FARAI CHIDEYA, host: From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Farai Chideya.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: Coming up, we've got rapper producer Da Brat on Celebrity Fit Club. And "Good Times" actor John Amos has a new project about the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But, first, let's kick things off with headlines.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: Today, we start in Baltimore, home of the NAACP and, incidentally, my hometown. You may remember the group's last president and CEO, Bruce Gordon, resigned suddenly in March. Now, the group appears to be in a financial tailspin. They've just announced their trimming staff at their Baltimore headquarters by 40 percent, and then temporarily closing all seven of their regional offices.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: The move follows three consecutive annual budget shortfalls. Yesterday, Bruce Gordon told the Baltimore Sun that the NAACP's board is to blame in part for the group's recent lackluster fundraising. But Chairman Julian Bond blamed Gordon. Bond told the Sun that when Gordon left he spoke critically of the NAACP to the press, and, quote, "what he said really poisoned the well that we drink from," end quote. The NAACP is one of America's oldest and best-known civil rights organizations. In 2009, it will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Farai Chideya scans the day's headlines for news affecting black life and culture. Thursday's roundup includes a look at financial trouble at the NAACP.