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NAACP Chooses Benjamin T. Jealous As National President-Elect

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Goose Creek, SC Branch # 56A3 Volume 3, Edition 06 June 2008 Goose Creek SC NAACP Branch #56A3 June 2008 Newsletter NAACP Chooses Benjamin T. Jealous as National President-Elect Human rights activist & former black newspaper editor will become 17th leader of civil rights group The NAACP Na- As a community organizer on civil rights lawsuits in tional Board of Di- the ‘90s, Jealous worked in Mississippi to gain rectors is pleased to equitable funding for the state’s historically black announce the selec- colleges and universities. For the NAACP Legal tion of Benjamin T. Defense Fund he organized churches and resi- Jealous as National dents to fight against the elimination of obstetric President-elect. He services at St. Luke’s Women’s Hospital in Harlem, is the 17th person New York. Andrea Glover chosen to lead the Jealous also served as program director for the Branch President nation’s oldest and National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. At largest civil rights 14, he organized his first voter registration drive. organization in its Inside This Issue Benjamin Todd Jealous 99-year history. “As an advocate who has spent his entire adult life working for civil and human rights organizations, Jealous, 35, comes to the NAACP from the San and as a black parent raising a young child in this New President/CEO……....….1 Francisco-based Rosenberg Foundation*, where country, I am intimately invested in the future suc- Announcements……….……...2 he’s served as president since 2005. SC Freedom Fund Speaker…2 cesses of the NAACP,” Jealous said. “As a fifth- “Ben Jealous has spent his professional life working generation member of the NAACP, I know this George Curry Comments……3 for and raising money for the very social justice con- mighty Association’s fundamentals are strong. I see Interview with President Elect 4 cerns for which the NAACP advocates,” said NAACP great opportunities to increase the NAACP’s role as We Are 100 …………………..5 National Board of Directors Chairman Julian a positive force in the collective life of black people NAACP Starts New Era……...6 Bond. “He is a perfect match. He is intergenera- and our nation. I am humbled and enthused at the Remembering Mildred Loving7 tional and his presence is a demonstration that the prospects being afforded me by this experience.” Comments on Mr. Jealous…..8 nearly 100-year old NAACP attracts the best and Health Committee…………….9 brightest. We are looking forward to a great future The California native attended public and parochial under his leadership.” schools in Monterey County. He holds a bachelor's Political Action Committee…..9 degree from Columbia University and a master's Remembering Malcolm…….10 Jealous’ career path includes leadership positions degree in social policy from Oxford University Town Hall Meeting & Rally…11 with Amnesty International, where he directed its where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is married to NAACP Biker Week Justice..12 U.S. Domestic Human Rights Program from 2002 to constitutional law professor and former NAACP 2005. Upcoming Events……..…….12 Legal Defense Fund litigator Lia Epperson and is Prior to that, he served as executive director of the the dedicated father of Morgan, 2. National Newspaper Publishers Association--a fed- Jealous will officially begin his tenure as president eration of more than 200 black community newspa- Sept. 1.□ pers in 38 states. He is former managing editor of the Jackson Advocate, the oldest black-owned Read more about our president elect on pages weekly newspaper in Mississippi that has been a 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11. long-time fierce champion of civil rights and the dis- enfranchised. Jealous was mentored by the Advo- SC Primary Election is June 10th cate’s publisher, the late Charles Tisdale, who was attacked as a teenager for helping found a local NAACP unit. The Jackson Advocate was torched repeatedly for its principled stances on civil rights. June 2008 - Page 1 Page 2 NAACP CREEK CONNECTION Dick Gregory is 2008 SC State Conference NAACP Freedom Fund Celebration Keynote Speaker Gregory, Richard Claxton 'Dick' (Born, October 12, 1932, St. Louis, Mo.), Afri- Goose Creek Branch NAACP can American comedian and civil rights activist whose social satire changed PO Box 1356 the way white Americans perceived African American comedians since he first Goose Creek, SC 29445-1356 performed in public. Dick Gregory entered the national comedy scene in 1961 Telephone: 843-729-7994 when Chicago’s Playboy Club (as a direct request from publisher Hugh Fax: 843-628-4950 Hefner) booked him as a replacement for white comedian, Professor Irwin Email: [email protected] Corey. Officers Gregory's activism continued into the 1990s. In response to published allega- President ……………Andrea Glover tions that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had supplied cocaine to pre- Dick Gregory 1st VP ……….Paul W. Staggers, Jr. dominantly African American areas in Los Angeles, thus spurring the crack 2nd VP……………...Thomas Lanier epidemic, Gregory protested at CIA headquarters and was arrested. In 1992 he began a program called Secretary……………...Brenda Bines "Campaign for Human Dignity" to fight crime in St. Louis neighborhoods. Treasurer……………Deneen Moore Gregory's activism continued into the 1990s. In response to published allegations that the Central Intelli- Executive Committee Members gence Agency (CIA) had supplied cocaine to predominantly African American areas in Los Angeles, thus spurring the crack epidemic, Gregory protested at CIA headquarters and was arrested. In 1992 he began a John Matthews Eddie Anderson program called "Campaign for Human Dignity" to fight crime in St. Louis neighborhoods.□ Herbert Bodison Christine Moore Rosalind Cato Robert Newton Roscoe Singletary Tickets are $85.00 each or $650* for a table of 8 Veronica Dukes *for NAACP members only Jenae Haynes Rev. Mae Taylor Eyamba Williams David Johnson Local Author Damon L. Fordham We Have our Nominees! Nancy Martin will be at our July Meeting Damon Lamar Fordham was born in Spartanburg, BRANCH SC. He received his Mas- ter’s Degree in history from MEETINGS the College of Charleston and the Citadel, and his Goose Creek undergraduate degrees at NAACP meets Damon LFordham the University of South the first Monday Carolina in Columbia. He of the month currently teaches United States and African- at American History at Springfield College and Charleston Southern University in Charleston, SC Abraham Masonic and has taught US History and African-American Building Studies at the College of Charleston. The author of 206 Liberty Hall Rd True Stories of Black South Carolina (History Goose Creek, SC. Press, 2008), he was a weekly columnist for the Charleston Coastal Times from 1994 to 1998, as After a year of campaigning and months of 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM well as the coauthor of Born to Serve-The Story of primaries, Senator Barrack Obama is now the Executive Meeting the WBEMC in South Carolina in 2006. He con- presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM ducted research for the book Sweetgrass Baskets along with Senator John McCain, the presump- General Meeting and the Gullah Tradition by Joyce Coakley in 2006. tive nominee for the Republican party! Monday July 7, 2008 Mr. Fordham will discuss his book and sign copies. Congratulations to all of you who made this Monday Aug 4, 2008 possible! Monday Sep 8, 2008 Both candidates are scheduled to be at the 99th NAACP National Convention in Cincinnati Please attend and July 12 - 17, 2008 bring a friend June 2008 - Page 2 Volume 3, Edition 06 Page 3 New Ideas Needed to Invigorate the NAACP May 19, 2008 By George E. Curry The votes are in and Obviously, there is still plenty of anything, we should first make Special thanks to Mr. Curry now it’s time to rally behind the work to do. sure it is dead. And the N-word for sharing this article with candidate. No, I am not talking Although NAACP insiders didn’t is far from dead. us. about presidential politics. I am According to a recent study by like it at the time, immediate past George E. Curry, former referring to the NAACP’s decision the Parents Television Council president Bruce Gordon did the editor-in-chief of Emerge to hire 35-year-old Benjamin Jeal- titled, “The Rap on Rap,” the association a favor two years ago magazine and the NNPA ous as its next president. dreaded N-word had to be when he revealed that contrary to News Service, is a keynote bleeped more than any other Prior to the selection, I made no the claim that the NAACP has speaker, moderator, and expletive from videos studied on secret of my belief that another 500,000 members – a number the media coach. Mr. Curry is BET and MTV. In Greenwood, finalist, Rev. Frederick D. Haynes group has been using since 1946, also a life member of the Miss., a White member of the III of Dallas, would have made a according to Baltimore Sun – the NAACP. He can be reached city council sent out an e-mail better and more dynamic leader. I actual figure is less than 300,000. through his Web site, recently referring to a highly still feel that way. But now that the The NAACP likes to claim their www.georgecurry.com. NAACP board has decided other- membership numbers are roughly respected Black leader as an wise, this is no time to walk away twice that, but they arrive at that “ole” N-word. Not only is the N- from our oldest civil rights organi- bogus conclusion by counting peo- word not dead, it is not even injured. zation. ple that have interacted with the NAACP electronically.
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