Naacp President

Gov. Martin O'Malley is set to meet with NAACP president Benjamin Jealous Thursday morning to discuss topics including repealing the death penalty, according to a spokeswoman for the governor. The meeting, planned for 9:30 a.m. at the state house, was granted at Jealous's request. "They are meeting," said O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. "The death penalty will be a topic of discussion. " The NAACP will hold a news conference after the meeting. This year, the civil rights organization plans a major push for full repeal of the death penalty.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is set to meet with NAACP president Benjamin Jealous Thursday morning to discuss topics including repealing the death penalty, according to a spokeswoman for the governor. The meeting, planned for 9:30 a.m. at the state house, was granted at Jealous's request. "They are meeting," said O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. "The death penalty will be a topic of discussion. " The NAACP will hold a news conference after the meeting. This year, the civil rights organization plans a major push for full repeal of the death penalty.

Patricia Cook-Ferguson, a longtime Baltimore teacher and president of the Baltimore County NAACP known for wearing multiple hats in advocating for youth education and civil rights advancements, died Wednesday of complications from lung cancer. She was 56. "She was the heart and soul of our chapter," said Tony Fugett, who as first vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter will assume Mrs. Cook-Ferguson's responsibilities. Mrs. Cook-Ferguson had been ill for about a year, and was hospitalized about three weeks ago at Northwest Hospital, where she died in hospice care, said her son, Carlton Ferguson Jr. The NAACP chapter described Mrs. Cook-Ferguson as an "ardent supporter of civil rights and equal justice," and she was lauded as a leader in the Baltimore Teachers Union and the American Federation of Teachers in Maryland, where she had held multiple positions.

Patricia Cook-Ferguson, a longtime Baltimore teacher and president of the Baltimore County NAACP known for wearing multiple hats in advocating for youth education and civil rights advancements, died Wednesday of complications from lung cancer. She was 56. "She was the heart and soul of our chapter," said Tony Fugett, who as first vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter will assume Mrs. Cook-Ferguson's responsibilities. Mrs. Cook-Ferguson had been ill for about a year, and was hospitalized about three weeks ago at Northwest Hospital, where she died in hospice care, said her son, Carlton Ferguson Jr. The NAACP chapter described Mrs. Cook-Ferguson as an "ardent supporter of civil rights and equal justice," and she was lauded as a leader in the Baltimore Teachers Union and the American Federation of Teachers in Maryland, where she had held multiple positions.

WASHINGTON -- Flanked by President Clinton, Kweisi Mfume was inaugurated as NAACP president yesterday and pledged to help create "hope, new opportunity, new dignity, a new horizon, a new chance for each and every American.""I ask all who care about what's fair and decent in this nation to join me under this banner to begin that journey for change," Mr. Mfume told a standing-room crowd of 300 guests at the U.S. Justice Department.In a two-hour ceremony punctuated by prayer, song and laughter, Mr. Mfume also appealed for help in retiring the NAACP's $3.2 million debt.

A longtime member of the Baltimore County NAACP and several of her supporters have accused the chapter's president and its officers of letting their memberships to the national organization expire and sloppy handling of membership dues paid to the local branch.Dr. Bernetha George, a Randallstown physician who lost her bid to unseat Baltimore County NAACP President Patricia Ferguson in an election last night, said records provided by the national office show that seven of the eight officers of the local branch have expired memberships.

In his first year on the job, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume has worked to vanquish a $3.2 million debt, modernize a creaky but proud institution, restore a good name tarnished by mismanagement and scandal, and squeeze in a little civil rights work.The 48-year-old former congressman from Baltimore has won high marks -- amid some grumbling -- from NAACP activists. But some analysts outside the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People say the 88-year-old organization is missing in action on major battles.

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous said yesterday that most activists spring from either younger or older generations and that the two share two important traits. "Both have the perception that they have disposable time and the eagerness to see the world change quickly, for the better," he said of college students and senior citizens. Jealous, the civil rights organization's youngest president, addressed an audience of students, community organizers and educators at the Lyric Opera House as part of a symposium celebrating the NAACP's 100th anniversary.

The county NAACP president's charges of discrimination in Harford's school system brought a detailed rebuttal from Superintendent Ray R. Keech, who labeled the charges groundless.The superintendent issued a 12-page report after the president of the local NAACP chapter accused the school system of discriminating against minorities in hiring and promotions.Local NAACP officials said they would reserve comment on the report, released at the chapter's regular monthly meeting Thursday night, until the next meeting in September.

The NAACP will be able to fly its civil rights banner on a worldwide stage if a United Nations committee approves its application to become a "non-governmental organization." The NGO application for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is in the final stages of approval and should be completed no later than July, a U.N. spokesman said yesterday. The NAACP is seeking consultative status with the U.N. Economic and Social Council; 2,234 NGOs work with the council in areas such as human rights and international health, economic and social problems.

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous said yesterday that most activists spring from either younger or older generations and that the two share two important traits. "Both have the perception that they have disposable time and the eagerness to see the world change quickly, for the better," he said of college students and senior citizens. Jealous, the civil rights organization's youngest president, addressed an audience of students, community organizers and educators at the Lyric Opera House as part of a symposium celebrating the NAACP's 100th anniversary.

The board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has ousted the president of the Anne Arundel chapter of the organization amid members' complaints about his lack of leadership. Though his removal rests on a technicality - he missed more than three consecutive branch meetings, a violation of the organization's constitution - Wayne Jearld has long clashed with fellow NAACP chapter members. National board member Don Cash Sr. of Columbia said yesterday that he did not recall anyone at the meeting two weeks ago voting to keep Jearld.

Bruce S. Gordon was, as always, tactful and circumspect in explaining why he was bowing out as NAACP president after only 19 months at the helm. He would only say that there were differences between himself and others in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; presumably, that meant his differences were with some on the organization's 64-member national board. His low-key pronouncement was in keeping with the no-nonsense, corporate approach to civil rights advocacy that he brought to the organization.

Standing on the third floor of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., New Windsor resident Jean Lewis gazed into the room at the Lorraine Motel that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. occupied nearly four decades ago. Her eyes moved toward the window, to the balcony where King was assassinated, and then farther away, to the rooming house from where James Earl Ray fired the fatal shot. Playing overhead was "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," the gospel song performed by Mahalia Jackson at King's funeral.

Wayne Jearld grew up in an Annapolis family where membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was mandatory. The local chapter, founded in 1944, was central to the black community. Members staged sit-ins in cafeterias and challenged segregation in the courts. Now, as the newly elected president of the local chapter of the NAACP, Jearld is trying to revitalize the civil rights organization and make increased membership a priority. His aims are in keeping with the national organization, which was founded in 1909 and uses the slogan, "The NAACP is Today," as its marketing strategy.

WASHINGTON -- In his inaugural speech as head of the nation's oldest civil rights organization, NAACP President and CEO Bruce S. Gordon implored the group's membership yesterday to seize responsibility for solving the problems facing black Americans and focus less on the impediments to civil rights. "I am not here today to wallow in our misery," said the retired Verizon Communications Inc. executive during his much-anticipated keynote address at the Washington Convention Center. "We know the problems, we know the statistics.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume are scheduled to meet Thursday in Washington after NAACP leaders recently accused President Bush of dividing the country. At the NAACP's annual meeting in Washington last month, Board of Directors Chairman Julian Bond held no punches, saying, "They [the Bush administration] selected nominees from the Taliban wing of American politics, appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing and chose Cabinet officials whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In the tradition-minded NAACP, gray-haired elders often instruct youth: Don't forget the past.But civil rights entered cyberspace yesterday at the NAACP's 87th annual convention, and roles reversed: Here was 17-year-old Maurice Cooper instructing Raymond Black, 60, how to navigate the organization's new World Wide Web home page.The implicit message: Don't forget the future.NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and Bell Atlantic Chairman Raymond W. Smith unveiled the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's on-line presence yesterday.

As NAACP delegates gather this weekend in Milwaukee for the group's 96th convention, it will mark a year since Chairman Julian Bond's searing critique of the Bush administration, triggering an IRS audit that nearly cost the organization its tax-exempt status. Today, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and President Bush remain at odds. The civil rights group continues to fight the Internal Revenue Service investigation. And for the fifth year in a row, Bush has declined an invitation to speak at the convention.

After four years of refusing to meet with the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group, President Bush sat down at the White House yesterday with NAACP President Kweisi Mfume. Mfume called it a "very frank, open meeting" that he hoped would mark the end of a rocky relationship between the president and the leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Bush spoke to the group while campaigning in 2000 but did not accept invitations thereafter. The estrangement came to a head when Bush refused to speak at the NAACP's annual convention in Philadelphia this summer, blaming rhetoric and name-calling from its leaders.