NAACP Names New President

Courtesy NAACP

The NAACP has found its new leader. And instead of picking a "politician, minister or civil rights icon," the group has chosen 35-year-old "lifelong activist" Ben Jealous.

The AP has more:

Jealous was born in Pacific Grove, Calif., and educated at Columbia University and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

He has worked as a community organizer for the NAACP; as managing editor of a black newspaper in Mississippi; executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the country's largest group of black community newspapers; and as director of Amnesty International's U.S. Human Rights Program.

Since 2005, Jealous has served as president of the San Francisco-based Rosenberg Foundation, a private institution that supports civil and human rights advocacy.

Despite his own successes, Jealous said blacks in America still have a hard row to hoe, and that the gains of recent decades have created a false sense of progress.

What do you think of the NAACP's decision? What should Pres. Jealous do to maintain the organization's relevance?

From Today's Show:
NAACP Names New President
Can New Leader Jump Start the NAACP?

Flashback:
Julian Bond vs. Kevin Powell: What's Next for Civil Rights Movement?

Geoffrey Bennett

Tags: Ben Jealous | NAACP | new NAACP president

11:33 AM ET | 05-19-2008 | permalink

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