June 28, 2007
NAACP Not Alone In Falling Short
Rosetta Thurman, director of development and finance at the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, is part of a chorus of observers who have weighed in on the recent problems at the NAACP.
But after hearing Bruce Gordon — who recently left his post as NAACP president during a shakeup — speak at a conference on black philanthropy, Ms. Thurman says she has developed a new view on the situation.
Ms. Thurman writes on Perspectives From the Pipeline that the NAACP was not ready for Mr. Gordon’s business-first approach to running the organization.
Still, the NAACP is not alone in shouldering the blame for what Ms. Thurman says is a lack of progress in solving important issues facing black Americans.
“Like many people, I complain about the sad state of affairs for our youth, civil rights, and poverty among people of color,” she writes. “But, we all could and should really be doing much more to contribute to changing our communities.”
Do you agree with Ms. Thurman’s views? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
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I caution those who rush to judgment regarding the sudden departure of Mr. Gordon from the NAACP. Without a fair and balanced assessment from both parties, the public is left with erroneous information. Will the COF offer another perspective —particularly the challenges associated with Senior Executives moving from Corporate management to nonprofit leadership. I’ll be waiting.
Roslyn M. Brock, Vice Chaiman, NAACP National Board of Directors
— Roslyn Brock Jun 28, 11:40 AM #
In a domestic U.S. situation whereby Black Americans are being adversely affected by globalization, Black leadership, across the board, does not take advantage of that same globalization lens in viewing solutions. U.S. Blacks, even the most poverty-stricken, has the global crown jewel that illegal aliens are breaking INTO the U.S. to share and hope to attain –-U.S. citizenship. For U.S. Blacks, race and citizenship come together much like a bagel –- outside of the edge of the bagel or the borders and boundaries of the United States’ sovereignty is the whole world of color. In that universe of the global, North Atlantic Europeans only occupy less than 6 percent of the world’s population; the bagel per se, or within the U.S. borders “Whites” – a social and economic category rather than an ethnic, ancestral, national identity –- are today a “majority.” The dark hole of the bagel, where most U.S. Blacks live their lives, appears to be a space walled in and controlled by U.S. Whites. In moving beyond and reframing issues of access to a greater, global landscape, many U.S. Blacks would readily see a world that “looks” like them, but a world where accompanying U.S. citizenship, creates opportunities, bargains, negotiations and wealth building, if used well. Bruce Gordon has had the ability, both as a Black man and as a corporate executive, to “jump the bagel,” instead of only the broomstick.
Kathleen Rand Reed, MAA, Applied Corporate Anthropologist, The Rand Reed Group, Washington, DC and Menlo Park, CA
— Kathleen Rand Reed Jun 29, 09:11 AM #