Passing of Rev. Dr. Benjamin Lawson Hooks

Dear NAACP Family:
It is with deepest regret that I inform you of the passing of our illustrious President/CEO (Executive Director) Emeritus the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Lawson Hooks. Dr. Hooks passed away this morning at his home surrounded by his devoted wife and companion Mrs. Francys Dancy Hooks and beloved daughter, Pat. Please keep them in your prayers now and in the coming days.
Benjamin L. Hooks, a champion of minorities and the poor who as executive director of the NAACP increased the group's stature, has died. He was 85.
State Rep. Ulysses Jones, a member of the church where Hooks was pastor, said Hooks died early Thursday at his home, following a long illness.
Hooks became executive director of the NAACP in 1977, taking over a group that was $1 million in debt and shrunk to 200,000 members from nearly a half-million in the 1950s and 1960s. He pledged to increase enrollment and raise money for the organization. He retired in 1993, but was very much involved in the Association and continued to speak and attend several National Conventions.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/15/us/AP-US-Obit-Benjamin-Hooks.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Benjamin%20Hooks&st=cse
In Sympathy,

Demetrius G. FisherNAACP Georgia State Conference970 Martin Luther King, Jr., SWSuite 306Atlanta, Georgia 30314(404) 577-8977, Ext. 11 (Office)DFisher@ganaacp.orgDGFisher78@aol.com STEP UP.......JOIN THE NAACP TODAY!