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Comfortable in ‘minority’ role
Jesse Brown brings diversity to the NAACP board
By Sarah Lang
nsfeatures@news-sentinel.com
When Jesse Brown was 6 years old, his best friend was Lavelle Barnes.
They were best friends because they were the two fastest runners in their class. And for a first-grade boy, there are few things more important than running fast.
Even among these two-of-a-kind best friends, there was contrast. Lavelle was black. Jesse was white.
But that is something that didn’t concern little Jesse. Lavelle was his friend — that’s all that mattered.
And now, 26 years later, Brown’s strong disposition, unchanging beliefs and outspoken attitude have landed him a spot on the executive board of the Fort Wayne chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — an organization traditionally and historically led by African-Americans. Brown, a Huntington resident, was elected unanimously in December.
“I’ve really been looking for an opportunity where I can personally serve not only the community of Fort Wayne but the African-American community of Fort Wayne,” said Brown, assistant dean of student development at Huntington University. . “It’s just something I’m really excited about.”
The Rev. Michael Latham, president of the Fort Wayne NAACP, said he liked Brown because he did bring some diversity to the board, which includes two other Caucasian members.
The national NAACP has recently recognized the importance of having people of different races on the executive board by encouraging the local chapters to diversify, Brown said. This is because, contrary to what the name implies, the NAACP aims to help all people — regardless of race, sex or religion.
“We can’t be effective without having all races of people on our board,” Latham said. “And Brown is open-minded enough and outspoken enough to give us his thoughts and opinions.”
Brown brings education to those opinions. He has been studying civil rights history and race relations for seven years. It began with a fascination with the life and character of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“(King) is such an influential figure,” Brown said, “and one of the most important figures in all of world history, as far as I’m concerned. Truly a great individual, great leader, great visionary.”
Further study unveiled lesser-known individuals. Brown became very attached to their stories of courage and hope.
Brown takes students from Huntington University on a bus trip to the South every three years to visit civil rights history sites, such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where Bloody Sunday, an attack on a civil rights march, took place in 1965. They also visit Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., where King preached; and the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., where King was assassinated. During these trips, the students interact with people who were involved in the civil rights movement. It is one of Brown’s favorite aspects of studying this history.
“You can read about people,” Brown said, “and some of the people you read about you can actually call or meet, and that’s pretty cool. Like George and Louise Smith in Fort Wayne — they’re still alive and they want to tell their story.”
The Smiths, who were active civil rights workers in Mississippi in the ’60s, served as the connection between Brown and the NAACP. They came to Huntington University to speak on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2006, and Brown has kept in contact with them. When the Smiths invited both Brown and Latham to lunch one day to discuss a separate organization, United for a Change, Latham saw potential in Brown.
Joining the Fort Wayne NAACP executive board has taken Brown from being in the racial majority as a white male in Huntington and thrust him into a minority position. But he’s not worried.
“It’s rare that I am considered the diversity in a group,” Brown said. “I am cognizant of my skin color during meetings, but it doesn’t change the concern I have for all people to have equal opportunities.”
When asked if African-Americans are still in need of advancement, he hesitated.
“That’s a good question,” he said after a long pause, choosing his words carefully. “I think that there are some prejudices that still exist within our society that are a little bit more unnoticed than they might have been in the ’50s and ’60s.”
For example, he said he can go to a grocery store and buy what is called a flesh-colored bandage. It is a peach color. But there is not an alternative for African Americans.
“But having darker-color skin-toned Band-Aids isn’t really advancement,” he said.
Though that may be true, for now Brown is just concentrating on figuring out what the most urgent issues are. And he’s starting at home.
Brown and his wife, Hope, have four children — Grace, Isaac, Eden and Cana — ages 5 months to 5 years. Eden loves baby dolls, so Brown and his wife buy her not only Caucasian dolls, but also African-American ones. The parents also buy children’s books about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist who, in 1955, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala.
“I hope my children learn that compassion for others is more important than fear of difference,” Brown said.
He recalled a quote from King’s “I have a dream” speech that says, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
“That,” Brown said, “is what I hope my children learn from me.”
