"Leadership knows when to step up and when to step down. This day I can say with pride that I'm prepared to step down and make room for the next person who will lead this organization to its next chapter."We will miss him.
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| Benjamin is the president of the NAACP |
"I hope this will be a game-changer. There is a game being played right now to try and enshrine discrimination in state constitutions across this county, and if we can change that game and help ensure that our country's more recent tradition of using federal and state constitutions to expand rights continues, we will be very proud of our work."
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"We want it to be on record that the NAACP firmly opposes all efforts to restrict marriage equality. Civil marriage, like all civil rights provided by the government, must be provided equally to all."
NAACP president Benjamin Jealous will make history by being the 1st NAACP president to meet in a LGBT center this Wednesday. The meeting is in preparation for the rally, One Nation Working Together, which takes place in Washington, D.C. next month.
Here's more:
The visit, believed to be the first by a sitting NAACP president to an LGBT center, comes in advance of the rally backed by major civil rights organizations and unions, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands to the Lincoln Memorial on October 2 under the theme of “jobs, justice, and education.” Participating groups such as the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, the AFL-CIO, and the Service Employees International Union will issue their most explicit call to date for LGBT equality during the march.
“I believe it is unprecedented for the sitting NAACP president to speak at the New York LGBT center, or any LGBT center, for that matter,” said Jeffrey Campagna, head of the LGBT desk for One Nation Working Together in New York. “It is an indication of the true coalition that One Nation Working Together represents and the true opportunity this is for the LGBT movement to join with labor groups and other civil rights groups to advance our agenda.”
I'm proud of Benjamin for making this progressive move forward.
Interesting. Now everybody's scrambling to fix this mess. Hopefully, Shirley will get her job back, but it is clear to me that Andrew Brietbart is a dirty bastard.With regard to the initial media coverage of the resignation of USDA official Shirley Sherrod, we have come to the conclusion we were snookered by Fox News and Tea Party Activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias.
Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Ms. Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans.
The fact is Ms. Sherrod did help the white farmers mentioned in her speech. They personally credit her with helping to save their family farm.
"Expel the bigots and racists in your ranks or take the responsibility for them and their actions. We will no longer allow you to hide like cowards and hide behind signs that say 'Lynch Our President' or anyone else. Sarah Palin says, 'Let's party like it's 1776.' My white daddy would say be careful what you wish for because the 18th century, Sarah, wasn't good for anybody, even folks like you. And if you want to debate civil rights, and the Civil Rights Act, Rand Paul, my message to you is this: show the backbone and answer my challenge, set a date and I and the NAACP will be there."
Ben's words to the Tea Party
If gay rights groups want to change the opinion polls in the black community, they have to invest in it. It’s a long-term conversation. The battle to oppose Prop 8 could have been much better run. They came to the black community late, with the expectation that they were going to get certain results.
“The NAACP’s mission is to help create a society where all Americans have equal protection and opportunity under the law. Our mission statement calls for the ‘equality of rights of all persons.’ Prop. 8 strips same-sex couples of a fundamental freedom, as defined by the California State Supreme Court. In so doing, it poses a serious threat to all Americans. Prop 8 is a discriminatory, unprecedented change to the California Constitution that, if allowed to stand, would undermine the very purpose of a constitution and courts–assuring equal protection and opportunity for all and safeguarding minorities from the tyranny of the majority.”
Hopefully this will remind folks that Black folks supports the gays.
