July/August 2005

CONTENTS

ISSUES & VIEWS
— Vote or Die
The long, bloody struggle for voting rights took a decisive turn in 1965
By Claybourne Carson

— The Voting Rights Act at 40
In the years since its passage, the voting rights measure has been a powerful enforcement tool, but with several provisions set to expire, the effort to protect Black enfranchisement continues
By Theodore M. Shaw and Janai S. Nelson

FEATURES
— The Crisis Interview: Bruce S. Gordon
A conversation with the designated president and CEO of the NAACP
Interview by Vern E. Smith

— Judgment Day
Amid filibusters and a looming Supreme Court vacancy, Congressional Republicans and Democrats battle for the soul of the federal judiciary
By David C. Ruffin

— After the Music
Living from gig to gig, many jazz artists reach retirement and find basic expenses and health care beyond their means
By Jimmie Briggs

— Advancing the Cause
Are traditional civil rights organizations poised to address the isues faced by a new generation of African Americans?
By Vern E. Smith

Cover: Alex Jones for The Crisis

DEPARTMENTS
- Editor's Note

- Letters

- Up Front: Up Front Juvenile justice experts challenge merits of new anti-gang
legislation; Youth flight training program in Compton, Calif.; Design for African Burial Ground Memorial in New York chosen; San Jose State University honors Black athletes who protested at 1968 Olympics; 1921 Tulsa race riot survivors on Capitol Hill; NIH tests AIDS drugs on foster children
Questions: Yvonne Braithwaite Burke recalls the 1965 Watts riots

- Health: As one Harlem family can attest, blood donations help save lives

- Crisis Forum
* Architecture: The fate of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles will bear on the legacy of Paul R. Williams
* Gallery: The Audubon Ballroom is restored to honor the life and work of Malcolm X
* Books:
— Reviews of The Autobiography of Medgar Evers edited by Myrlie Evers-Williams and Manning Marable;
— Evans D. Hopkins's Life After Life: A Story of Rage and Redemption;
— Why White Kids Love Hip Hop by Bakari Kitwana; and
— Bebe Moore Campbell's 72 Hour Hold

- Backstory: Spirit Trickey on working at the school where her mother, one of the Little Rock Nine, made history

- The NAACP Today
* Highlights of the 96th annual NAACP convention in Milwaukee;
* Oliver Hill Sr. to receive Spingarn Medal;
* Region VII investigates Maryland deaths
* Branch News: Wichita, Kan.

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The Choice
NAACP Taps Bruce S Gordon As Its Leader