focused America’s attention squarely on the state of Ohio—a key battleground state in the November election.

“Ohio is truly a microcosm of the rest of the nation because of our unique mix of urban, suburban and rural areas really reflect what goes on in the rest of the country. Cincin­nati is probably ground zero in terms of what happens in Ohio because Cincinnati is a very liberal city in the middle of Hamilton County which is a very conservative county. All of those elements come together and really dictate that what goes on in Cincinnati becomes very important in terms of the outcome of the presi­dential election,” said Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory.

“The prospect and possibility of there being an African-American president I think is major, and it is a major driving force behind what we are seeing not just in Cincinnati but around the country,” Mayor Mallory added.

Audience responds at the NAACP?s 99th Annual Convention which took place in Cincinnati July 12-17.

“What I want to remind you tonight—on Youth Night—is that these giants, these icons of America’s past, were not much older than many of you when they took up freedom’s cause and made their mark on his­tory, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was but a 26-year old pastor when he led a bus boycott in Montgomery that mobilized a movement. John Lewis was but a 25-year old activist when he faced down billy clubs on the bridge in Selma and helped arouse the conscience of our nation. Diane Nash was even younger when she helped found SNCC and led Free­dom Rides down south. And your chairman Julian Bond was but a 25-year old state legislator when he put his own shoulder to the wheel of history,” said the 46-year old Senator from Illinois. “It is because of them; and all those whose names never made it into the history books—those men and women, young and old, Black, Brown and White, clear-eyed and straight-backed, who refused to settle for the world as it is; who had the courage to remake the world as it should be—that I stand before you tonight as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America. And if I have the privilege of serving as your next President, I will stand up for you the same way that earlier generations of Americans stood up for me—by fighting to ensure that every single one of us has the chance to make it if we try. That means removing the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding that still exist in America. It means fighting to eliminate discrimination from every corner of our country. It means changing hearts, and chang­ing minds, and making sure that every American is treated equally under the law!” said Sen. Obama as the crowd erupted in cheers of “Yes we can!”

Sen. Obama’s address was car­ried live on local stations across Ohio and also broadcast live outside the convention center in what is called Fountain Square.

“I felt like I was watching history being made, and in the fall, history will be made,” said Robin Holland, an 18-year old student at the Univer­sity of Cincinnati.

New leadership

This year’s convention also included the introduction of the NAACP’s new president elect, 35-year-old Benjamin Todd Jealous. Though not new to the civil rights struggle, many members had the chance to see and hear from him for the very first time since the national board of directors selected him in May.

As the youngest person to ever hold that position, Mr. Jealous told The Final Call that he is “honored and humbled” to have the opportu­nity to take the reins of the venerable civil rights organization.

“I grew up in a generation that knew our whole lives that Medgar (Evers) was dead by 36, Brother Malcolm and Martin Luther King Jr., were dead by 39 and that if you feel prepared and you feel called, then you follow that calling,” said Mr. Jealous in an interview with The Final Call after his speech to convention delegates on July 14. Increasing membership, fighting to lower the incarceration rates for Black men, and coalition building are going to be the major program­matic thrusts of his administration as the NAACP prepares to face the challenges ahead, he said.

“We will build on the strong foundation that we have,” said Mr. Jealous. “Dr. King told us that if you are comfortable in your coali­tion then your coalition is too small. When I was a young organizer, I was taught that in politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. We will put together coali­tions that are as broad and as deep as we need to win on our agenda,” he added.

Mr. Jealous is scheduled to begin his tenure as president on September 1.

Many organizations are facing the challenge of increasing levels of membership, and remaining con­nected to the events and causes rel­evant to those whom they represent. While some have questioned the rel­evancy of NAACP and many of the traditional civil rights organizations and their leaders, Dr. Ronald Wal­ters, professor of political Science at the University of Maryland told The Final Call that the work of the NAACP is still important and very much needed.

“I think the appointment of Ben Jealous, increases its relevancy be­cause here’s a young man, who’s got extraordinary experience for his age, and contacts. So I think that what he does is sort of move the leadership of the organization into a new genera­tion. And so it enables him, I think to reach out to that generation and bring them aboard.

“But the point I would make, is that we’re really talking about two NAACPs. People really are focused on the ‘national NAACP.’ They ought to be focused on the more than 2,000 chapters at the local level—where the rubber meets the road, where people come into the NAACP office, e-mail them, pick up the phone, call them, crying ‘racism’ (and) ‘I’ve been wronged,’ (who) want the NAACP to do something about it. That is really the NAACP.”

NAACP communications coor­dinator Richard McIntire, said that throughout the successful 99 year history of the NAACP, the group has shown that grass roots orga­nizing and direct action is always needed, no matter how technologi­cally advanced the tools of activism become.

“When it comes time to confront racism and discrimination, it takes foot soldiers and freedom fighters in communities all across this country to stand up and directly confront this racism,” said Mr. McIntire. “Online activism has its place as a way to bring awareness, but it comes a time when all of us have to stand up di­rectly and have our feet in the streets to demand and call for change,” he added.

Future battles ahead?

One of the continued initiatives of the NAACP is the battle against unscrupulous and predatory lending which has disproportionately af­fected Black homeowners. On July 16, NAACP Interim General Coun­sel Angela Ciccolo and several other panelists discussed the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and its impact 40 years later, especially in light of the current housing crisis.

This following a national “Day of Action” July 2 in which NAACP chapters, consumer watchdog groups, political officials and com­munity members held protests at lending institutions and in affected neighborhoods to draw attention to the crisis.

Lawyers for the NAACP also filed a class action lawsuit against 17 of the nation’s largest lenders for discriminatory lending prac­tices. The defendants are Wash­ington Mutual, Inc., Citimortgage, Inc., HSBC Finance Corporation, GMAC.Mortgage Group, LLC, GMAC Residential Capital, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Chase Bank USA NA, Fremont Investment & Loan, Option One Mortgage Cor­poration, WMC Mortgage Corpora­tion, Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corporation d.b.a. Encore Credit, First Franklin Financial Corporation, National City Corporation, First Ten­nessee Bank d.b.a. First Horizon Na­tional Corp., Long Beach Mortgage Company, and SunTrust Mortgage.

NAACP Interim President and CEO Dennis Courtland Hayes ad­dressed the convention on the morn­ing of July 14 reporting that despite financial challenges, the NAACP is moving forward with an aggressive agenda for activism. He remarked that at the 2007 NAACP convention in Detroit, MI. the organization was facing “layoffs, office closings, red ink and dwindling bank funds” but this year, the organization is “in the black” with all bills paid and a record number of delegates at this year’s convention.

“I must be honest in telling you, we have some hurdles to overcome if we are to enjoy the kind of finan­cial stability and solidarity that is essential to the successful pursuit of this organization’s grand mission,” said Mr. Hayes. “But I must also be honest in telling our detractors, who love prognosticating and proclaim­ing the NAACP’s demise, that this NAACP ship is on a steady course, that it owns not insignificant assets, has money in the bank, that its bills are paid, and has foot soldiers at the national level, state level, and at the local level who every day are still winning battles and making a dif­ference in their communities, and as importantly, with will to do more.”

Mr. Hayes also promised “future direct action” in the state of South Carolina. The state has become another major battlefield in the civil rights struggle after state officials made the decision to fly the con­federate flag—a symbol that Hayes called “a racially divisive symbol comparable to the noose”—on the grounds of the state capitol.

On July 16, presumptive Repub­lican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) delivered an apol­ogy to those in attendance at the con­vention after he passed on appearing before the group in 2007.

“This is your second invitation to me during my presidential cam­paign, and I hope you’ll excuse me for passing on the opportunity at your convention last year. As you might recall, I was a bit distracted at the time dealing with what reporters uncharitably described as an implo­sion in my campaign. But I’m very glad you invited me again,” said Sen. McCain who also went on to compliment Sen. Obama calling him “impressive in many ways.” McCain also took several questions directly from the audience before leaving for another media appear­ance in the Ohio area.

Showing the importance of the NAACP convention, Catherine Crosby, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., from Dayton, Ohio attended the NAACP con­vention, despite the fact that the AKA’s national convention was being held in Washington, D.C. during the same time. Ms. Crosby said she was present because the NAACP is “one of the organiza­tions at the forefront” of the fight for equality and justice and that her sorority sisters would understand because they are also “committed to service.”

With a current active member­ship of more than 600,000, the NAACP has over 200 college chapters, 500 youth councils and 1,700 adult branches with overseas branches in Germany, Italy, Korea and Japan.

NAACP officials announced that they are making preparations for the association’s centennial celebration to be held February 12, 2009 in New York City.

Related links:

NAACP Selects New President (FCN, 05-28-2008)

New ideas needed to invigorate NAACP (FCN, 06-02-2008)