“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
Today, she is the 2020 recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award. Gabrielle’s journey to this achievement revealed her ability to see the deeper necessity for a place of being is in the human heart. As principal director of global diversity at the Perkins and Will Architect firm, she has built social bridges crossing multiple platforms
While John’s service to the Urban League goes back more than half a century, his association with the leaders of the movement goes back even further. While he was studying for his Master of Social Work degree at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta), he became a protégé of Whitney M. Young, then Dean of the School of Social Work. Just a few short years later, Young would take the helm of the National Urban League and ask John to lead the affiliate in Flint, Michigan.
The stars aligned at the Dolby Ballroom as the Los Angeles Urban League (LAUL) honored Earvin “Magic” and Cookie Johnson at their annual fundraiser, the 44th Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards Dinner on Friday, April 21.