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Battle for presidency at Boston NAACP Branch

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Battle for presidency at Boston NAACP Branch
Michael Curry (Photo: Banner photo)

The NAACP Boston Branch is gearing up for a potentially contentious election between current president Michael Curry and challenger Larry Ellison, president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers.

“There’s been a lot of issues going on in Boston that I and others feel aren’t being addressed by the Boston Branch,” Ellison told the Banner. “Every time you turn around folks are out on the picket line, but aren’t in the job line.”

Curry, who was elected president in 2010, said he has strengthened the organization in the four years he’s been at its helm.

“In 2010, the Boston NAACP has a little over 200 members, no office, less than 15 active volunteers, very little influence in city politics (education, housing, economic dev, health care), and no active young adults or teens,” Curry wrote in a Facebook post. “Too many people under 50 couldn’t explain our relevance, and even fewer could tell you anything we were leading or engaged in. Today, we’re over 1,200 new members, and recognized in 2012 for the highest membership increase in the country, second highest in 2013.”

Curry noted that he was elected to the national board of the NAACP by branches members across the country. He acknowledges the organization’s sometimes low-key approach to problem solving hasn’t always garnered headlines. But he says the organization has been at the center of efforts to expand opportunities for people of color in Boston.

“We are the strongest voice in Boston on the issue of discrimination — public and private sector — and we meet regularly with Boston Police Department, Boston Public Schools, MBTA, corporations and the mayor to address issues,” Curry said.

Ellison says Curry’s ability to lead the organization is constrained by his job as a lobbyist for the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Centers. Ellison also says he would continue to serve a president of MAMLEO, if elected president of the Boston Branch.

Ellison, whose application to become a member of the Boston Branch was submitted April 1, the deadline for candidates to be eligible to run for president, has not attended an NAACP meeting in recent memory, according the branch’s 1st Vice President Cheryl Crawford.

“Where has he been when we’ve been doing this work?” she said. “Why isn’t he here working with us on the issues now?”

Ellison says his candidacy has been endorsed by notables in the black community, including Nation of Islam Minister Don Muhammad and Pastor Bruce Wall. Among Curry’s backers are former Branch President Leonard Alkins.

“Michael has done an excellent job,” Alkins said. “He’s brought in volunteers and a lot of youth. The youth are in the office doing work. He’s gotten grants to pay them. That speaks volumes.”

The election process starts on Monday, Sept. 29, 6-8pm at Twelfth Baptist Church. At this meeting the organization will begin approving candidates for branch president and other positions.