NATIONAL NAACP SUSPENDS
TWO NC BRANCH PRESIDENTS
CONNECTED TO JUSTICE COALITION
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Just as local branch elections were scheduled to commence last weekend, the National NAACP suspended two prominent North Carolina branch presidents because of their association with Justice Coalition USA.
O’Linda Watkins McSurely of Moore County and Rev. C. Bradley Hunt of Guilford County were suspended after receiving cease and desist letters, and not allowed to run for re-election of their respective county NAACP branches because they have been critical of the national leadership of NAACP Pres./CEO Derrick Johnson.
In Rev. Hunt’s case, he was replaced during a branch election on Saturday where at least 80 members did not receive electronic ballots because the national NAACP instituted its controversial “Election Buddy” system.
Mrs. Watkins-McSurely has been the Moore County president for 25 years, has served as a State Assistant Secretary and a State Conference Chair, in addition to being a Gold life member.
The change in conducting branch elections was just one of the issues addressed during a fiery press conference November 30th by Justice Coalition USA, ““…a coalition of NAACP members seeking redress of the issues of the NAACP National Organization illegally taking over Branches and state organizations and to address the apparent corruption existing under the current national leadership.”
Concerns were raised about the NAACP splitting off into the NAACP Empowerment Programs, Inc. without general notice to membership.
Calling National Pres/CEO Johnson a “dictatorship,” Rev. Dr. Cardes H. Brown Jr., servant leader of the Justice Coalition USA and also a suspended NAACP member, further accused Johnson during the presser of forcing the electronic election process on NAACP units (chapters/branches) deliberately in order to limit voting to the local NAACP leaders that he wants in office.
Rev. Brown further alleged that there are no accountability measures in place to ensure that the election results are correct. So whatever the initial results are, there is no confirmation. The Justice Coalition USA calls this “voter suppression…in full display under the autocratic system of Derrick Johnson…. His cover-up leaves branches across the nation disenfranchised.”
For instance, a November 19th email from NC NAACP Pres. Deborah Maxwell to the Greensboro branch members confirmed that their Dec. 3rd election would be conducted only by Election Buddy.
“There will be no in-person voting,” Pres. Maxwell’s email declared. “There will be no in-person elections.”
Veteran NAACP members point out that constitutionally, electronic elections have not been the accepted process for electing branch or state conference officers. The NAACP Constitution/Bylaws spell out a complete nominating and vote tabulation process that is locally controlled.
That constitutional process was discarded during the October 23, 2021 North Carolina NAACP conference executive committee elections that saw then incumbent NC NACCP Pres. Rev. T. Anthony Spearman replaced with New Hanover County branch Pres. Deborah Dicks Maxwell.
Rev. Spearman was later suspended for protesting what happened, and a group to NC NAACP supporters who eventually called themselves Justice Coalition USA was born.
At their presser, Rev. Brown and Justice Coalition USA presented testimonies from across the nation documenting election controversies as a result of the national NAACP’s electronic election process.
In Hillsborough County, Florida for instance, the November 15th election for Hillsborough County NAACP officers “…took an ugly turn…when police were called to disperse upset members over not being able to vote, despite being lifetime members,” the Florida Sentinel Bulletin reported.
Of the 890 members eligible, only 250 were allowed to cast votes, according to Joe Robinson of the Tampa NAACP, who joined the Justice Coalition USA presser by Zoom audio. Robinson attributed the problem to the branch secretary failing to send out timely email notices to all of the membership to vote per Election Buddy.
Robinson said he and two other members were suspended for protesting. Robinson contends that he was suspended and taken off his branches’ ballot for 2nd Vice President because he spoke out. He says he awaits his NAACP hearing over the matter.
Robinson added that he plans to file a federal lawsuit against the “NAACP administrators” for violating his constitutional rights.
In Georgia, Barbara Pierce, the immediate past president of the NAACP in Columbus, charges that her name was taken off the Election Buddy ballot without her knowledge. Pierce said she called Derrick Johnson and told him to stop the election, and that she didn’t want what happened in North Carolina to happen to her. Johnson allegedly threatened her to stay quiet. Pierce says the person who ultimately won is the person Johnson allegedly handpicked.
Pierce said they “cheated” to keep her out.
There were similar stories from California, Texas and Louisiana.
Rev. Brown and Justice Coalition USA demanded that “…all NAACP elections across the country [implement] more than one voting method…” They hold not just Johnson, but NAACP Board Chairman Leon Russell, and national administrator Gloria Sweet-Love responsible for the mayhem.
For his part, National NAACP Pres./CEO Derrick Johnson, has accused Rev. Brown and the Justice Coalition USA of “…disparaging” the NAACP. He further accused the Justice Coalition USA of “…undermining and discrediting” the National NAACP and the NC NAACP.
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PROF. IRVING JOYNER
BLACK VOTE DEFINITELY
COLLAPSED IN MIDTERMS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Now that the November 2022 midterm elections are certified official and in the history books, we now know more for certain - despite a what looked like a promising early vote total, the Black vote performed poorly.
Previous analysis depended on a look at several key counties, especially those with high Black voter populations.What was known prior to the certification was that total turnout was down 51% from 53% in the 2018 midterms.
But now we know the following with certainty:
- more than 3.7 million North Carolinians voted in the 2022 midterms
- Whites had a higher turnout (58.3%) than in 2018 (56.2%)
- Blacks had a lower turnout (41.9%) than in 2018 (48.4%)
- Durham, Wake, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Cumberland, Forsyth and Pitt counties had
the highest number of registered Black voters, but all also saw dramatically poor
black voter turnouts
- Youth turnout was lower in 2022 than in 2018
- Republican turnout was higher percentage-wise than Democrat in 2022.
So what does this all mean?
Irving Joyner, law professor and Charles Hamilton Houston Endowed Chair at North Carolina Central University School of Law, took a look at the numbers for the 2022 midterm election turnout, and saw the following:
“The past election cycle presented distressing outcomes for African Americans in North Carolina,” Prof. Joyner said. “Based on the numbers, it appears that in many traditional African American communities, voter participation decreased and this inaction negatively impacted the races of Cheri Beasley and other African American candidates.”
“The numbers are not definitive in that for over 640,000 voters, their race identities have not been determined, “ Joyner continued. “Nevertheless for the most part, votes from the traditional African American communities were down and disappointing. These disappointing results certainly impacted those African American statewide candidates who sought election to the US Senate and the Court of Appeals, but were not responsible for their losses. These statewide losses resulted from the failure to create an urgency on the part of other voters who did not participate in this election cycle.”
Prof. Joyner did see a handful of positive Black voting outcomes.
“There were bright points in the voter participation where African American voters in several urban areas met or exceeded their expectations and resulted in the historic election of three African Americans in congressional races. In these races, the African American voter turnout was robust, but in most Down-East communities, the voter participation was truly disappointing.”
Those races were Black Democrat Don Davis in the First Congressional District, succeeding the outgoing Black veteran Congressman G. K. Butterfield; Black Democrat Valerie Foushee in the Fourth Congressional District succeeding outgoing Rep. David Price; and Wiley Nickel in the Thirteenth Congressional District, defeating Trump-backed Republican Bo Hines.
Still, Prof. Joyner says, reasons for why the Black vote was depressed during the midterms are still a mystery.
“Clearly, African Americans were not highly motivated to turnout for the statewide races,” Joyner continued. “It is not clear why there was this result given the massive televised attention that was given to the candidates and issues which were presented to the public.”
“Moving forward,” Prof. Joyner concluded, “… we are still studying the turnout data in order to be more specific as to “why” we had these results and what is needed to reverse what we pray is not a trend.”
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