March 9, 2007

Bruce Gordon's resignation letter


Recently, I asked about the relevancy of the NAACP in our lives. My post was a result of decision by Bruce Gordon to resign as NAACP president & CEO after only 19 months on the job.

The outgoing memo that he forwarded to the NAACP board was forwarded to Afro-Netizen by an anonymous source. Afro-Netizen has independently confirmed that it is a memorandum written by recently resigned NAACP President & CEO, Bruce Gordon, and addressed to the organization's national board of directors.

"March 6, 2007

From: Bruce S. Gordon
To: NAACP National Board of Directors

It has become clear to me over the past 72 hours that there is considerable discussion about the circumstances surrounding my resignation. It is important to me, and hopefully to you, that there is a clear and accurate account of what has taken place that got us to this point. Let me begin with a chronology that is my best attempt at succinctly summarizing the key events that led up to the media coverage of my departure. I will close with a list of issues that are representative of the lack of alignment between the CEO and Board."


Did you read his memo? I am interested in your comments on his message to Julian Bond and the others on the NAACP Board of Directors.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If authentic, this memo is quite enlightening. It shows an organization that does not want to let go of the status quo, interested in remaining stagnant. It may demonstrate a Julian Bond who was hurt by Bruce Gordon's resignation and pulled strong-arm tactics to solidify Gordon's decision to resign. It is a shame.

Because the NAACP is a non-profit organization, there are policies and procedures that apply specifically to that type of organization. Having said that, it seems as though Gordon already knew that, and that he knew what he could and could not do. But it appears as though he stepped on some toes in an effort to improve the reputation of the organization, and the toe steppees didn't appreciate it.

I wish Bruce Gordon well. He is versatile and will be successful in other endeavors.

The NAACP - I'm not so sure.

Paris David said...

Man, that's a long memo!

We'll see what the fall-out is.

I think the NAACP is still relevant, however.

Whenever someone says something racist, when the NAACP gets involved it seems that's when the apologies fly.

Unknown said...

Ron Walters Op/Ed piece on the resignation of Bruce Gordon provides a perspective that I hadn't heard before. Check it out --> 'Three cheers for the NAACP'

peace, Villager