James R. Mapp speaks at Jubilee Day 2013 in this file photo.TO LEARN MOREFor more information concerning NAACP membership and meetings contact Atkins at 423-320-8598.
The nonprofit that touts itself as the biggest, baddest, boldest civil rights organization in the country had so little participation in its Chattanooga-Hamilton County branch that former President James Mapp had to take the head position again this year at age 85 because no one else wanted the job.
But since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act in June and George Zimmerman was acquitted on charges of killing an unarmed black teenager in July, NAACP membership and participation have spiked locally and nationally.
“The issues have heightened the community into action,” said Eric Atkins, secretary of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
More people have joined the local NAACP in the past two months than have joined all year, he said, estimating that 25 people have joined since June.