CHIEF WANTS NAACP TO AMASS $50 MILLION.Byline: The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Seeking to revitalize its troubled finances, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organization composed mainly of American blacks, but with many white members, whose goal is the end of racial discrimination and segregation. announced a five-year campaign Saturday to build a $50 million endowment, the first such fund-raising effort the civil rights organization has attempted. ``Never again will the NAACP NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. find itself in or near financial ruin,'' the organization's president, Kweisi Mfume, told delegates at its annual board meeting in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. on Saturday. ``Never again,'' he added, ``should this organization be dependent on the whims or the desires of others who may give money and pull strings, and may not like what we say.'' The fund-raising drive comes in the wake of a spate of widely publicized financial scandals and years of internecine in·ter·nec·ine adj. 1. Of or relating to struggle within a nation, organization, or group. 2. Mutually destructive; ruinous or fatal to both sides. 3. Characterized by bloodshed or carnage. power struggles that have hurt the NAACP's recruitment and damaged its clout as the country's oldest and best known civil rights organization. Indeed, the situation was so perilous in recent years that some members privately feared that the organization's very existence was threatened. Mfume was elected executive director last year after the organization ousted his predecessor, the Rev. Benjamin Chavis Jr., for having used its money to settle a suit accusing him of sex discrimination and sexual harassment. That crisis was followed by the ouster ouster n. 1) the wrongful dispossession (putting out) of a rightful owner or tenant of real property, forcing the party pushed out of the premises to bring a lawsuit to regain possession. of William F. Gibson, its board chairman, for having spent the organization's money as his own, contributing to the organization's swelling debt, which eventually totaled nearly $5 million. The executive director's speech is always a highlight of the annual board meeting, but this year's address was widely viewed as especially important because of news reports of growing unease within the organization over the direction Mfume has taken it in recent months. In particular, some members have recently voiced concern that the former House member from Maryland, who had been chosen in part because of his political acumen and telegenic tel·e·gen·ic adj. Having a physical appearance and exhibiting personal qualities that are deemed highly appealing to television viewers: "Do we insist on a telegenic President?" William F. appeal, had not been nearly as visible or as vocal in advancing the organization's civil rights agenda. |
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