Marc Morial

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

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

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

JPMorgan Chase Commits $30 Billion to Advance Racial Equity

“All Americans deserve equitable access to affordable housing and the physical, emotional and financial security it represents,” said Lisa Rice, CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance. “JPMorgan Chase’s new commitments will help make owning or renting a reality for more Black and Latinx families, whose housing access has been impeded by decades of systemic racism and are now disproportionately affected by the impact of COVID-19. Addressing the affordability crisis, now overlaid with the pandemic, will require many players on many fronts, and these commitments are concrete, meaningful steps in the right direction.”

Community Reinvestment Act Changes Expected to Benefit Low- and Moderate-Income Communities

The Community Reinvestment Act was enacted in 1977 as a direct response to redlining, an unethical practice whereby banks and other lending institutions made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for residents of poor, inner-city communities to borrow money, get a mortgage, take out insurance or access other financial services. Redlining did not take into consideration an individual’s qualifications or creditworthiness.

Kavanaugh Confirmation a Betrayal of Senate’s Duty

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.

Breaking the Gubernatorial Glass Ceiling

In the 240-year history of the United States, four African American men have presided as the chief executive of a state or commonwealth. Only two were elected in their own right – Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, in 2006, and Douglas Wilder of Virginia, in 1989. David Paterson of New York was elevated to the office upon the resignation of Eliot Spitzer in 2008