'It is our time': Melodie Graves named new Amarillo NAACP president

The Amarillo Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced Nov. 21 that Melodie Graves, the current 2nd Vice president, would be the next president of the local branch.

Selected by the organization via electronic vote, Graves will take over in January for Patrick Miller, who has led the local chapter for the past two years. Jerri Glover will join Graves as Secretary, and Mayor Pro-Tem Freda Powell will return as treasurer.

Miller said that he felt comfortable stepping down from his role and putting it in the capable hands of Graves. He will stay with the organization in other roles.

“It felt comfortable to be able to pass the baton onto the new president, whom I have worked beside and love and respect,” Miller said. “She has been in my life since I was an undergraduate student at WT. Melodie Graves has the right demeanor, the right character and the right serving leadership to be able to lead our organization into the future.”

He said that Graves would follow the long-standing tradition of strong leadership in the Amarillo Branch, and he was pleased with the elected leadership.

“I am thankful that God allowed our organization to see change like this. We will have a female majority executive board with madame president Melodie Graves at the head of our organization. We now have Melodie Graves, who is no stranger to community work and needs no introduction to our entire region because of her voice and service."

Asked about what he felt was the biggest accomplishment of the Amarillo NAACP under his leadership, Miller spoke about building relationships within the Amarillo community.

“I think building a diverse coalition of people that supported the endeavors of the Amarillo NAACP was one of the greatest accomplishments, because I could not have done it on my own. The people around me who were committed to the task at hand made things happen,” he said.

Miller said that work like raising $34,000 in scholarships during a pandemic, town halls, health fairs, voter registration drives and candidate forums were all things that he felt proud of the group accomplishing.

“That does not happen without a real commitment from the people around you," Miller said. "I think the personal and professional growth that happened within me was critical to our development. I am thankful to know that I had people like Melodie Graves there to help support me on this journey. I am very proud of what we accomplished.”

Miller said some things still need more emphasis within the organization, and he hopes to be a big part of making those things happen.

“I think what we need to continue to do is foster that level of involvement amongst our members that are yearning to do something but may not know what committee will help them to truly shine,” Miller added. “Sometimes our work is explicitly known by the public, but oftentimes it is not.”

Asked about how some say affirmative action is no longer needed in today’s climate, Miller pushed back on the idea that its time has passed.

“It is extremely disconcerting to me that there are people that deny the reality that affirmative action helped open doors that were once slammed shut or impenetrable," he said. "To know that we are standing on the shoulders of giants like Mister Floyd Anthony, who led the organization as president for 14-plus years, he had his first opportunity to enter a post-secondary institution because of affirmative action. Affirmative action allowed him to be able to prove that he deserved to be there, that he belonged to be there. Many individuals, male or female persons of color, have benefitted from affirmative action, and that is not something we need to see dissipate in any way. It is not something that we will allow to be eradicated, because if there is a way that we can eliminate systemic racism or oppression that has been faced by us marginalized people, as persons of color, then we need to make a stand and ensure that we are in the fight.”

Graves, who lost in a close race for Potter County Commissioners in a low-turnout election in May, said she was honored to take over the new role in an organization she has worked with for years.

“I believe now, that was not the spot for me to effect the change that I needed to," Graves said. "I am excited to step into leadership in this position, combined with my leadership in my other positions, so we can do what needs to be done for these kids and make it a better place."

She said her priority was bringing the people together first and consolidating their strengths to meet the needs of the community.

“We have to get people out to vote. We have to get people educated; we have to get people the tools to ensure that they have a better life," Graves said. “We have a big group. We are going to put people in all of these different areas, and we are going to hit the ground running in January."

Asked if her community has a concern that there is not enough voice in local and state government for minorities, Graves said, "When people lose hope, they lose their voice, and when you lose your voice, you don’t have anything to stand for. We are looking to help give people that voice back, to give them that hope back, because once you give hope to a people, they will create change.”

Asked about the difficulty of reaching people in the community, Graves emphasized it will take work, but it's worthwhile work.

“I think it’s the relationship you form with them, reminding them of the impact that they can make and walking the journey with them," Graves said. "It's not just saying go vote, but saying if you need somebody to go vote with you, let me go with you. What is going on in your life that I can help with? Really sitting down and building these relationships to where people trust us. We need to get to a point where people can trust us with their problems so we can help them effectively.”

Asked about how some people want to deny that systematic racism exists, Graves spoke about how to reach people who may not realize its effects on the society at hand.

"We have to empower the people to speak about their situations and let them know that this is a real situation going on," she said. "A lot of times, people do not think these are human issues, and so you have to bring someone in who is human to appeal to that side of them.”

In January, Graves said that she would be focused on making things happen for the organization.

“I have big shoes to fill, but I am confident that I will be up to the challenge because I have an amazing group of people to work with that are dedicated to advocacy and it is our time,” Graves added.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Melodie Graves named new Amarillo NAACP president