Prince
George's County Seeks a New NAACP Chapter
By: Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 23, 2008; Page B01
A group of Prince George's activists, frustrated with what they call the
complacency of the local NAACP, said they plan to press on with their work
to start a second chapter in the county.
D. Michael Lyles, Sandra Pruitt. Walter Kirkland, Thomas Felder,
Jerry McLaurin, Zalee Harris
The state NAACP recently rejected the group's application for a charter, but statewide organization President Gerald Stansbury said it is open to reconsidering the issue.
The effort to start a new NAACP chapter illustrates a burgeoning occurrence in the county, one in which newer activists are revolting against what they characterize as old-school ideas and methodologies.
The activists, who call themselves the Greater Beltway Coalition, are seeking an organization that would be more focused on elevating the county's image and addressing such citizen concerns as education and economic empowerment.
"You'd think we'd have the most vocal and active NAACP in all the nation," said Sandy Pruitt, a Mitchellville resident and leader of the effort to launch a new chapter. "Instead, we have no voice. Right now, we feel there is a void . . . and we think this organization will address that void."
Members of the county's existing chapter, including President June White Dillard, oppose a new branch.
"There is absolutely nothing stopping anyone from joining or being active or serving on a committee," Dillard said. "I also want to dispel this perception that everybody in this organization is a doddering old person on a cane. It is wrong."
Pruitt started the effort in the fall after the national NAACP encouraged chapters nationwide to go to Jena, La., where six black teenagers were being prosecuted for beating a white schoolmate following several racial incidents.
Although many branches made the trip, the one in Prince George's -- the most prosperous majority-black jurisdiction in the country -- did not, Pruitt said. "We looked to the leadership to spearhead the effort," she said. "We didn't get that from our current branch, and I realized that we needed to do something."
After raising money to travel to Jena, Pruitt and friends set about planning a new chapter.
"To a large extent, most people applaud what the county is doing that is positive," said D. Michael Lyles, one of those pushing for a second chapter. "But there is always the complaint from some who say what is happening is not enough."
In its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, the Prince George's NAACP was highly active, particularly in the fight for desegregation and against school busing.
Earl Adams, 32, a Fort Washington resident and member of the existing chapter's executive board, said that if the branch has a problem, it is with marketing, not effectiveness. He said the chapter receives about 40 complaints a year ranging from age discrimination in the workplace to police harassment. He said the chapter also works on voter issues and recently started a student chapter at Oxon Hill High School.
"I will concede that the branch could do more to promote the good works it is doing," Adams said.
Adams said the push to start a new branch has overtones of "ageism." He said the existing branch's membership is varied in age, careers and interests. Historically, the NAACP and other civil rights groups have depended on the wisdom, experience and leadership of their older members as much as they have the energy and forward thinking of younger participants.
Adrion Howell, 38, a founding member of the African American Democratic Club of Prince George's County, said the effort is about tapping into a new progressive leadership.
"It would be impossible to say that these efforts are not an indictment of the current leadership," said Howell, of Glenn Dale. "There is a different mind-set now, post-civil rights era. People in my generation are a little more focused on economic issues. . . . There is a disconnect, so as a result, you see young folks who are willing to step out there and upset the apple cart."
Dillard acknowledged that the county chapter could be improved but defended its work and the commitment of its leadership. "People may not be members, but you can bet that when they get in trouble they figure out exactly how to reach us," Dillard said.
Lyles joined the chapter in the mid-1990s, and although he said he was dissatisfied with what he saw, he has not attempted to work for change in the existing chapter. Pruitt said she was active in the group for about 18 months but found herself frustrated at the way the chapter responded to issues.
Arthur Turner, a longtime county activist, said he understands why some people want to start a new chapter.
"You have a bunch of folks who have titles who aren't doing anything but talking. It seems as if the county's NAACP does a dinner every year, and its focus is the dinner. . . . But when it comes to talk about issues of economic advancement, economic parity and addressing some of the major issues, the NAACP has no voice," Turner said.
Turner and several others cited high-profile incidents when injustices occurred or when issues involving African Americans were being debated as examples of times when the chapter's leadership failed to take a stance.
Such incidents include the case of Prince Jones, a Howard University student who was fatally shot in 2000 by an undercover county detective who followed him to Fairfax County from Prince George's, and the controversy surrounding former schools chief Andre J. Hornsby, who is facing a second trial for alleged financial misconduct.
Turner said "environmental justice and racism" concerns such as asbestos remediation at the old Landover Mall site and what he called excessive waste facilities in the county are also areas the chapter has failed to address.
State Sen. David Harrington (D-Prince George's), a former County Council member, said he sees the emergence of new groups and leaders as an evolution as the county has grown from rural to urban.
"I don't see it as an effort of trying to do away with the old . . . but as an effort to bring in a new, diverse point of view in terms of how we conduct ourselves politically," Harrington said.
Adams said that the attempt to start a new chapter has been a wake-up call and that he hopes those trying to start a new chapter will abandon the effort.
"We are optimistic that they will be able to fold into the branch and we can do even better work together," he said.
Staff writer Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.