WS Chronicle

Al Jabbar has been chosen to lead the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County NAAACP.

On Saturday Nov. 21, the local branch held elections to choose the branch president, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer, and members of the executive committee. Only members in good standing with the organization were able to vote during the election.

Jabbar, who is a native of Winston-Salem and well known throughout the community as an advocate for the African American community, will take the seat formerly held by Rev. Alvin Carlisle, who announced that he wouldn’t be running for re-election earlier this year. 

After votes were tallied Saturday evening, several people took to social media to congratulate Jabbar.

A veteran of the United States Army and the United States Marine Corp., Jabbar was in active duty in Vietnam. When he returned to Winston-Salem, he started working at R.J. Reynolds where he worked for more than 30 years before retiring. Since retiring, Jabbar has made a name for himself as a leader within the African American community as someone who is always willing to speak up and be a voice for the voiceless in any event, whether it be advocating for students at school board meetings, speaking for communities in East Winston at city council and county commissioners’ meetings, or protesting in the streets.

Other elected officials are: London McKinney, first vice president, Tonya McDaniel, second vice president, Doris Moore, third vice president, Patricia Biassi, secretary,

Members of the executive committee are: Jimmy Boyd, Pastor Tembila Covington, Whit Davis, Daniel Piggott, Jamie Transou, and Rev. Dr. Keith Vereen.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization formed in 1909 by W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington and Moorfield Storey as a bi-racial organization to advance justice for African Americans.