Faith in Action

 

Like many, I received this notice this morning from NAACP Board Chair, Julian Bond:

The NAACP is sad to announce the resignation of CEO Bruce Gordon.

In a statement, NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond said: “We wish Mr. Gordon well in his future pursuits. I have named our General Counsel Dennis Hayes as interim president. We will immediately begin a widespread search for a replacement, examining candidates from the non-profit, corporate, and civil rights communities and others, seeking a new President who can insure our mission of social justice advocacy strengthens and grows as we approach our Centennial anniversary in 2009.

–Julian Bond

Citing “misalignment” with board members, Bruce Gordon called it quits 19 months after accepting the job.  All morning long I’ve been listening to talk radio and others speculate about what happened behind closed doors and question what this means for the NAACP.  I don’t know what happened behind closed doors, but I do know that this is sad for the organization.  The NAACP receives enough criticism when things are going well.  Now that there’s fat to chew the organization (and especially the Board) should prepare itself for an increased level of scrutiny.  I also imagine that it will be more difficult now to find a replacement for Gordon.  Anybody who is even thinking about throwing their name in the hat for this job, must also be thinking about whether or not they can successfully deal with the headache of working with a 60+ member board.

For all of you who have worked in any type of group you know that they can require a lot of energy.  Shucks, you don’t need 60 members on a board to drive you crazy.  Some of ya’ll remember 4 member groups that you were a part of at work or in school where some of the members had a tendency of plucking people’s nerves during the group project.

Because I honor the history of the NAACP and wish to see it grow and challenge the evils that are and that are to come; I would like to offer a few suggestions:

1. Listen to all of the criticism that you are receiving.  Take the meat and spit out the bones.  You can learn something from those who honestly critique you.
2. Re-evaluate the structure of the organization and eliminate unnecessary weight that has proved to hinder the organization’s progress.
3. Let “INTERGENERATIONAL COOPERATION” be the guiding mantra as you re-structure.  There are many promising young professionals that can offer instant value to the organization’s relevancy. 
4. Focus resources on your branches.  If you build up the roots of the organization, the head will be strengthened as well.
5. Streamline the list of issues that you will address and decide how you can best engage the selected areas.  It’s easy to want to confront all issues of injustice, but you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin and as a result watering down your impact.

Much success to you, NAACP.  May this time of transition force you to hold up the mirror and “come to yourself”.