NAACP ED Statement

The Black AIDS Institute joins the rest of the community in welcoming Benjamin Jealous as the NAACP's next executive director. We salute the NAACP for having the vision to embrace new leadership from the ranks of Black America's next generation of pioneers. The talented, young Jealous' work on behalf of Black America make him an exciting candidate to lead the storied institution into the 21st century.

We are particularly encouraged by Jealous' past commitment to leading in the struggle against AIDS in our communities. As executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association at the turn of the century, Jealous bravely led the agency into a foundational partnership with the Black AIDS Institute. He opened the organization to our team of expert journalists covering AIDS, inviting us to provide technical assistance to NNPA's member newspapers and file groundbreaking stories for its invaluable news wire.

With Jealous' leadership, NNPA and the Institute brought daily news and analysis back home from the historic 2000 International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. Our reports filled local Black newspapers around the country with cutting edge science, profiles of people living with and fighting against HIV worldwide, and feature stories explaining the epidemic in both our communities and those throughout the African Diaspora.

The journalism partnership Jealous helped build continues today, generating hundreds of stories about HIV/AIDS a year for millions of Black readers.

The Institute looks forward to once again working with Jealous to educate and mobilize our community against HIV/AIDS. The NAACP has been a key leader in the Black AIDS Mobilization Against HIV/AIDS, and we're certain Jealous will continue to build upon the organization's indispensable role.

Welcome aboard Benjamin!