Bond's vision includes a world of Americans

A Message from the Chairman: Julian Bond

I have a vision for the NAACP that builds on the vision of those who went before me. My predecessor, Myrlie Evers-Will iams, accomplished miracles. I stepped into the large footprints her tiny feet had made.

She set a high standard for each of us-a standard of service and commitment.

She brought the NAACP back from the brink of financial ruin, and then she brought on board one of the brightest leaders in the modern movement for civil rights, Kweisi Mfume.

With his hands-on experience as a people's congressman, he brought a feel for the future and a respect for the past to the difficult job of running the NAACP.

He has continued the task of setting our financial house in order. Bold new initiatives in the hospitality and technology industries to win jobs and contracts for blacks are under way. The difficult task of bringing the NAACP into the 21st century, computerizing our membership, and building a $50 million endowment that can free us from dependence on outside support are in progress.

But there is so much more to be done.

My vision has the NAACP becoming a lean, mean fighting machine whose advocacy of civil rights and a world free from discrimination is heard and felt everywhere. Wherever race is discussed, from the Oval Office to the neighborhood beauty parlor, I want someone to say, "Here's what the NAACP thinks! This is what the NAACP wants to happen!"

When I received the high honor of being elected Chairman, I said that colored people come in all colors. While I intend the NAACP to always stay sharply focused on fighting discrimination against African Americans, there are others who may not share our history but who do share our condition, and when our agendas meet and match, I want them to be a part of the NAACP.

I want our membership to double and then double again. There's no reason why we cannot attract more of that large body of Americans who share our values and who agree with our methods and goals.

I want our Branches - from the largest-to the smallest to register the unregistered, and then to make sure that their votes are cast and counted in every election.

I want every Branch to develop a civil rights advocacy agenda, in cooperation with the board and staff, and I want to see that agenda pursued with all the energy we can muster.

I want our capable and committed staff to insure that service to Branches and the people we all represent is their first and foremost priority.

I want our leadership, from the Board of Directors to the National Staff to the Presidents and officers of every Branch to redouble their commitment to working together, in harmony, moving toward the same goals.

And I want you, our members - the hard-working adults and youth, to know that we value each of you.

You are the people who, after work and family concerns are met, after school, at night and on weekends, do the hard labor that makes the NAACP engine run.

We need you. We respect you. You are our life and blood. There is no NAACP without you.

We have a long and glorious history as America's premier civil rights organization. But in the battle for human rights, no one can live on past reputation alone - in this fight, credentials must be renewed every day.

In this fight, no one can win alone.

There are difficult challenges facing black America. In some ways, they are more difficult to attack than the fire hoses and billy clubs of three decades ago.

The assault on affirmative action threatens the progress we have made. A Congress hostile to civil rights threatens to weaken and remove the important protections we fought and died for. In our booming economy, too many Americans have been left behind.

But we have never let anyone turn us around.

I want America to know that the Freedom Train is on the track and will not be derailed!

Join us. Together, we can and will overcome!

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated Apr/May 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved