Thomas Has The Rights Stuff New Head Of The Spokane Naacp Branch Traveled Hard Road To Her Crowning Glory

She greeted people and pulled the officers together as Thursday night’s event neared in the Gonzaga University lecture hall.

Until finally, tears and cheers came to Eileen Thomas as she finished reciting her pledge to become the new president of the Spokane branch of the NAACP.

The installation ceremony brought out a who’s who of city officials, community leaders and close friends.

Longtime chum Catherine Diehl sat in the back row.

“This is her big moment,” Diehl said. “I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”

The president of Gonzaga University, the Rev. Robert Spitzer, marveled at the high-powered crowd and said to everyone, “It’s good to be here.”

Speakers like Rev. Lonnie Mitchell, pastor of Bethel AME Church, challenged everyone to create a true American dream, rich in diversity and equal to all.

By the end of the evening, they all stood for Thomas, who took off her glasses and cried. Her son, Cassk Thomas Jr., who flew in from Tacoma, shouted out, “I love you mom.”

The woman from New York rose above a bad father, broken marriages, racial challenges and debilitating debt. She developed a reputation as being fearless, outspoken and strong. In November, before she was elected, Thomas feared she wouldn’t get the votes because of the controversy she can create. When the final tally came, she was the clear winner. Her time had come.

“Thank you, thank you so much,” she said, her right hand on her heart. “Just give me a minute.”

It wasn’t long until Thomas gained her composure and showed her famous humor and unflinching style.

She pulled out a speech she’d written while staying up the past three nights.

“I hope it sounds OK to you,” she said. “If it doesn’t, I don’t care.” The laughs came.

“It’s going to be hard, but I’m going to give it my best shot. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” she said while laughing and looking at the crowd.

Everyone understood she was referring to the time she caught a husband cheating on her. She greeted him with a shotgun blast that went three feet over his head. She shared the story in an article that ran in The Spokesman-Review in November.

Once again, Thomas wasn’t about to gloss over anything. She spelled out her future vision for the Spokane branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“Let me put it to you this way,” she said. “Myself personally, I don’t have an agenda. But the organization does.”

She spelled out a six-part plan written by national NAACP president Kweisi Mfume.

First and foremost, she will direct efforts toward the protection of civil rights. She also plans to implement voter education and empowerment programs. She called for more economic community development and said the discriminating practices of banks in the area must change. The youth must be reached with back-toschool, stay-in-school campaigns and encouraged to excel.

And finally, more people need to sign on.

“We have to have membership in order to do the things we believe in,” Thomas said.

Thomas’ leadership most likely will be exciting because she won’t pull any punches.

“We all dislike the truth,” she said. “But guess what. We need it.”