NEWLY APPOINTED HEAD OF NAACP TO BE HERE FRIDAY

Earl T. Shinhoster, newly-appointed interim executive director of the NAACP, will speak at St. James AME Church in Cape Girardeau Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Shinhoster was named to head the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People after Benjamin Chavis Jr. was fired on Saturday by the organization's board of directors.

Friday's rally will mark Shinhoster's first public appearance since being named NAACP interim executive director.

Michael Sterling, Cape Girardeau branch president of the NAACP, said Ina Boon, Region IV director for the NAACP, steered Shinhoster to Cape Girardeau.

Missouri NAACP President Mary Ratliff said Wednesday night that Shinhoster's visit to Cape Girardeau was scheduled prior to his becoming interim executive director, but she didn't expect his plans to change.

Sterling said he expects Shinhoster to address the Cape Girardeau NAACP chapter's concerns on housing standards, employment, economic development opportunities for low- to moderate-income families, and other issues.

Shinhoster is project administrator of the NAACP Community Development Resource Center that was established in 1991. The center is a liaison between the NAACP and Nations Bank and helps serve communities with low- to moderate-income families. Among services the center provides are consumer and small-business lending and support for economic development programs.

There will be workshops on Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m. Ratliff will hold a workshop along with Charles Smith, Missouri NAACP vice president. Ray Washington, a prison minister and social worker, will participate in the workshops at St. James Church, 516 North Street.

Chavis lost his bid Wednesday to become reinstated as executive director of the NAACP. Judge Herbert Dixon of District of Columbia Superior Court declined Chavis' request for a temporary restraining order.

"The judge's ruling stands for itself," Shinhoster told The Associated Press Wednesday. "The past is prologue. We're moving forward."

Shinhoster told the wire service he plans to continue some of the programs started by Chavis, including an outreach to African and Caribbean nations. Shinhoster said he would like to restore the "faith and confidence" of NAACP members as well as erase the $3 million deficit left by Chavis' administration.

Shinhoster said he would work with Chavis on black leadership summits he began during his 16-month stint as executive director.