Chapter of Sharpton network opens in LV

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001 | 8:25 a.m.

The Las Vegas chapter of the National Action Network has opened its local office and will be having a membership drive this month.

The network is a national civil rights organization founded and led by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

The office is at 3925 Martin Luther King Blvd., between Smoke Ranch Road and Cheyenne Avenue, in suite 213. It will be open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, said Gene Collins, the network's Nevada chairman.

"I'm in daily contact with Rev. Sharpton, and we're just waiting for him to be able to get out here for a ribbon-cutting," Collins said.

Collins will be attending the first national meeting of the organization since it began to expand nationwide in 1999.

The meeting will be Thursday through Sunday in New York, where the organization was founded in 1990.

The group works on such issues as police brutality, racial profiling, inner-city education and minority-owned businesses. It has grown from a main office to 18 city and state chapters around the country during its two-year growth drive.

The national meeting was scheduled to create uniform procedures for dealing with media and to update the organization's constitution and by-laws, Dedrick Muhammad, national field director, said.

Collins said Sharpton decided to open a chapter of his organization in Las Vegas when he found out there were 125,000 blacks in Southern Nevada.

Membership in the group costs $25 a year, and Collins said he is hoping to raise $100,000 in membership fees and donations this month.

Those interested in more information can call the office at (702) 646-9983.