GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Green Bay residents are looking to renew the city’s NAACP chapter after years of it being inactive.
As the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, the NAACP has several chapters in Wisconsin — but none in our region.
“North of Madison, you have nothing,” says David Wilson. “You know, even if we think about other community-based organizations, that’s not where the line stops in terms of advocacy or support or anything.”
Green Bay’s NAACP chapter has been inactive for several years.
“With a population of 105,000, no NAACP branch seems very weird, very strange to me,” Wilson says.
So, he wants to change that. Wilson, a Green Bay resident, has gathered a group of seven to 10 organizing members to begin the process of reactivating the city’s NAACP branch. That is step one in the required moves in order to make a new or renewed chapter a reality.
The next steps include getting 100 dues-paying members and letters of support or recommendation from other community organizations.
Wilson says they have one letter so far from the Oneida Community Education Center. The center’s manager wasn’t available for comment Friday due to the celebration of life for Oneida Nation’s Ernie Stevens Jr.
Organizers will also need a letter of recommendation from the state’s NAACP conference president.
Wilson says the organizing group will meet with the state NAACP this week, and hopefully, it will submit a recommendation to the national organization, which is the final requirement before the NAACP national conference’s approval.
It’s unclear how long the decision-making process and approval will take.
“The fact that we’re organizing one, I think, will be good for all people. Not just the members, not just the officers, not just Black people, not just brown people, not just people with issues. But all people,” Wilson adds.
While he didn’t offer specifics, Wilson says he believes Green Bay has not been equitably served without an NAACP branch. He says the group simply aims to advocate for the right things.
“The advocacy that we will do will be the causes that people hold near and dear to their heart,” he says. “And even if within our membership, we don’t have the committee for your cause, that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a motion to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got an individual or community members that are plagued by this issue.'”
As the NAACP, it’s our obligation to then take on that issue, understand that issue and understand how we can be an advocate for that issue.
Wilson says they’re ready to take the leap — not just for Green Bay, but all of Northeast Wisconsin — even if it means facing potential pushback.
“I mean, we welcome all those because it’ll only make us better. It will sharpen us and just demonstrate that we’re here for everybody, even the people that aren’t on the bus right away,” he says. “We’re gonna save a few seats for people who are on the fence, and even people who need to turn around, because it’s just that kind of organization. Whenever we can, we’ll definitely be open arms for everybody.”
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