NAACP tabs new interim prez

BALTIMORE — The NAACP announced a new interim leader on Saturday, along with a nationwide listening tour that will allow it to talk to local members and figure out what the future of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization should be.

Derrick Johnson, vice chair of the NAACP’s board of directors, will serve as interim president and chief executive officer, officials said at the 108th national convention in Baltimore.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and we won’t waste any time getting to it,” Johnson said.

As the new voice of the NAACP, Johnson will be one of the faces of the organization’s listening tour around the country. Leon Russell, the group’s national board chairman, said the organization needs to figure out how best to support civil rights workers on the ground in communities that are working on issues like police brutality, the upcoming Census, redistricting and voter suppression.

Talking with local members will help them figure out how to “address the issues and challenges that face African-Americans and our communities,” Russell said.

The first stop on the tour will be Detroit on Aug. 24, followed by San Antonio, in September, officials said.

The convention wraps up on Wednesday.