NAACP taps interim leader, sets tour

BALTIMORE — The NAACP announced a new interim leader Saturday, as well as a nationwide listening tour in which representatives will talk to members at the local level about what the future of the nation’s oldest civil-rights organization should be.

Derrick Johnson, the vice chairman of the NAACP board of directors, will serve as interim president and chief executive officer, officials announced 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.

Johnson, as the new voice of the NAACP, will be one of the faces of the organization’s listening tour across the country. Leon Russell, the NAACP’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 to address issues such as 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 listening tour will be in Detroit on Aug. 24, followed by San Antonio in September, officials said.