On Feb. 17, the Prince George’s County branch of the NAACP held its Founder’s Day program and installation of 2017 executive committee members. The event, at the Greater Mount Nebo Church in Mitchellville, Md., included Ben Jealous as the keynote speaker before an audience of about 70 people. Jealous, former head of the organization, said the branch, as well as the national organization, need to focus on impoverished Blacks.
Ben Jealous told attendees at the Prince George’s County Founder’s Day program that the organization needs to work more to help poor Black residents. (Courtesy Photo)
“In the NAACP, we have a program to help those who have the house, the Harley or middle-level corporate job, but we need to help those who are in need,” he said. “We need to address the concerns of those on the bottom and not just those who are on the top.”
In 2008, Jealous was selected as the youngest president and CEO of the NAACP by its board of directors. Jealous worked to enhance the organization’s online presence, increase its youth membership, and expanded the organization’s reach in the areas of health, environmental justice, and education.
He is presently a venture capitalist and was a strong supporter of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2016 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. His stints in journalism include serving as executive director of the NNPA and managing editor of the Jackson Advocate newspaper in Jackson, Miss.
Jealous was making reference to perceptions that the NAACP has become more concerned with middle-class Black issues such as getting and keeping high-level private and public sector jobs and encouraging entrepreneurship and climbing the corporate ladder as opposed to being a stronger advocate for those who are in poverty and live in struggling, unsafe neighborhoods with mediocre schools. Prince George’s County is recognized as the wealthiest Black jurisdiction in the country but faces challenges because of a high foreclosure rate and a school system that consistently posts Maryland’s second lowest tests scores, with Baltimore City being at the bottom.
Jealous said the NAACP shouldn’t stand for National Association for the Advancement of Certain People and that “Blacks in the middle-class have quadrupled within the past 20 years but the number of Blacks in poverty hasn’t decreased.”
Jealous encouraged the branch, with its 1,200 members, to oppose the political agenda of the Trump administration. “This is a time of renaissance in the NAACP,” he said. “Blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ , and Muslims are under attack. We need to be on the forefront of fighting those attacks because when our allies are attacked, our tree will fall too.”
He spoke in a tone of spirited advocacy when he said, “If Donald Trump wants a fight, let’s give it to him.”
Jealous spoke highly of the newly-re-elected president of the branch, Bob Ross. “This branch carries a lot of weight in the NAACP,” he said. “On the national level, people look up to Bob Ross.”
Ross was sworn in to his two-year term, along with the other members of the executive board, including Eben Smith as the new first vice president, Amity Pope as the second vice president, Jermaine Shoatz as the third vice president, Valerie Miller as the secretary, Juanita Miller as the assistant secretary, Leigh Williams as the treasurer, and John Simms as the assistant treasurer. The at-large members of the executive board are Ronald Dickens, June White Dillard, Cassandra Freeman, Zachary Hawkins, Valerie Holmes, Elizabeth Johnson, Jade Mathis and Bonita Spikes.
Ross, in his remarks, agreed with much of what Jealous said. “Blacks are in La La Land,” Ross said, alluding to a popular movie. “Not many of our brothers and sisters are doing well. We have a lot of work to do.”
Ross said this was his last term as the branch president and he wants to increase its membership and train the next generation of leaders. “I have a goal of having 10,000 members of this branch and we can do it because membership is only $30,” he said. “In 2018, I want the branch to have paid staff.”