Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Today on ‘News One Now’: NAACP Changes Direction By Leaving Current President Behind (WATCH)

*WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning on News One Now, host and managing editor Roland Martin, broadcasting live from Palm Desert, Calif­., interviewed NAACP Board of Directors chair Leon Russell and former president of NAACP–Minneapolis Nekima Levy-Pounds about the organization’s decision to not renew the contract of current president Cornell W. Brooks.

Brooks, who has been in office for three years, claims that he was surprised by the decision – though contacts in the organization say he has known about this for some time. The organization claims that this decision is part of a larger change in direction focused on finding more ways to stay engaged in fighting today’s political and civic issues.

“There were places where Cornell brought great leadership. The question is, what do you do after you have raised the issue? How do you bring some solution to bear on the problems that are identified? If you [hold a] sit-in in the chairman of the judiciary committee’s office, then across the nation shouldn’t there have been other sit-ins in other members of the committee’s offices to emphasize that you needed them to look at the policy that was being debated?” says Russell. “What we recognize is that we have leaders across the country that are going to propel the movement. We have our leadership – it’s in place and we think we can continue this fight. But we want to look forwards and not backwards.”

Added Levy-Pounds, “I always felt that working with him and seeing his leadership style, that he was caught in between two worlds – the old guard and the old way of doing things versus what we’re seeing from new-school leadership…and I don’t know if he was able to make the transition fast enough. I see the adversity that the organization is encountering as an opportunity. You want a leader that can move you towards action at the national level, down to the local chapters.”

Richard Collins III

Martin also spoke with attorney A. Scott Bolden and republican political strategist Eugene Craig III about the FBI’s decision to investigate whether the stabbing of Bowie State student Richard Collins III was a hate crime. Collins, who was black, was scheduled to graduate from Bowie State tomorrow. The suspected murderer, Sean Urbanski, is thought to be linked to the “Alt Reich: Nation” Facebook group. Craig was attacked by Urbanski while waiting for an Uber early Saturday morning.

“This is outrageous, quite frankly, and I do think the Trump administration, and Donald Trump himself, bears some responsibility for creating an environment that says to those who will not intellectualize what their personal feelings are towards other races that it’s ok to express myself,” says Bolden. “When he threatens to throw people out of his rallies during the campaign – you create this environment. Words matter.”

Added Craig, a Bowie State alum who was also acquainted with Collins, “The guy was literally a ball of life. My hope is that the justice system actually does some justice. This is a hate crime and this is indicative of our number one terrorist issue in our country, which is hate and racism.”

For more information about News One Now and Roland S. Martin, visit www.tvone.tv , and check out TV One’s YouTube Channel. Viewers can also join the conversation by connecting via social media on Twitter, Instagram  and Facebook (@tvonetv) using #NewsOneNow and engage with Martin daily via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Periscope (@rolandsmartin). Viewers are now able to listen to NewsOne Now by live streaming on www.newsone.com.

ABOUT NEWS ONE NOW:

Emanating from the heart of Washington D.C. in a state-of-the-art studio that offers a stunning view of the Capitol building, News One Now airs Monday through Friday on TV One from 7-8 a.m. ET.  News One Now is hosted by Roland S. Martin, the 2013 National Association of Black Journalists’ Journalist of the Year and former host of TV One’s long-running, award-winning weekly news program, Washington Watch with Roland Martin.  Each morning, Martin sifts through the headlines of the day to spotlight matters that greatly impact the African American community. In addition to television, News One Now reaches audiences 24/7 with exclusive program content and extended editorial on NewsOne.com and the News One mobile app.  News One Now is an evolution of Interactive One’s award-winning digital brand NewsOne.com that launched in 2008 and reaches millions of African Americans each month. Susan Henry is executive producer of News One Now. D’Angela Proctor is TV One’s head of original programming and production.

ABOUT TV ONE:

Launched in January 2004, TV One serves 59 million households, offering a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming, classic series, movies and music designed to entertain and inform a diverse audience of adult black viewers. The network represents the best in black culture and entertainment with fan favorite shows Unsung, Rickey Smiley For Real, Fatal Attraction, The Manns and The NAACP Image Awards.  In addition, TV One is the cable home of blockbuster drama Empire, and News One Now, the only live daily news program dedicated to black viewers. In December 2008, the company launched TV One High Def, which now serves 14 million households. TV One is solely owned by Urban One, Inc., formerly known as Radio One, Inc. [NASDAQ: UONE and UONEK, www.urban1.com], the largest African-American owned multi-media company primarily targeting Black and urban audiences.

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source:
Alonda Thomas, [email protected] 
Erin Williams, [email protected]

 

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