State responds to Brown's claim
New letter states 'suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action' may be coming
The she-said-he-said drama of the Vallejo branch of the NAACP continued Thursday. This time it may bring forth a suspension.
Just a few days after Hakeem Brown claimed he — not newly elected incumbent Patricia Hunter — was the Vallejo branch president, Janette McCarthy Wallace, general counsel of the state NAACP, responded in terse fashion, saying Brown has been “unequivocally” told he is not the president and that the organization “may order suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action.”
Last week Hunter was sworn in by the state as the Vallejo president after winning a branch vote. Brown and Mark Lampkin finished tied for second in that vote. Hunter became the new president just two months after former president Jimmie Jackson died in January.
Brown, meanwhile, alleges that Jackson wished for him to be the president just four days before he died, and that he should be in charge.
On Thursday, the state NAACP sent its second cease and desist letter to Brown in a week.
The new letter reads: “So that there is no confusion: (1) Patricia Hunter is the current President of the Vallejo Branch, not you; (2) you have no authority to call or preside over a Branch Meeting; and (3) any actions taken, or decisions made, during any such meeting are necessarily null and void. You are hereby instructed to cease and desist from holding yourself out as the President of the Vallejo Branch or otherwise interfering with actions taken by President Hunter as the rightful president of that branch.
“If you continue to hold yourself out as the President of the Vallejo Branch or otherwise fail to heed the admonitions of this letter, the NAACP may order suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action against you for engaging in such inimical conduct as stated in Article X, Section 2 of the Bylaws for Units of the NAACP,” the letter continues. “The President and CEO have the authority to take immediate action to address this problem under Article X, Section 4 of the Bylaws for Units of the NAACP. We also reserve all rights under law and in equity.”
This comes less than a week after Brown, along with Lampkin, Richard Fisher, Reina Robinson,
Dr. Ramona Bishop, Calvin Harrell. Tamra Armstrong, Tausha Johnson, Christian Tobin, Donald Jordan, Valerie Madison and Loretta Gaddies, issued an NAACP Presidency Challenge Rejection Letter.
Their letter states: “We are sure that recent efforts by Area Director David Smith are not meant to shackle our feet, however, we think he is operating based on false information being provided to him by insiders with an agenda. Director Smith has assured members of our duly elected and appointed Executive Committee that the NAACP remains an organization that honors local decision-making. This letter is be
ing written to correct the record as to the order of events, and our strict adherence to the bylaws as we moved strategically and decisively forward toward the establishment of an impactful/noteworthy Vallejo branch of the NAACP.”
Brown's letter states that
Jimmie Jackson won the election Nov. 29, and vice president titles were given out to Hunter, Brown and Lampkin.
Officers were sworn in Jan. 9, but two days later, claims Brown, Jackson — dealing with health issues — named Brown the president.
On Jan. 17, Jackson died, and everything changed.
Brown's letter goes says that “the Feb. 8 executive meetings and general membership meetings were led by Brown, with no objections from any of the Executive Committee members. The majority of Committee appointments were made by President Jackson and the Executive Committee approved them overwhelmingly. Such actions cannot be overturned by hearsay or state interference.”
Hunter and the state NAACP continue to disagree. Last week Hunter was sworn in by Lugana Bivens after Captain David Smith, looking to limit any confusion, shared the bylaws.
Brown and his associates wrote last week, “We must do better as a community to understand the issues that face us and move forward as an informed collective.”
Brown's group also asked for time to sit down with Smith and State President Rick Callender.