Weatherspoon ready to become NAACP Branch 6013 president
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Branch No. 6013 will welcome its first new president in over a decade — only its third president in the last 30 years — when Marsalis Weatherspoon takes office in January.
Weatherspoon, 32, the branch’s current vice president, succeeds Linda Franklin, who has served as president for over 11 years. Franklin succeeded Elmer Beard, who served as president for around 20 years.
For the past five years, Weatherspoon has
been a life member of the NAACP, and for four of those years, he has served as vice president. Franklin said that for those four years, Weatherspoon shadowed her to learn how to handle the job of being president.
“In the process (of shadowing Franklin), I’ve learned a lot, and there’s so much more to learn,” Weatherspoon said. He was elected on Nov. 14 and will take office on Jan. 16
Weatherspoon said he became affiliated with the branch five years ago when he was asked to speak for it. He accepted, he said, and the branch presented him with a lifetime membership.
“I just started hanging around,” he said. “Linda Franklin and Elmer Beard, the (branch) secretary, made an initial investment in me. I feel like now (as incoming) president and vice president for four years, the investment is paying dividends,” Weatherspoon said.
Weatherspoon is a Hot Springs native who graduated from Hot Springs World Class High School in 2006, then earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Henderson State University in 2012. He currently teaches music classes in the Hot Springs School District, working with students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Weatherspoon has several goals for the branch. “Number one, I want to get us into the 21st century,” he said, noting that the branch needs to expand its web presence.
“Second, (I) definitely want to reach out to the incoming generation,” he said.
“With the passing of John Lewis and Elijah Cummings, the steward of the Civil Rights Movement have gone on,” Weatherspoon said.
“There needs to be a new crop,” he said.
Noting a generational gap between the elders of the branch and the younger members, Weatherspoon said that, at 32 years old, he fits “between the older members and younger members.”
Another goal, Weatherspoon said, is to “fully implement the NAACP’s national WE are Done Dying initiative.”
Both of his predecessors praised Weatherspoon.
“Excellent young man,” Franklin said, noting that Weatherspoon’s grandfather, John Paschal, “was a civil rights activist.” She said that after “shadowing me for four years in preparation of the job, he’s more than ready.”
“I saw hope. I saw stability,” Beard said.
“He is prepared,” Beard said. When asked if he thinks the branch is in good hands, Beard said “I know it is.” Beard said that both he and Franklin did not resign their offices.
“We didn’t resign, we chose not to run because there was prepared officers.”
Franklin also said that she has decided to step away from leading the branch in order to return to college. After retiring from National Park College, Franklin said, “I’m just kind of bored of home.” Her goal is to go back to school and work on her Ph.D.
Both Weatherspoon and Beard also praised Franklin’s efforts as president.
“I call her a workaholic,” Beard said. He also said that Franklin was one of his students when he was a teacher.
Weatherspoon noted Franklin and several other local women who have had an impact on the community.
“I think of women and their key role in the civil rights movement,” he said, noting the impact that Franklin, Jean Lacefield, Janice Davis, Mary Moore, Lavenia Hicks and his mother, Andrea Weatherspoon, among others, have had.
“Black women are the lifeblood of this work,” Weatherspoon said, adding that “we owe a debt of gratitude” to people like Franklin.
“I would be nothing without Linda Franklin, Elmer Beard, Lavenia Hicks; they saw potential,” Weatherspoon said.
Franklin said that she will continue to be a member of the branch, and she will also continue to assist Weatherspoon. “I’m going to depend on her and lean on her expertise,” he said.
While Weatherspoon said he wasn’t sure if he would have as lengthy a presidency as Franklin and Beard, he did say that “I’m there as long as I need to be.”
His first term will last until 2023.