Mr. Brooks, who said in an interview that he was “baffled” and saddened by the decision, will leave the organization at the end of June when his contract expires. The group will search for a new leader while Leon W. Russell, the chairman of the board, and Derrick Johnson, the vice chairman, head up day-to-day operations.
The sudden change at the top of the N.A.A.C.P. shows how the energy of liberal activists in the era of President Trump is forcing upheaval even in institutions like a century-old civil rights stalwart. Mr. Brooks was hardly reserved in his own activism. He was arrested in January for leading a sit-in at the Alabama office of Senator Jeff Sessions, trying to block his confirmation as attorney general.
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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as a bi-racial organization to advance justice for African Americans by W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington and Moorfield Storey.
Its mission in the 21st century is “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.” Their national initiatives included political lobbying, publicity efforts, and litigation strategies developed by their legal team. The group enlarged its mission in the late 20th century by considering issues such as police misconduct, the status of black foreign refugees, and questions of economic development. Its name, retained in accordance with tradition, uses the once common term colored people, referring to people of some African ancestry.
The NAACP bestows annual awards to people of color in two categories: Image Awards are for achievement in the arts and entertainment, and Spingarn Medals are for outstanding achievement of any kind. Its headquarters is in Baltimore, Maryland. (Wikipedia).
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