THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511060096
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Linda Byrd-Harden, executive director of the state NAACP, left Sunday for Richmond, hoarse but happy.
The final day of the 60th annual statewide NAACP convention had just ended, and more than 400 delegates and youth members had a productive session - electing a new state president, Paul Gillis of the Suffolk branch; devising ways to increase voter registration; and promising be a more cohesive group.
``Part of our agenda was to become more organized internally. . . . I think we will,'' Byrd-Harden said. ``To deal more effectively with the legislative issues, judicial issues, economic and social issues that we face.''
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has a proud history, leading the fight for school desegregation beginning in the 1930s and battling for equal rights.
But local and statewide NAACP groups lately have been lost in controversies surrounding the national group. So state delegates arrived for the Norfolk convention Friday knowing it would be an important session.
The national NAACP executive director Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., was fired last year and the chairman of the national board of directors, William F. Gibson, resigned among allegations of financial mismanagement. The country's oldest civil-rights organization also registered a $4 million deficit, which it since has trimmed but not eliminated.
Meanwhile, recent welfare reform policies and attacks on affirmative action have angered and depressed minority groups. Company layoffs and racial rifts highlighted by the O.J. Simpson verdict have meant more calls for help to NAACP branches.
Delegates agreed that the group's biggest battles might be fought in the months to come.
``The NAACP has been in effect since 1909, and we have the same agenda we had then,'' said March Cromuel Jr., president of the Chesapeake branch. ``We just need to implement different strategies. . . . We have some tough days ahead.''
And Cromuel is optimistic. The national NAACP has a goal of registering 1 million voters for 1996 elections, and his branch was recognized for its work thus far.
Beginning in May, Chesapeake NAACP members hit malls, neighborhoods and shopping centers to find unregistered voters.
``We met some people who thought they had to pay to vote. They thought we still had a poll tax,'' Cromuel said. ``Some felt uncomfortable writing their name; they couldn't write it well, so we had people there to help them with that.''
By Oct. 10, branch members had registered 862 people, more than any other NAACP branch in the state.
``The award is not the greatest part of this,'' Cromuel said. ``But to give those people the power to make a difference. . . . We need to make people aware of their power. Some people aren't aware of the ability we have when we vote.''
Byrd-Harden said the group's progress will depend on membership participation and financial support. She said state membership has grown from 40,000 last year to more than 45,000 now, the biggest jump occurring during the past month.
``I can't tell you if it was the O.J. verdict or the Million Man March, maybe both,'' Byrd-Harden said. ``But all of our branches are getting calls for membership.''
But with the increase in calls for help, the demand for volunteers is high.
``People aren't aware of all of the things we do,'' Byrd-Harden said in her hushed voice. ``I am the mouthpiece of the organization, but it doesn't mean a thing if I can't say I have 50,000 NAACP members behind me, backing me up. There are so many things to do, negotiating cases, dealing with folks from the General Assembly, people have no idea. And we can't do it without money and without support.'' by CNB