100 Years of the NAACP: Do I Care?
That is the question I pondered at the announcement of the organizations centennial anniversary. My answer: no. Why you ask? Simply, I can not name one NAACP event or moment of relevancy in my life. Here are my reasons for hopefully replacing Black America’s inept crutch.
OK. Maybe I am being a little harsh. Then again, no I am not. At some point, the NAACP forgot about the people it was entrusted to serve. At some point, it became a scapegoat for those who denied our basic human rights. At some point, it became irrelevant. And it was at this point that the NAACP began losing generations.
There are several reasons why I am among these lost generations. For the sake of brevity, I have detailed four.
- What’s in a name? For the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, it’s name is everything. Being defined as ‘colored‘ is a huge turn off for me. The term originated in an enslaved south and every time I hear it offers an immediate reminder of our original place in society. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard the southern drawl of a Mississippi white boy call you colored. (And this happened to me in 1988.)
- The first time I came across anything NAACP was in an Ebony magazine years ago. I remember seeing the black, beautiful, well-dressed, smiling faces in the big city offices, etc. But growing up in the rural south, this scene didn’t offer an immediate connection for me. Were there local chapters in my area? Are there youth involved my age? I did not know. Maybe this unawareness was indicative of the encasing fear many southern communities like mine felt in welcoming such radical organizations. Overall, the NAACP was an ideal that hadn’t reached its primary target, my Black America.
- When I did discover the work of the NAACP, it was already too late. The organization had begun over-shooting its targets in efforts to be everything to all people of color. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be anything to those in immediate need of service. Growing pains, if you will, with no plan to address them. You would hear accounts of our people reaching out to the NAACP only to be stuck spinning their wheels in paperwork, phone calls, whether the case is high-profile enough, and personal agendas.
This increased flood of activity defines a bigger problem I have harped about for years. Black America does not have the local ability to organize and take stands on the myriad of issues facing our communities. The local voice has been lost and replaced with a national mommy we all cry to in the form of organizations like the NAACP.
- The most important reason for my dis-interest in the NAACP is technology. The efforts to harness this social necessity are stagnant at best. It was just announced that the NAACP now has a ‘Rapid Response’ initiative relying on our cell phone camcorders and cameras to document acts of wrong doing. Great move! But, there is a tremendous gap of time here where such moves didn’t occur. Why now? Well, it seems the NAACP has finally realized the people will find a way with or without it and technology gives us that power today.
It is time for a new organization to fill the needs where the NAACP is dropping the ball. The JOBA Group hopes to be that source of evolving, reachable, tech-savvy, and progressive need. Help us reach that goal by subscribing to this blog.
2 Comments
Curtis, this blog entry lays out EXACTLY the reason why I am not a member of the local chapter.
I choose to work within a PRODUCTIVE construct.
Peace,
J
It really is time for something different, Jalanda. I like that term ‘productive construct’!