Washington, DC (NNPA)--He couldn't help but to give up the ear-to-ear
smile. It's not the kind of thing that normally happens. At the helm of
the nation's oldest civil rights organization, Kweisi Mfume is a people
mover, an issue shaper and policy maker. So, as par for the course, Kweisi
Mfume does not show teeth before cameras. With so much work to be done
on so many fronts, he can't afford to be so warm.
But as the National Newspaper Publishers Association 1999 Newsmaker
of the Year, Mfume's smile glinted in the podium spotlight when he accepted
the award. It was a scene that defined the marketing term 'Kodak moment.'
"I don't usually like to be centered on and focused on in this way as
most people who know me will tell you because this is all a team effort,"
Mfume said. "But it's one thing when you are recognized for what you've
done outside your community, but when the community does it, it's very
special."
As president and CEO of the NAACP, Mfume has led the organization to
challenge institutionalized forms of racism on a variety of battle fronts
from television networks to the Supreme Court (the hiring clerks) and the
telecommunications industry. While it's common for the NAACP to challenge
legal and social inequities, over the past year, the group has been particularly
active, drawing national headlines at a much higher frequency. Internal
struggles and financial problems kept the organization out of the political
mix in recent years, but since Mfume's appointment to the post in 1996,
the NAACP appears to have overcome those obstacles.
"He [Kweisi Mfume] has really brought the NAACP back to being an organization
that we can be proud of," said C. Delores Tucker, chair of the Political
Congress of Black Women.
The event was attended by over 250 editors, publishers, journalists,
educators, political and community leaders from around the nation. Among
many, a few of the prominent figures who attended to support Mfume's honoring
included Hugh Price of the National Urban League; John Smith, publisher
of the Atlanta Inquirer; C. Delores Tucker and Transportation Secretary
Rodney Slater.
"We started from the same place," NNPA President Jake Oliver explained.
"When I speak of Kweisi Mfume, I am speaking of a very dear friend because
we come from the same neighborhood in Baltimore. And when he came onto
the Baltimore city council, we knew what he was up against--he was the
only Black voice on the council. We knew then that he was someone to watch.
He carries that kind of commitment with him every day he walks out the
door of his home."
Prominent journalist and author of "Eyes on The Prize: America's Civil
Rights Years, 1954-1965", Juan Williams served as Master of Ceremonies.
On the dais saluting Mfume was Terry Jones, 1st VP of the NNPA and publisher
of the Data News Weekly; Denise Rolark-Barnes, publisher of the Washington
Informer; Dr. Jane Smith of the National Council of Negro Women; Byron
Boston, Freddie Mac, Vice President, Corporate Finance Division; Jayme
Cain, publisher of the Times Weekly; Dr. Thomas Battle, Director of the
Moorland-Springarn Center at Howard University and Minister Marlene Jefferson,
Allen Chapel AME Church.
"What makes this night sweeter," Mfume noted "is that it is not being
held at the National Press Club, but here, at Howard University."
Since its inception, the NNPA Newsmaker of the Year Award has been held
at the National Press Club. The NNPA's Board of Directors chose to move
the event as part of a strategic decision to do more business with historically
Black colleges and universities.