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Reenergizing the NAACP
By Avis Thomas-Lester
Benjamin Jealous was just 35 when he was chosen to lead the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, becoming the youngest-ever president of the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
Jealous, a Rhodes Scholar who has worked as a news executive and a foundation president, has spent the past 15 months trying to inject new life and energy into an organization overcome by management turmoil, financial difficulties and declining membership. Yet the NAACP, which celebrated its centennial earlier this year, still boasts 1,500 chapters, 102 employees and an annual operating budget of $29 million.
How he has succeeded: By turning to the right people for help. "There is, in any professional journey, a need to learn the skills that you need to succeed in the next place. I've been able to do that ...I have learned from people who were willing to offer me their expertise, to answer my questions. When times get tough, the most valuable knowledge is knowing who can help you solve the problem, who can give you advice and point you in the right direction."
What he's had to overcome: He grew up in Monterey, Calif., where "in school, I was the shortest kid, and I stuttered a lot. There was a lot of fear that came with that. The number one thing I had to get over was the fear of the consequences of asserting myself. I stuttered when I gave a speech, so much sometimes that I would be almost incomprehensible. But I figured out that if I wrote out just a few notes, I could speak extemporaneously without stuttering."
Why he's an activist: It's in his blood. "My father [Fred Jealous] came from a prominent white New England family with ties back to the American Revolution. He was disowned by his family after he married my mother. My mother, Ann Todd Jealous, was born in Virginia. My daughter is named Morgan after Peter G. Morgan, an ancestor of my mother's who was born a slave, but later, during Reconstruction, become a member of the Virginia House of Delegates."
Scariest job: "Shortly after my 21st birthday, I moved to Mississippi, where I was subjected to death threats, first as an organizer [for Black Mississippians for Higher Education], then as a reporter [for the Jackson Advocate] in a place where hate crimes still happen with some regularity. There was a day when I was about to leave Mississippi because of the death threats, and I had a talk with my publisher at the Jackson Advocate, Charles Tisdale ... He said, I have two questions, 'Do you feel like you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, what God wants you to do?' I said yes. He said, 'Who do you fear more, them' -- the ones who were threatening me -- 'or God?' " Jealous stayed.
Smartest move: "Listening to the advice of my grandmother" after he was thrown out of Columbia University for organizing student protests. "After I got kicked out of college, she told me that I should always end things on my terms. She was clear to me that I would always regret it if I left it like that. So I went back ... I strived to improve my grade point average ... I got the Rhodes Scholarship. That's the way I have also approached my career; I end things on my terms."
Biggest challenge: Balancing his long hours at work with his responsibilities to his wife, Lia, and 3-year-old daughter, Morgan. "This is my second time running a nonprofit, so I knew what I was signing up for, but it's my first time since becoming a parent and that adds a whole other calculus to it. My goal is to be there to pick Morgan up from school every day. Sometimes I make it, but many times I don't. I know how important it is, so it bothers me when I feel like I'm not fulfilling my role as her father."
Advice to the aspiring: Be focused and systematic in accomplishing the tasks in front of you. "My grandmother told me not to focus on what's next beyond what is easily visible...she would always say, 'Yard by yard, life is hard; but inch by inch, life is a cinch.' ... She told me to plan my work and work my plan. That's kitchen-table wisdom that I learned as a child that has been the center of my success today."
Avis Thomas-Lester
| December 2, 2009; 10:01 AM ET | Category: success stories Save & Share:
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Posted by: rogowski11 | December 5, 2009 6:17 PM
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In the land of Nobama, race is king, and the issues that were settled decades ago now have new "signficance". Instead of the end of NAACP (even "colored" is outdated), the congressional "black caucus", BET, La Raza, Jesse Jackson, affirmative action, black history month, and the plethora of race-baiting shouters, we are receiving re-education on the merits of shake-downs, imposed guilt, reparations, and hate crimes. Nobamaland is a new paradise for race hustlers, who look to the president for guidance.
Posted by: marcnmmi | December 5, 2009 9:00 AM
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A couple of years ago, the University of Michigan got into an unwelcomed spotlight when reverse discrimination was alleged by non-minority potential law school students. Genuinely qualified students were being told to go elsewhere because the socially, and politically (over-the-top) correct University chose the low path. Do we really need an NAACP? No NAAWP organizations exist for the very same reasons that make the opposite "group" unpalatable.