Raymond Johnson Jr. Takes Leadership of NAACP Unit

Raymond L. Johnson Jr., a 33-year-old attorney, was named Wednesday as president of the Los Angeles branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

Johnson succeeds John T. McDonald III, who died of a heart attack last month, one week after he was elected to his second term as the organization’s president.

Johnson had been elected first vice president under McDonald and, under terms of the NAACP constitution, he automatically ascends to the presidency to serve out McDonald’s two-year term, a spokesman for the civil rights group said.

Each of the organization’s four vice presidents moves up a notch, with attorney Melanie E. Lomax becoming second in command.

Johnson had been acting president since McDonald’s death on Dec. 23. His appointment to the top spot was announced Wednesday after a meeting of the NAACP executive committee. He will be formally sworn in later this month, along with other officers elected at the group’s December election.

McDonald’s death at the age of 36 stunned the organization and the community. During his two years as president, the Los Angeles NAACP had undergone a renaissance. Membership increased from 2,000 to 15,000 and the chapter became one of the most active and aggressive of the 1,900 NAACP branches around the country.

Under McDonald’s leadership, the group turned its focus from traditional civil rights concerns to what McDonald called “the economics of discrimination.”

Among its actions, the chapter launched a four-month boycott of Adolph Coors Co., which resulted in the brewery firm signing a pact that will channel more than $325 million into black businesses and community endeavors.

Johnson, an attorney who handles civil and criminal cases from his downtown office, has served as an NAACP vice president and legal counsel for the last two years. He has pledged to continue McDonald’s programs.