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Rouson brings energy to NAACP
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2001 The election of lawyer Darryl Rouson as president of the St. Petersburg branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People provides an opportunity to reinvigorate and broaden the focus of a valuable community resource. Rouson's forward-thinking plan for the organization includes working to combat substance abuse, encourage economic development in black St. Petersburg, double youth membership and build coalitions with other organizations to influence local and state politics. The timing of Rouson's selection should encourage a broader set of priorities. Outgoing president Garnelle Jenkins' 21-year tenure as head of the NAACP culminated in the successful resolution of a longstanding desegregation lawsuit against the Pinellas school district. In expanding the chapter's focus, Rouson will have battle-tested community leadership to draw upon. The slate of officers recently elected alongside Rouson includes former City Council member Ernest Fillyau; Gwen Reese, who served as co-chair of the Community Alliance and the Coalition of African-American Leadership; and longtime NAACP activist Perkins Shelton, who will be returning to the organization's fold. The homecoming of many who had been disenchanted with the St. Petersburg NAACP under Jenkins' leadership is a hopeful sign. But Rouson shouldn't simply exchange one clique for another. He should continue working to win the support of old-guard activists as well. It will help if others follow the lead of former City Council member David Welch, who cheerfully accepted his defeat in the race against Fillyau for the first vice-president's spot and vowed to support the new leadership. Rouson has a compelling life story that could serve as an inspiration for many of the younger residents the NAACP hopes to attract. A native son, he left St. Petersburg for a decade, a period during which he says he successfully dealt with his own drug habit. Within two years of returning home, Rouson had renewed old connections and made new ones, through posts on the city's charter review committee and the black chamber of commerce and as a board member of the NAACP. Rouson has drawn criticism for some of his tactics. He organized protests to challenge what was seen as racially discriminatory enforcement of the dress code at Tyrone Square Mall, and he smashed drug paraphernalia at local convenience stores. He also was reprimanded by the Florida Bar this week for reading prosecution documents without authorization. He should understand that any future errors of judgment would reflect badly on the entire chapter. But Rouson also has worked to improve the landscape of blighted neighborhoods, bringing pressure on negligent landlords to turn over abandoned buildings to his non-profit organization. He helped start a local mentoring program for young black men, and he wants to start a rehabilitation program in an area that was formerly a magnet for dealers and addicts. Rouson already has brought a badly needed infusion of energy to the St. Petersburg NAACP. If he continues to use that energy constructively, the venerable organization and the entire community will reap the benefits.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
