Jamaica NAACP Chiet Looks

The new president of the Jamaica NAACP branch acts
and talks big... and not just because he stands 6-foot-4
and weighs more than 225 pounds.

He is Richard Hansen, a 37-year-old St. Albans in-
surance agent who envisions big things the next two
years in the Greater Jamaica area.

“Our major goals are improvements in education,
housing development, economy, and drug abuse,” stated
the Harlem native who has made St. Albans his home
the last 11 years.

Married and the father of two girls, Hansen dreams
about a “network of Parent Associations that will serve
as a watchdog committee over Jamaica schools.”

He is especially concerned about the conditions at
Shimer Intermediate School 142 in South Jamaica where
a student boycott will start its eighth week when classes
resume today.

“We're glad to have York College built in Jamaica,”
added the official. ‘Higher education belongs in Ja-
maica.”

HANSEN, A former board director of the St. Albans
Civic Association, has been with the Jamaica NAACP
for the past three years. He formerly was a third vice
president for the organization.

The Jamaica NAACP has been studying Jamaica sites
for the development of low and middle-income housing
units. Plans are still tentative for this venture, noted
Hansen.

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The new look for Jamaica— which will include the
tearing down of the Jamaica Avenue E! and the con-
struction of more stores and facilities has the full
approval of Hansen.

“The goals of this organization,” he said, “are to
provide a better and more fulfilling life for every mem-
ber of this society, black, white or any other color. It
is my determination to enlist the cooperation of every
citizen in the community this branch serves in the
effort to improve the quality of life for everyone.

“So long as one man, regardless of his color, religion
or national origin, is denied the full rights due him as
a citizen and a human being, no man is truly free.”

* * *

A 1964 GRADUATE of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn
where he majored in building sciences, Hansen spends
much of his spare time participating in sports events.
Tennis has his number one interest now, but he ex-
celled on the basketball courts while growing up in
Harlem.

He has one older brother, William, now living in the
Bronx.

Other officers elected to two-year terms are Maurice
Perkins, Mrs. Vivian Bailey, and LeRoy Kellum, vice
presidents; Mrs. Mabel Nock, secretary; Mrs. Iris Petti-
ford ‘Cox, assistant secretary; and Walter Ramsey,
treasurer.

Hansen and the other officers will be installed Jan.
18 at NAACP headquarters in Jamaica.

Richard Hansen, new president of the Jamaica NAACP, is shown in his St. Albans home with his wife Juliette

and two daughters, Dionne, 3, left, and Greer, 8. :
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