Page 12 The Skanner November 8, 2017
News
NAACP Board Elects Mississippi’s Derrick Johnson President
New NAACP President Derrick Johnson Vows to Work Closely with NNPA
By Stacy M. Brown
(NNPA Newswire Con-
tributor)
T
he future of the Na-
tional Association
for the Advance-
ment of Colored
People (NAACP) is in-
extricably linked to the
future of African Amer-
icans and its incumbent
upon the nation’s oldest
civil rights organization
to work with the Black
Press to get that message
out, said new NAACP
President Derrick John-
son.
On October 21, the ex-
ecutive committee of the
NAACP National Board
of Directors announced
that the Detroit-born
Johnson would lead the
organization as the pres-
ident and CEO.
Johnson
formerly
served as vice chairman
of the NAACP National
Board of Directors and
the state president for the
Mississippi State Confer-
ence of the NAACP.
Board members said
Johnson was selected to
guide the organization
through a period of rein-
vigoration and realign-
ment with the current
challenges of today’s civ-
il rights movement.
To accomplish that mis-
sion, Johnson said the
NAACP will lean heavily
on the National Newspa-
per Publishers Associa-
tion (NNPA), the trade as-
sociation that represents
more than 200 African
American-owned news-
papers and media com-
panies across the coun-
try.
“We must be successful
to ensure that democra-
cy works for all and that
individuals of African
descent are treated with
dignity and aff orded
equal protections under
the law,” Johnson told the
NNPA Newswire. “We’ve
met with [new NNPA
Chairman]
Dorothy
Leavell and [NNPA Pres-
ident and CEO] Dr. Ben-
jamin Chavis, Jr., and we
see a bright future and
we are mutually tied to
the same reality, because
the NNPA is critical, as
the delivery source of in-
formation for our com-
munity.”
The fact that the NAACP
chose Johnson to lead the
organization was music
to Leavell’s ears.
“I believe he is the right
leader for the NAACP
at this most important
time in our history,” she
said. “The NNPA looks
forward to working with
him and the NAACP.”
Chavis, a former ex-
ecutive director of the
NAACP, said he’s known
Johnson for a long time
and he’s confi dent that
Johnson’s leadership ex-
pertise and experience
will take the NAACP to
greater heights in terms
of membership and civil
rights activism.
“If there was ever a
person alive that person-
ifi es the living spirit of
Medgar Evers, it is Der-
rick Johnson. Thus, the
NAACP will grow and
expand under the leader-
ship of Derrick Johnson,”
Chavis said. “Johnson
personifi es the courage
and genius of a freedom
fi ghter, who will now
lead the NAACP forward
with fearless boldness.”
For his part, Johnson,
who received a juris doc-
torate from the South
Texas College of Law,
called the Black Press an
under appreciated insti-
tution.
“It’s incumbent upon
the NAACP to work di-
rectly with the NNPA to
make sure that, as we get
control of our narrative,
we’re utilizing our most
See NAACP on page 10
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