Leader Calls for NAACP Resurgence

Myrlie Evers-Williams, NAACP chairwoman, exhorted the organization’s members to shake off the yoke of apathy and help return it to social and political prominence. In a keynote speech that bore little resemblance to prepared remarks defending school integration, the NAACP leader compared apathy to “a big fat rat” and called on the membership to become more active on issues of social, economic and political inequity. “We must send a clear message to all Americans that we are prepared to be that spring that will crack the neck of prejudice and racism in America,” she said. President Clinton and Education Secretary Richard W. Riley are expected the address the 88th annual convention of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.