An outsider with influence

It has become a cliché to say that someone will be missed after his death. But the expression becomes more meaningful in reference to former Philadelphia NAACP president J. Whyatt "Jerry" Mondesire, who died Sunday after suffering a brain aneurysm.

Mondesire represented a vanishing breed of street-savvy civil rights leaders whose in-your-face style could not be ignored. In that regard, he was often compared to the late Cecil B. Moore, who led Philadelphia's civil rights movement during the turbulent 1960s.

Like Moore, Mondesire had faults. He was, for example, accused of misusing NAACP funds. But he never wavered when it came to speaking up for equal opportunity and justice.

Mondesire's persistence, which also served him well as an Inquirer journalist during the 1980s, helped open doors for Philadelphians who needed a champion. He wasn't a politician or a corporate chieftain, but he knew how to get the attention of those who were. It's a skill seen too infrequently today, and the city suffers as a result. It often takes an outsider to get insiders to do the right thing.