President Dennis Powell has high hopes for what the new NAACP headquarters in the heart of Pittsfield can offer Berkshire County. Its new home will be located just steps from city hall at 33 Dunham Mall.
“I'm hoping that it makes us accessible to the community more so than we have been. I mean, we've been accessible, but via phone call or email or Facebook - but really having a location, one where also young people can come in and see we're really making it, not just space, but also denoting a lot of the history of the civil rights movement.”
He’s hopeful the space can serve as an incubator for young people to absorb the teachings of icons like Martin Luther King Jr.
“The young people in Selma that protested, they actually had to go to a class and were taught about how to protest in a non-violent way. And out of that, there was Ten Commandments that King had developed to use as a teaching tool to keep everybody focused on what the intent was for the protests.”
Powell says the present day represents a full circle moment for the United States, where once again an up-and-coming generation will have to fight for its rights.
“It's going to be up to the young people and their voices to really come out and understand what it means to protest, what it means to use your voice, what it means to stand up for the dignity and humanity for all people and not be silent. That change only comes from using your voice and speaking up and taking a stand. That's how democracy really works, and that's how democracy gets preserved by people stepping up and using that that voice.”
The new Berkshire NAACP location is directly adjacent to the Berkshire Black Economic Council’s offices, which was established by President and Executive Director A.J. Enchill in 2021.
“I was delighted, because I see the NAACP and the Black Economics Council working hand-in-hand on some projects in the near future," Powell said. "I have an excellent relationship with A.J., and so we really think that it's going to strengthen both our organizations by us being so close together.”
Having an office space offers the chapter some obvious improvements over years of meeting virtually, in members’ homes, or on the phone.
“It will enable all of our committees now to have a place that they can meet - you know, our standing committee chairs and whatnot, so there can be some really great committee work done. Our space has actually three rooms, separate rooms. So, one is office space, the other a board space, and then it's like a storage room. Once we are ready to open, we have members of our organization who have agreed to man the office during certain hours.”
But the larger goal for the new headquarters is about continuity. Powell, who has led the Berkshire NAACP for 14 years, faced a major health crisis in 2023.
“They found cancer in my right lung, and I had to have the upper portion of my right lung removed. And it's been quite a journey recovering from that, but I'm happy to say I'm cancer free.”
Powell says the office is a way to ground the organization’s mission and ensure it will live on beyond his leadership.
“Service to the community with respects to whatever the needs happen to be where rights are infringed upon - and we still have serious issues in our school department that we deal with, and almost, I hate to say it weekly, or every other week basis. I’m really hoping to generate young activity to get involved and to sort of take over.
"The whole idea is to make the office sustainable," he said. "I just hit that magic number of 80, so I know I'm not going to be around too much longer, so really making sure everything's in place so that the NAACP Berkshires is here to continue to serve the community. We've made tremendous strides, I think, in our community, but there's still a lot of work to be done.”
The Berkshire NAACP expects to open its doors in downtown Pittsfield as early as Thursday, January 1st.
