On Feb. 18 in New York, at its annual board meeting, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) elected Leon W. Russell as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He succeeds Roslyn M. Brock, who stepped down as chairman after seven years in the position. At that same meeting Mississippi State President, Derrick Johnson, was elected as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors.
Leon W. Russell, chairman, NAACP Board of Directors. (Courtesy Photo)
“I am honored to have served seven years as chairman of the nation’s most important civil rights group,” Roslyn M. Brock, NAACP Chairman of the Board since 2010, said in a statement. “Leon W. Russell is a stalwart NAACP civil and human rights leader who is prepared to lead the NAACP into the future. Mr. Russell has been the chief architect in the development of the NAACP’s strategic plan and champion of its organizational policy and resolutions process. His commitment to the Association’s mission of protecting civil rights for all Americans remains unquestioned,” she added.
“I am proud to welcome Leon W. Russell as the new chairman of the NAACP board. His lifelong commitment to civil rights and human rights as a member of the NAACP and leader in the state of Florida, represent a rigorously solid foundation for taking the platform of social justice to greater heights. I cannot think of a better successor to the stewardship of the organization than Mr. Russell,” NAACP President/CEO Cornell W. Brooks, said in a statement.
Russell most recently served as Vice Chair of the Board and has served as a board member for over 27 years. He served as President of the Florida State Conference of Branches of the NAACP from 1996-2000, after serving for 15 years as the First Vice President.
“This is a most prestigious, yet humbling honor and one that escalates in importance as we move into a new era of increased challenges against civil and human rights,” Russell said in a statement. He continued, “I am indebted to the work and leadership of Chairman Emeritus Brock and President Brooks for inheriting a powerful organization that after 108 years, still remains the most relevant and influential civil rights organization in our nation. I assure you that I will keep watered the seeds of activism and social justice that the NAACP’s legacy spouts from.”