THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 20, 1995 TAG: 9502200040
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Myrlie Evers-Williams, the new chairwoman of the NAACP, made it clear Sunday that she intends to take the beleaguered civil rights group back to its grass roots and the ordinary people who have kept it alive.
An early priority is to create a newsletter from the chairwoman to let the rank and file know what's going on, she said. There will be appeals to corporations to donate to NAACP programs - and reports to the 2,200 local branches who will run them.
The operating theme is that Evers-Williams, 61, doesn't intend to forget the revolt that prompted the NAACP board of directors to elect her as its new leader, succeeding William Gibson.
``The people who make up the NAACP were well-represented here. They spoke, and the board members listened,'' she said. ``The challenges that we face are great. We now have the unity and the sense of purpose to meet those challenges head on.''
Gibson was toppled from the chairmanship Saturday after a raucous general session in which 700 angry members booed a treasurer's report they thought was false. Led by 90-year-old activist Enolia McMillian, the members delivered a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
Then, 300 members crashed the board's closed meeting and refused to leave when Gibson attempted to limit the session to board members. Board members asked Evers-Williams to try to persuade them to allow a closed session. She did, and the members calmly left.
``They stood up in unison and said, `Only for you, Myrlie,' '' board member Joseph Madison said. ``If I were a board member sitting on the fence, that certainly would have swayed me.''
Gibson was defeated by one vote.
With Gibson gone, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is turning its attention to a gathering in Washington this week to oppose parts of the GOP ``Contract With America'' and voice support for Dr. Henry Foster, nominee for surgeon general.
The two-day gathering will bring the NAACP back into the national debate on civil rights, just as welfare reform and rollbacks of affirmative action are becoming big issues on Capitol Hill.
``To the extent that the internal debate has ended in the NAACP, we can now refocus our efforts,'' said Wade Henderson, the NAACP's lobbyist in Washington. ``The new chairperson is committed to revitalizing the (NAACP's) strength, which is found in its grass-roots base.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Myrlie Evers-Williams
by CNB