Ben Jealous
Benjamin Jealous | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 17th President of the NAACP | |
| Assumed office September 1, 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Bruce S. Gordon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Benjamin Todd Jealous January 18, 1973 Pacific Grove, California, U.S. |
| Spouse | Lia Epperson |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (A.B.) Oxford University (M.A.) |
Benjamin Todd Jealous (born January 18, 1973) is the current president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He is the youngest ever national leader of the organization.[1]
Early life and education
Jealous was born in Pacific Grove, California and grew up in Monterey Peninsula, California. He holds an A.B. in political science from Columbia University and a master's degree in comparative social research from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Jealous went to York School in Monterey for high school.
He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and is affiliated with the Washington (DC) Alumni Chapter.
Career
Currently, Jealous is President of the NAACP. At the time of his appointment, Jealous lived in Alameda, California, with his wife, Lia Epperson, a law professor at American University, and a civil rights attorney, and their daughter, Morgan.
Prior to his appointment, he was President of the Rosenberg Foundation, a private independent nonprofit venture capital organization.
Previously he served as director of the US Human Rights Program at Amnesty International. While there, he focused on issues such as federal legislation against prison rape, racial profiling, and expose the sentencing of children to life without the possibility of parole. He is the lead author of the 2004 report Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and Human Rights in the United States,[2] which received coverage by major media outlets in most states and on six continents.[citation needed]
Formerly, Jealous served as Executive Director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a federation of more than 200 black community newspapers.
During the mid-1990s,Jealous served as Managing Editor of the Jackson Advocate, Mississippi's oldest historically black newspaper. His reporting was credited with exposing corruption amongst high-ranking officials at the state prison in Parchman, and helping to acquit a small farmer who had been wrongfully accused of arson.
He initially came to Mississippi as a field organizer on a campaign to stop the state's plan to close two of its three public historically black universities, and convert one of them into a prison.
Jealous began his career as an organizer with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund working on issues of healthcare access. He is a member of the Asia Society as well as a board member of Northern California Grantmakers and the California Council for the Humanities.
In 2009, Jealous received the John Jay Award for distinguished professional achievement from Columbia College.[3]
He was also recently announced as the Class Day speaker at his alma mater, Columbia University.
Election controversy
Jealous was elected by the NAACP National Board of Directors in a 34-21 vote. CNN reported that "no one clapped or celebrated," according to one board member after the meeting.[1] According to CNN, Jealous was the only finalist presented by the search committee to the full board for consideration despite there being other qualified candidates. Although some board members wanted to examine two others whom the search committee identified as finalists, Jealous's supporters, including Chairman Julian Bond, prevented their presentation to the board.[1]
Controversy
Former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson asked Jealous to be invited in the convention to debate President Barack Obama and Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. Jealous ignored Johnson's request.[4]
References
- ^ a b c Martin, Roland (May 17, 2008). "35-year-old chosen to lead NAACP". CNN. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and Human Rights in the United States, Amnesty International
- ^ "College to Honor Five Alumni for Professional Achievement" . Columbia College. Retrieved on March 2, 2009.
- ^ "Gov. Gary Johnson Sends Letter to NAACP President". Gary Johnson 2012. June 27, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
External links
- NAACP Biography[dead link] (Archive)
- TheLoop21.com[dead link] (Archive) interview with NAACP President Ben Jealous
- Is The NAACP's Relevance Fading? We Think Not.[dead link] (Archive) by Benjamin Jealous and Julian Bond for The New Republic.