Jackie White still doesn’t know how her son, Dominick Wilson, died on March 11, 2010.
The police told her Dominick, who was 18 and bi-racial, committed suicide, and they found him hanging in a park in Hazelwood, Mo. But that doesn’t explain the injuries to his body and head that the autopsy report cited. Last year, the St. Louis City NAACP stepped in to support White and help her secure counsel.
“Everything since then has just been incredible,” she said. “At that time, I didn’t have any representation at all. I was just trying to get the story out.”
Since the NAACP’s involvement, the St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch has reopened the investigation.
White was one of many families that the NAACP supported last year. From meeting with mothers such as White to educating the community about pending policies in Jefferson City and various public agencies, the St. Louis City NAACP fights on the front line for social justice.
“Since its founding, it has been the talent and tenacity of NAACP members that have saved lives and changed many aspects of St. Louis society,” said St. Louis City NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt.
On June 15, the NAACP will celebrate its accomplishments this year and reaffirm its commitment to justice at its annual Freedom Fund Dinner, “Affirming America’s Promise” at the Renaissance Grand Hotel. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and dinner program starts at 6:45 p.m. The program will honor several community members, including Bob Love, Chicago Bulls director of community affairs, Arnold W. Donald, president and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, Hattie R. Jackson, educator, and Dr. Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University.
“For more than 100 years, the NAACP has worked tirelessly to protect the civil rights of Americans, and their efforts in Missouri in the last few years have been no less energized or important,” said Gov. Jay Nixon.
Protecting human rights
NAACP’s actions this year have impacted the entire state. On April 28, 2011 Nixon vetoed Senate Bill 188, which would have undermined key provisions of the Missouri Human Rights Act. Nixon said the NAACP provided the support he needed to make this decision.
“In taking this stand, NAACP St. Louis is standing up not just for minorities, but also for the elderly, the disabled, and other groups of Missourians facing discrimination in the workplace,” Nixon said.
However, the fight to protect human rights in Missouri is not over.
“The bill would have made it harder to prove discrimination in the workplace, and would have thrown new hurdles in the path of those whose rights have been violated,” said Pruitt. “This was unacceptable, and it was stopped; but is expected to resurface in 2012.”
Throughout the state, the NAACP provides research and information on how laws affect the community. Most recently, the NAACP has been actively educating people and legislators on the effects of voter ID laws.
“We depend on them to have a better understanding of how a lot these laws would affect our communities,” said State Rep. Steve Webb, chairman of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus. “They work on making it a fair playing field for the minority and African-American community.”
Economic empowerment
In just this year, the NAACP has helped secure hundreds of millions of dollars towards job opportunities for people of color. The group has done this by fighting for increased minority participation goals among public and private agencies.
On August 25, 2011, the NAACP won the hard fought reforms with the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) after nine months of negotiating. The commission provides roughly $140 million annually in resources for the production of affordable housing. Minority participation in the programs was less than 10 percent for minority contractors and less the one percent for minority professional service providers. The NAACP helped establish the “Emerging Business Initiative,” which ensures greater Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) participation in development projects approved by MHDC.
“They came to our meeting and helped us get MBWE firms there to talk about what they would like to see in a new initiative,” said Jennifer Tidwell, MHDC deputy director of public policy. “We were very impressed with them. I think the initiative will bring diversity to the developments that we create all over the state of Missouri.”
Last year, the NAACP reviewed the past 10 years of projects subjected to the City of St. Louis’ Executive Order 28, which states that the projects must comply with the goals of 25 percent MBE and 5 percent WBE participation. Out of 111 projects reviewed, only 10 met or exceeded the goals set forth in the executive order.
As a result, the NAACP conducted meetings with representatives of the Mayor’s Office, the St. Louis Development Corporation, and the Disadvantaged Business Office at Lambert Airport (DBE Office) expressing their concerns “as to the effectiveness of the City’s efforts to adhere and enforce the executive order,” Pruitt said.
In response to the NAACP’s concerns, on Sept. 15, 2011 the St. Louis Development Corporation Board approved new M/WBE Rules for the City of St. Louis, making improvements to the certification process. The city also will hire and additional compliance officer.
The NAACP also had a heavy hand in establishing higher workforce participation goals for future jobs with the Metropolitan Sewer District. The district has entered into a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency, agreeing to undertake $4.5 billion in corrective actions over the next 20 years. Last month, the MSD Board of Trustees passed a resolution to include more minorities on all future contracts.
As far as banking in the predominately African-American and low-income communities, the NAACP is part of a coalition to increase regional banks’ commitments to working in these areas. One example is the December 22, 2010 agreement between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council (EHOC), and First National Bank of St. Louis. In this agreement, the bank will invest more than $2.5 million over four years in St. Louis City, North St. Louis County, and St. Clair County, Illinois.
Mending technology gap
The NAACP has been equally active in improving education.
Since 1999 the NAACP has worked to create educational opportunities for minorities through the desegregation settlement agreement, implemented by the federal court.
This year, the NAACP has ensured that the district improve students’ access to technology, as well as increase the number of early childhood development classrooms. Because of the NAACP’s leadership in renegotiating the settlement, this year all third and fourth graders will receive iPads to use in the classrooms. Teachers also will be trained in instructional support, and some positions have been added to make this happen.
“That was by the insistence by the NAACP,” said St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams. “I am thankful for the NAACP in terms of making sure that our students have the highest possible education opportunities.”
