By age 6, Benjamin Todd Jealous had read through all of the books about African-Americans in his elementary school library and inquired why there weren't more.
At 7, he told his family that he wanted to become a civil rights lawyer. At 14, he organized his first voter registration drive.
And now, at 35, he has become the youngest person ever to lead the century-old NAACP.
"This is a big day," he said yesterday at a news conference outside the NAACP's Baltimore headquarters. "Across the country, there are people in my generation who have checked out from this organization, and this is my day to say to them: `Check back in.' "
The organization hopes that its president-elect will recapture the passion and relevance of its storied past as it prepares for its 100th birthday, at a time when African-Americans are surging to the polls, electrified by the presidential election.
But detractors said yesterday that Jealous is too green to take command of the organization and worried that the decision to pass over a powerful Texas pastor signals that the organization is moving away from traditional ties to black churches and known civil rights leaders. "There is an anti-preacher sentiment," said Amos C. Brown, a NAACP board member and pastor of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.
"Nobody has ever heard of him. He's never been to our church," Brown said.
Brown complained that only one person -- Jealous -- was brought before the board and said there should have been more choices. Other finalists for the post had reportedly included Alvin Brown, a senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton; and the Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas.
"How are you going to be relevant when you are not reasonable and righteous within your own house?" Brown demanded.
The 64-member board voted yesterday after an arduous, eight-hour, closed-door meeting that ended near 3 a.m. at the Westin Baltimore International Airport hotel. Chairman Julian Bond refused to release the vote totals yesterday afternoon, but Brown, who participated, said the tally was 34 in favor and 21 opposed.
Jealous acknowledged yesterday that there are fences that need mending but brushed off concerns that he is too young. "I've been a man for a long time," he said.
For the past 13 months, the organization has been led by interim President Dennis C. Hayes, who took over when Bruce S. Gordon left suddenly in March 2007 after clashing with the board.
