Some questions to chew on.When black students at the University of Michigan took over the school in ’69, ’77, and ’87, were they trying to end racism in the United States? Or were they trying to end racism at U of M?When Rosa Parks decided not to give up her seat in Birmingham, was she trying to end Jim Crow throughout the South? Or was she trying to dismantle Jim Crow in Birmingham?When Brown sued the Board of Education was he trying to end the dual education system in the US? Or in Kansas?When Clementine Barfield began Save Our Sons and Daughters was she trying to end gang violence in the United States?  Or in Detroit?As the NAACP begins its national convention in Detroit I thought it appropriate to ask these questions. As the case of Robert Williams shows persuasively, the NAACP has always had a problem with local autonomy. And this is likely the cause of its slow demise even moreso than its bloated executive board.But the NAACP isn’t the only guilty party. How many of us write about how to get black people to organize nationally without even thinking about how we might begin to work on our own neighborhoods?