NAACP names new president - a very young man

[Stinky The Clown]

New, young NAACP chief may bridge generation gap

By RHONDA COOK
Published on: 05/17/08

Newly-named NAACP President Ben Jealous may be young but he should provide a strong bridge between the generations, said the head of the Atlanta chapter.

"He is a good choice," the Rev. R.L. White, president of the Atlanta NAACP, said Saturday. "They wanted to get a younger person who can bridge the gap between the young and the old. Many of the civil rights workers who were around in the civil rights era are going old. The younger people are saying we need to give a fresh approach to the problems we are facing today. This is an attempt to unify the young and the old. "

The 64-member board meeting in Baltimore is expected to announce later Saturday their next leader will be the youngest in the group's 99-year history. The primary tasks for Jealous, a 35-year-old former news executive, will be to address dwindling membership in the NAACP and raising money.

White, 64, said the focus of the NAACP needs to shift from racial matters to economic issues.

"I hope the new person will exemplify what the youth want and not just the old and not be in such a radical way."



It appears there are many generational changes afoot.

[BlooInBloo]

1. Brief bio...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-ben-jealous-080517-ht,0,5510987.story

Jealous succeeds Bruce Gordon, who resigned abruptly in March 2007. Gordon left after 19 months, citing clashes with board members over management style and the NAACP's mission as his reasons for leaving. Dennis Courtland Hayes had been serving as interim president and chief executive officer.

Jealous was born in Pacific Grove, Calif., and educated at Columbia University and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

He has worked as a community organizer for the NAACP; as managing editor of a black newspaper in Mississippi; executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the country's largest group of black community newspapers; and as director of Amnesty International's U.S. Human Rights Program.

Since 2005, Jealous has served as president of the San Francisco-based Rosenberg Foundation, a private institution that supports civil and human rights advocacy.

I don't know of him, but sounds like a bright, energetic guy.

And the times continue a'changin. :)

[goclark]

18. Sounds like a great choice

The NAACP does need to move into the 21st Century.

[BlooInBloo]

23. Yup. Top tier education, Worked around the country, at a variety of levels....

Sounds good.

[BlooInBloo]

21. self-delete - wrong branch.

[Schema Thing]

2. At least Colbert won't be as surprised as I was

[Selatius]

3. Ah, the shift to economic issues. MLK was attempting to shift to social justice before he was killed

That was what made the establishment so uncomfortable with MLK in those days:

You can't talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can't talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You're really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry… Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong… with capitalism… There must be a better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's time that the economic issues be addressed. They need addressing.

[Kahuna]

4. So, they got rid of Hillary's lackey, Julian Bond....

:applause:

[Stinky The Clown]

5. It would be good of you to confine that sort of remark to the proper forum or ...........

..... your own thread. It is unwelcome here.

[Kahuna]

6. Just because you started a thread, DOES NOT give you the right

to control the comments. GOT IT? This IS the proper forum and thread, imho. It is the "General Discussion" forum afterall.

If you don't understand the comment, say so. But don't try to tell me where to go. I'm not the one.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Stop shouting

Bite me.

If you don't agree with the **substance** of a post, that's fine.

If you want to turn a GD post into one for/against your candidate, that's against the rules.

I frankly don't give a fat shit what you think **or say** about Julian Bond, good or bad. Its the linkage of happenings at the NAACP to your stupid primary wars to which I object.

[Kahuna]

8. KMBBA! If you were informed as you think you are, you would KNOW

what the linkage is to "my" stupid primary wars is. Apparently, ignorance is bliss in your household.

I'll give you a clue about what my acronym KMBBA means. The BB = big black. You figure out the rest.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Is that your excuse .......

...... for being an asshole?

The "bite me" stands.

[Kahuna]

13. GFY asshole.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. A little something .........

...... Just For You because you worry me.

[undeterred]

10. Is he black?

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Presumably

Why do you ask?

[undeterred]

12. Because it isn't obvious from the picture.

His skin tone is "white".

[Stinky The Clown]

15. I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at?

There is near endless range of melatonin in human skin. I'm darker than many of black ancestry.

Is that what you're asking about?

[BlooInBloo]

16. Yes it is - completely obvious.

[goclark]

20. LOL ~ take it from me he is African American

We don't all look alike. :)

My mother looks like she could be the new NAACP President's sister.

Her father looked White like GHWB.

Her mother was a deep chocolate brown.

My father looked like an American Indian.

His grandfather was an Indian.

His mother/my grandmother, was the grand daughter of a slave. Her Master was the father of all of her children.

They were a range of colors from the photographs that I have and treasure.

One thing that some White people seem to forget is how much "White" blood we have ~ recall slavery.

Recall Sally Hemmings and her children.

I had a friend that would always tell us as teenagers that he was related to Thomas Jefferson.
We would fall on the floor laughing at him!

Imagine my surprise many years later when I opened an Ebony magazine to see my friend's mother in a photograph with her other relatives that were descendent's of Thomas Jefferson!

[BlooInBloo]

22. :)

[undeterred]

24. In the summer my skin is darker than his

and I have Scandinavian heritage = extremely white people!

[defendandprotect]

17. We have to begin to understand all discrimination as exploitation ---

I miss Kweisi Mfume --- and there's someone else in the NAACP leadership who I always thought
might take a run for president --- JULIAN BOND -- one of my longtime favorites ---
he's a member of the national board ---

One thing I loved about Mfume was the fact that he never spoke about African-American oppression without speaking also of other oppressions --- sexism, homophobia ---

I admired him also when he was in the USHR ---
not sure what he is doing now??? I think he ran for the US Senate in '06 ---
but I don't know what's happened since then????

[Stinky The Clown]

19. Mfume was my favorite in the 06 primary cycle

He ran against Ben Cardin for the Senate seat retired by Paul Sarbanes.

I'm not sure what he's up to these days. There was a rumor he would take th mayor job by some machination or another when O'Mally moved up to governor, but that never went anywhere and Shelia Dixon did a great job of defending the seat she has done well with.

You're right about his stance on discrimination. That's one of the things I love about him. He truly was about lifting **everyone** up. A real populist who actually cares for the people. A bit of a bad boy, but who isn't?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2826540
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2824736
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2823339
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2782812
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2752793