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Marc Morial

Sian Proctor, First Black Woman To Pilot A Spacecraft, Advocates For “J.E.D.I.” Space: Just, Equitable, Diverse, And Inclusive
Marc Morial

Sian Proctor, First Black Woman To Pilot A Spacecraft, Advocates For “J.E.D.I.” Space: Just, Equitable, Diverse, And Inclusive

Marc H. MorialOctober 7, 2021

“I’m the fourth Black female from the United States to fly to space, only four of us. And out of the four that have gone, only one person has gone multiple times. I really want to have that message out there that, you know, you can become a pilot. You can go to the stars – but not only for people of color and girls of color, but also for us what I call seasoned individuals. You know, I’ve been chasing space my entire life, and it took me 50-plus years to get here, but I made it.” – Dr.

Gymnasts’ Demand For Justice Is A Powerful Display Of Courage And Grace
Marc MorialOpinion

Gymnasts’ Demand For Justice Is A Powerful Display Of Courage And Grace

Marc H. MorialSeptember 30, 2021

Just 17 years old in June of 2015, Maggie Nichols disclosed to USA Gymnastics officials that the organization’s team doctor, Larry Nassar, had been molesting her since she was 15. Furthermore, she said she suspected that Nassar was abusing her friend and teammate Simone Biles as well.

USA Gymnastics waited more than a month to report the allegations to the FBI, by which time a private investigator had identified at least six victims, including McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman. After receiving the report, the FBI did almost nothing. When agents finally scheduled an interview weeks later with McKayla Maroney, then 19, it was only to get USA Gymnastics “off of our back,” according to investigators.

Vernon Jordan On Whitney M. Young, Jr.: One Visionary Warrior Pays Tribute To Another
Marc Morial

Vernon Jordan On Whitney M. Young, Jr.: One Visionary Warrior Pays Tribute To Another

Marc H. MorialAugust 12, 2021

This Saturday, July 31st, we remember and celebrate Whitney Moore Young, Jr., on the centennial of his birth. Young served at the helm of the National Urban League during the turbulent decade from 1961 to 1971, overseeing the greatest expansion of scope and mission our organization has seen in more than a century. As the activism of the Civil Rights Movement expanded from the courts to mass-action non-violent demonstrations in the streets of both southern and northern communities, Young forcefully and publicly projected the League’s tenets of social work and civil rights as never before.    During our Equal Opportunity

World-Class Sprinter Sha’Carrie Richardson Is The Latest Casualty Of Decades Of Racist Application Of Marijuana Policies
Marc MorialOpinion

World-Class Sprinter Sha’Carrie Richardson Is The Latest Casualty Of Decades Of Racist Application Of Marijuana Policies

Marc H. Morial President and CEO National Urban LeagueJuly 15, 2021

“… ‘the rules are the rules.’ Yet, rules aren’t inherently neutral — more likely than not, rules are an extension of a status quo of racism, and are often written by people who have never faced the sort of marginalization that their rules create. While marijuana is widely legal, and widely used by people of all races and backgrounds today, that wasn’t always the case. And while plenty of legal weed businesses are helmed by white people, prisons across the country are still filled with Black and brown drug offenders, sentenced for marijuana use. There will always be racist implications

Declaration of Principles for the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks
Marc Morial

Declaration of Principles for the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks

Marc H. Morial, President and CEO National Urban LeagueSeptember 17, 2020

“And so this march must go beyond this historic moment. We must support the strong. We must give courage to the timid. We must remind the indifferent, and we must warn the opposed. Civil rights, which are God-given and constitutionally guaranteed, are not negotiable in 1963.” – National Urban League President Whitney M. Young, 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice

Kamala Harris Selection Represents Unprecedented Moment Of Racial Reckoning
Marc Morial

Kamala Harris Selection Represents Unprecedented Moment Of Racial Reckoning

Marc H. Morial President and CEO National Urban LeagueAugust 20, 2020

It’s no surprise that Black women have emerged among the nation’s strongest and most competent leaders. The formidable challenges that women, particularly women of color, must overcome to achieve positions of prominence, are like the fire that tempers steel.   

The National Urban League has had a strong relationship with Senator Harris for many years.  We honored her as one of the first recipients of our “Woman of Power” awards in 2004, just after she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco. In 2017, when she assumed office as California’s third female U.S. Senator, and the first of Jamaican or Indian ancestry, we honored her with the Hiram Revels Award for Achievement, named for the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. 

The Next Attorney General Must Enforce Civil Rights Laws. William Barr Won’t.
Marc MorialOpinion

The Next Attorney General Must Enforce Civil Rights Laws. William Barr Won’t.

Marc H. Morial President and CEO National Urban LeagueJanuary 30, 2019

As the nation’s top law enforcement officer and leader of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Attorney General is responsible for safeguarding our civil and constitutional rights. In light of this Administration’s relentless attacks on the enforcement of our civil rights laws, our nation desperately needs and deserves an Attorney General who is committed to that mission and to our country’s ongoing progress toward equal justice and racial equality.  

Kavanaugh Confirmation a Betrayal of Senate’s Duty
Marc MorialOpinionPolitical

Kavanaugh Confirmation a Betrayal of Senate’s Duty

Marc H. Morial, President and CEO National Urban LeagueOctober 12, 2018

Today’s vote is a betrayal of the Senate’s constitutional duty to advise and consent. The Urban League Movement opposed this nomination because of his extremist positions on civil rights, workers rights, and social justice. A complete vetting of his background was impeded by the White House, which withheld the vast majority of pertinent records.