NAACP shifting its style

The now-younger face of the rights group is bringing new tactics and new priorities.

By NICOLE HUTCHESON, Times Staff Writer
Published October 14, 2007

TAMPA - At 37, Curtis Stokes is the youngest president in the history of the Hillsborough NAACP.

But it's his style more than his age that sets him apart.

Stokes strives to be a bridge builder, forging alliances with establishments that many of his predecessors viewed as the enemy.

Where the old guard staged protests and sit-ins to fight discrimination, Stokes invites people to coffee and lunches at chic South Tampa restaurants to convince them diversity is good for their bottom line.

"I tell people, 'We're not here to beat you up and hit you across the head. We want to help you build and find access,'" Stokes said.

Stokes' direction, a clear departure from the way the NAACP has traditionally operated, highlights a tension brewing within the organization ranks.

As the NAACP approaches its 100th anniversary and membership wanes, members are grappling with how to keep the organization viable.

Should they stick with their historical role as a social advocacy group focused on justice? Or move toward building bridges with unlikely partners and pump economic empowerment?

The new guard argues that the latter is the way to attract new blood. Traditionalist feel that could threaten the very foundation of the organization's mission.

"It's a question I've been dealing with for 20 years, a question of relevance," said Leon Russell, director of Pinellas County's Office of Human Rights and member of the NAACP national board of directors. "It's tricky, because one minute you're the advocate, the next minute you're partnering. ... So there's care to be given there."

Stokes, a banker by trade, recognizes the tightrope he's walking, but says it's necessary.

"There are members who think when the time comes to fight these organizations, we can't because we're too close," Stokes said on a recent Friday over a plate of curried chicken at Byblos Cafe. "But, I'm a relationship builder. That's what I do for a living. If you have a relationship built on a solid foundation it will last and there won't be a need to fight."

Stokes, who has been president of the Hillsborough chapter since 2006, believes his new approach is paying off.

Over the past four years, the Hillsborough County School Board has awarded more than $60-million in contracts to minority and women businesses - a direct result of an agreement drafted between the NAACP and School Board in 2003 during Sam Horton's presidency. It's Stokes' job to monitor the partnership.

The chapter used the same method recently when it was called on to help develop a small business enterprise ordinance for the city of Tampa.

"The reality of it is, if you only address the traditional civil rights concerns, you've left out a significant segment: business owners," said Bob Morrison, whose firm Morrison and Associates has assisted the Hillsborough County School Board find diverse contractors. "Those are the people who can hire the young people on the street corner, give the student a part-time job in the summer or provide services to the church for free."

Balance is important

Partnerships are important, but the need for advocacy must not be forgotten, said Norman Brown, St. Petersburg NAACP president.

If you don't believe it, look no further than the Pinellas County School Board's consideration of "neighborhood schools" plan, Brown said.

The plan had been criticized as an attempt to resegregate schools. Brown and members of the Clearwater chapter of the NAACP mobilized parents to speak out against the plan at the district's public forums.

Ultimately, the board decided to postpone its vote to give members time to craft a better compromise between neighborhood and magnet school needs.

"We have to do what's necessary to have integrated schools and try to promote every child," said Brown, 71. "There's a lot that still needs to be done in our communities.

"We all have to ask the question: How did you get to where you are and who sacrificed to get you there," he said. "You have an obligation to give back."

Advocates say one problem is that many young people aren't raised with that same sense of duty, partly because the NAACP isn't as high profile as it used to be.

"We need to go back to our foundation, the black churches, fraternities and sororities," said Nathaniel Patterson, chairman of the Clearwater NAACP's publicity committee. "That's what we need to return to."

To achieve that, the group may need to adjust its mission, countered Carolyn Lighty, owner of Collateral Marketing Concepts.

"It's time to pass on the torch and understand those ways we used to do things might not be as effective as they were before," said Lighty, who has worked with the Hillsborough NAACP. "We need to go back and recapture the fire and part of that is making the changes necessary to bring in new people."

A struggle nationwide

On a national scale, the organization's ideological divide came to a head earlier this year when NAACP president Bruce Gordon abruptly resigned.

During his 19-month stint in the position, Gordon, a high-ranking Verizon executive, met with President Bush three times and secured high-dollar corporate donations. It was a practical approach to tackling civil rights issues using a well-stocked Rolodex.

Supporters say Gordon's idea of a less-bureaucratic organization he wanted to reduce the 64-member board of directors and his more moderate stance was more aligned with how a younger generation of blacks lives and thinks.

But his style was met with resistance by many in the NAACP's leadership.

"My opinion is that quite frankly we were going in opposite directions," said Russell, who as a board member of the organization voted to both hire and accept Gordon's resignation. "He had an Armani store model, I'm dealing with folks that shop at Kmart."

Dissent within the NAACP is nothing new.

In 1934, W.E.B. Du Bois, a founding member of the group, splintered from the NAACP because he felt blacks should do for themselves, by supporting their own businesses and schools. It was a view in opposition to the organization's quest for integration. Though both sides differed, the core of their mission was the same: the advancement of the race.

"There's no easy solution, no easy answer," Russell said. "There never has been."

Nicole Hutcheson can be reached at nhutcheson@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8828.

[Last modified October 13, 2007, 23:44:44]