Local NAACP names new president, officers

Following a feud that resulted in the ouster of the Philadelphia NAACP's president and three other officers, the local chapter has named the Rev. Carl Fitchett as its new leader.

The Rev. Gill Ford, a national NAACP official, confirmed the selection of Fitchett and the following slate of local officials: Rodney Muhammad, first vice president; Rahim Islam, second vice president; Jennifer Whitfield, third vice president; and Shirley Jordan II, assistant secretary.

The state NAACP also has a new president: Dwayne Jackson.

In November, the Rev. Elisha Morris, restauranteur Sid Booker and former political operative Donald "Ducky" Birts - all of whom held leadership roles at the Philly NAACP - raised questions about whether the branch's longtime president, J. Whyatt Mondesire, had mishandled the group's finances.

The accusations centered around two checks that were made out to the NAACP but were cashed by a defunct nonprofit that Mondesire controlled.

Mondesire avoided reporters for much of the controversy but broke his silence to the Daily News a week ago, telling columnist Stu Bykofsky that the accusers had a personal vendetta against him and that the money was not withheld from the NAACP.

Later that week, the national NAACP said that all four men were suspended.

Booker today declined to comment, and attempts to reach Birts and Morris have so far been unsuccessful.

The feud was first reported by AxisPhilly in January.