It's only been 19 months and already
NAACP President Bruce Gordon has called it quits, citing irreconcilable
differences with the management style of its 64-member board
of directors, a clear indication that the Black leadership is
in a serious crisis.
In an Associated Press article on Sunday, Gordon said "I
believe that any organization that's going to be effective will
only be effective if the
board and the CEO are aligned and I don't think we are aligned. This compromises
the ability of the board to be as effective as it can be."
For the record, this is not a good thing. The NAACP, for better or worse, is
the only organization that is recognized around the world for advocating on
behalf of Blacks. But in the past several years, the NAACP's silence on critical
issues has increasingly frustrated me and caused me to ponder their relevancy.
To begin, the NAACP has refused to address the ever growing chorus of Black
pastors using their pulpits to preach bedroom politics while at the same time
campaigning for a party and a President that could care less about Black people.
The consequences of the Black leadership's failure to address this was played
out in the 2004 Presidential election, with a possible repeat on the way in
2008.
The picking and choosing of what hate speech to condemn and what to ignore
caused the NAACP to say nothing on NBA player Tim Hardaway's comments on hating
gay people. But at the same time, allowed them to condemn AsianWeek columnist
Kenneth Eng ("Why I Hate Blacks"), who at the end of the day, has
less of an impact on Black people because most Blacks had never even heard
of Kenneth Eng but were well aware of Tim Hardaway.
The NAACP is 98 years old and at times, I feel like it's being
run by 98 year olds. Which is in no way to slight my elders,
but to say that at some point,
you have to make real room for new and younger leaders to take the helm
of our organizations and causes or they are going to die
with you. And no matter
how much you think you're running things now, there isn't much you can
do from the grave. All of the youth board and coalitions
in the
world don't mean anything
if you don't eventually allow its members to move up the ladder of leadership,
which at the end of the day is really the goal right?
It's already been made clear that the NAACP's membership numbers have
drastically reduced over the past decade and they have made a point to
focus on younger
people for membership. So then why not address issues that are relevant
to the younger generations in hopes of attracting them to the NAACP.
In politics there's always much talk about messaging to the
seniors because they vote. But what's going to happen when
the seniors die off? Who is going
to be the new consistent vote in the Black community? What are we doing to
reach out to Blacks that are between the ages of 25-45 to make sure that
there is a core constituency of Blacks that do vote to replace
our seniors?
Other culturally relevant issues that the NAACP could take on include the
misogyny and sexism in today's rap lyrics. The degradation of Black women
in today's
rap music videos has gone on for far too long unaddressed.
Then there's that little issue of gangs. Gangs continue to plague Black
communities across America with no real solution in site. With every life
taken by gang
violence, that's one less Black going to college, getting a job, buying a
home, etc. You'd think that would be an area that they would want to focus
on more
intently.
I am in no ways happy to see President Gordon go. A President
leaving after a year and a half on the job is not a good sign
no matter how you look at
it. I thank him for his time and duty because being the President of
the NAACP
is not an easy job and he did rise to the occasion to attempt to take on
those responsibilities.
The future of the NAACP is now in the hands of the organization's Board
Chairman Julian Bond and its 64-member board of directors and all I can
hope is that
the board sees this as a major issue and re-examines the way that they
are currently doing business, maybe starting with reducing the number
of board
members down from 64.
I am of the belief that the NAACP is needed but we need to
bring the organization into the 21st century, literally. The
NAACP is the organization that is flocked
to when something bad is said or done to Blacks, when they speak, America
listens. No one wants to piss off the NAACP. It's the one organization
that corporation's
fall all over each to sponsor to show that they like Black people. It is
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and it
is in a state
of crisis, to say the least, and by the definition of our race, so are
we.
It's time to explore new ways of thinking and to invite new people to
the table. If we don't it's very likely that the NAACP will cease to
be relevant
to entire
generations of young Blacks and eventually disappear all together.
BC Columnist
Jasmyne Cannick, 29, is a social commentator, nationally
syndicated journalist and activist who was chosen as one
of ESSENCE Magazine's 25 Women Shaping the World. She is
a member of the National Association of Black Journalists
and writes a popular daily blog at jasmynecannick.com and myspace.com/jasmynecannick.
She resides in Los Angeles. Click here to
contact Ms. Cannick. |