By Naomi McSwain
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Leaders of what are apparently the only two local private nonprofits founded after the civil unrest of 1992 — the NAACP and Community Build Inc. — reflect on maintaining their social justice work amid modern-day challenges, including rollbacks in federal civil rights initiatives and mistrust among some residents for older organizations.
Darrell Goode, southwest area director over 15 NAACP branches in L.A. County, said the acquittals of four LAPD officers who beat Rodney King — which led to six days of rioting — was the straw that broke the camel’s back. But in some six decades as an activist, Goode said he’s learned that unity and self-reliance are the best tools against rampant racism.
“I come from a background where grandfathers were miners and farmers,” Goode, 74, said of his Tennessee roots. “We held ourselves to an accountability that we don’t, as a community, hold ourselves to anymore, and that’s a challenge.”
Goode said the reduced involvement in NAACP activities is, in part, due to people’s hesitancy to support what they feel is an out-of-touch entity overrun with members who often join more to network than serve or sacrifice.
One South L.A. observer cites poor communication as a key reason why many people don’t access or support many traditional community groups like the NAACP.
“They really need to start making their voices louder when it comes to the programs and things that may help people,” said Devlan Boyd, 48, a youth center volunteer. “The assumption is they aren’t doing anything. They need to make themselves more visible.”
To that end, Goode hopes to enlighten people about current NAACP services, including legal redress forms people can submit online for help addressing discriminatory acts. People also should know that the NAACP’s national office continues to fight for equal rights for all Black Americans, he said.
For example, last month, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and others, challenging their anti-diversity directives and more. The fund cited the NAACP’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka victory of 1954, which outlawed racial segregation and discrimination in schools.
“Tactically, we need an organization like this in this kind of environment if we’re going to survive in whatever culture we have left,” Goode said. “And that’s because having someone to represent us, having somebody who can get in the door and has the connections and all of that, you need a strong advocate.”
Robert Sausedo, CEO and president of Community Build, helps serve South L.A. by confronting ongoing social issues — like mass imprisonment, housing shortages, unemployment and homelessness — and more contemporary challenges, like the pandemic and wildfire recovery.
A former Los Angeles County executive, Sausedo believes government should play a role in solving social and economic problems Black people face — but only to a point.
“I’ll tell you what the solution is not: The solution is not for us to rely on government,” Sausedo said. “I think far too many in our community have elected people with the hope that they’re going to solve all of the problems. But there is only so much government can do. So we have to be the solution.”
Sausedo recommends intervening in the lives of homeless family members, volunteering in education support programs and investing financially in programs that serve the community’s needs.
For example, if every household from South L.A. to Long Beach donated $10 per month, they could collectively generate about $22 million per year in self-funded public assistance, Sausedo said.
“The answers are right in front of us,” he said.
Naomi McSwain is a freelance writer for Wave Newspapers.
