9 minute read
Meet Marc Morial, President of The National Urban League.
MEET
http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2016/dec/10/national-urban-league-ceo-keynote-vuu-community-le/
MARK MORIAL
Marc H. Morial is the president and CEO of the National Urban League. He is an entrepreneur, a lawyer, a Professor. A Legislator has been a mayor, held top leadership positions, and now a CEO of the largest civil rights organization in the country. There’s no amount of words that can describe what Marc has been able to accomplish in just a short span of time. Yet, his accomplishments go beyond him! His career expands over the last 25 years and everywhere he has been trusted to lead, Marc has shown exemplary leadership and we can see that as he is one of the decorated servant leaders in the country.
CALLING ATTENTION TO THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON AFRICAN AMERICANS
Lately, Marc has been very vocal about the disparate impact the pandemic has had on African Americans and other minority communities in the country. Data from CDC and others showed that African Americans and other minorities had a hospitalization rate of 5.3 times higher than that of non-Hispanic white people, which raises concerns. In fact, an analysis by the Associated Press of the state and local data revealed the more shocking news that one-third of the fatalities reported in the US were African Americans.
One of the voices that have been very resilient, calling attention to the impact of the pandemic on African American live is Marc’s. Marc championed more data on all the elements related to Covid-19 calling for universal testing urging the system to close the gaps in the healthcare system. In an interview with Business Journal, Marc said that he has talked to the members of the congress about the issue with the Covid-19 and how it had impacted the African American community as well as other communities and more so when it came to the misrepresentation of data. He further added that he had spent some time to generate public attention on the issue. When asked for his opinion on the fact that African Americans and Latinos health care workers were mostly at the greatest risk of exposure but nonetheless made up the largest percentage of frontline workers, Marc had this to say;
“And for many other professions which are low wage workers, particularly in the health care field. If you think of health care, you need to add on the maintenance assistants and nurses — in many instances, they are disproportionately black, Latino, Asian, South Asian doing those jobs. A friend of mine shared with me yesterday that several of her friends had become infected with the virus — all of them were workers in nursing homes or hospices.
There are studies that indicate that in 90% of the professions that are considered essential, in many of them African-Americans are disproportionately represented.”
SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES THROUGH ADVOCACY
Another area Morial has been vocal is when it comes to small businesses. Morial demanded that the next package from the government include monies for small businesses that have been legitimately hurt by the pandemic. Marc told Black Enterprise that the national Urban League considered the action by the Senate to pass a $484 billion bill meant for small businesses and hospitals a win but more needed to be done.
In the prior weeks leading up to this historic moment, the National Urban League had reported that massive restaurant chains and still operating businesses received the PPP funds that were intended for small businesses. Eventually, these small businesses had to shut down operations because they couldn’t stay afloat.
“Struggling small businesses in
the nation’s hardest-hit regions have not received a dime from the Paycheck Protection Program, intended for businesses with fewer than 500 employees, while hundreds of millions of dollars have gone to corporations that employ thousands, like Ruth’s Hospitality Group and Potbelly Corporation,” Morial said in a press release. “Executives whose annual compensation is in the multi-millions skirted the intent of the program by applying through subsidiaries, depriving legitimate small businesses of the aid they desperately need to survive.”
All through the package disbursement process, the National Urban League had been at the forefront of it all. The whole time, Morial and his organization were in discussions with the nation’s top powerful leaders in the capital include Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Senators Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, Chris Van Holland, and Ben Cardin.
In addition to that, Morial said that the National Urban League is working on including a language that specifically addresses the Black-owned businesses along with other minority businesses rural, remote and unbanked businesses as priorities. “And,” he said, “we are pushing for the COVID-19 legislation to include these provisions.”
This is important, and it serves a greater purpose aside from the apparent one which is the Covid-19. Some of the provisions the National Urban League will come up with will be used in the future and recommendations to the congress will come in handy especially when dealing with small businesses in the country. For instance, let’s talk about the PPP loans; this loan does not consider the small businesses size standard base on gross sales. The basis is on the number of employees who work at individual locations and not the total workforce.
“The lifeblood of the communities we serve are the
Main Street mom-and-pop establishments, like barbers and beauty shops, neighborhood cafes, and specialty services that may employ only a few dozen or fewer workers,” Morial said. “Those are the businesses we’re fighting to protect, and we expect Congress to protect them as well.”
BUT WHO IS MARC REALLY?
As an Entrepreneur, Morial started several successful small businesses -- an apparel wholesale company, a special events company, and a janitorial company, his first venture at age 15 with two childhood friends.
As a Lawyer, Morial won the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award for his legal service to the poor and disadvantaged. He was also one of the youngest lawyers, at age 26, to argue and win a major case before the Louisiana Supreme Court. As a Professor, Morial served on the adjunct faculty of Xavier University in Louisiana, where he taught Constitutional Law, and Business Law.
As a Louisiana State Senator, Morial was named Legislative Rookie of the Year, Education Senator of the Year, and Environmental Senator of the Year, while authoring laws on a wide range of important subjects.
As Mayor of New Orleans, Morial was a popular chief executive with a broad multi-racial coalition who led New Orleans’ 1990’s renaissance and left office with a 70% approval rating. With vigor and creativity, he passionately attacked his city’s vast urban problems. Violent crimes and murders dropped by 60%, the unemployment rate was cut in half, and New Orleans’ poverty rate fell according to the 2000 Census.
The city’s economy experienced its most dramatic growth in over 20 years as the Convention Center was expanded, thousands of new hotel rooms were built, the Downtown Casino and Sports Arena opened and New Orleans hosted Super Bowls and Music Festivals, as well as International and Hemispheric Summits. The NBA also returned to New Orleans as he led the effort to relocate the Hornets from Charlotte.
During his tenure, New Orleans won the All-American City Award in 1996 for the first time in 50 years, as well as the prestigious City Livability Award, and finished
first in the National Night Out Against Crime Competition on two occasions.
He produced eight balanced budgets and led the passage of a new City Charter which authorized the creation of a City Revenue Estimating Conference, an Ethics Board, and Inspector General.
Elected by his peers as President of the bi-partisan U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), he served during the 9/11 Crisis and championed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federalization of airport security screeners.
The USCM achieved unparalleled visibility and prominence under his leadership.
BECOMING PRESIDENT OF THE URBAN LEAGUE
As President of the National Urban League since 2003, he has been the primary catalyst for an era of change -- a transformation for the 100-year-old civil rights organization. His energetic and skilled leadership has expanded the League’s work around an Empowerment agenda, which is redefining civil rights in the 21st century with a renewed emphasis on closing the economic gaps between Whites and Blacks as well as rich and poor Americans.
Under his stewardship, the League has had record fundraising success towards a 250MM, five-year fundraising goal and he has secured the BBB nonprofit certification, which has established the NUL as a leading national nonprofit.
His creativity has led to initiatives such as the Urban Youth Empowerment Program to assist young adults in securing sustainable jobs, and Entrepreneurship Centers in 5 cities to help the growth of small businesses. Also, Morial created the National Urban League Empowerment Fund, which has pumped almost $200 million into urban impact businesses including minority businesses through both debt and equity investments.
A graduate of the prestigious University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics and African American Studies, he also holds a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., as well as honorary degrees from Xavier University, Wilberforce University, and the University of South Carolina Upstate.
He serves as an Executive Committee member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Black Leadership Forum, and Leadership 18, and is a Board Member of the Muhammad Ali Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by Ebony Magazine, as well as one of the Top 50 Nonprofit Executives by the Nonprofit Times.
Morial, a history, arts, music, and sports enthusiast, has an adult daughter and is married to broadcast journalist Michelle Miller. Together they have two young children.
THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment, equality, and social justice. Founded in 1910 and headquartered in New York City, the Urban League collaborates at the national and local levels with community leaders, policymakers, and corporate partners to elevate the standards of living for African Americans and other historically underserved groups.
With 90 affiliates serving 300 communities in 37 states and the District of Columbia, the Urban League spearheads the development of social programs and authoritative public policy research, and advocate for policies and services that close the equality gap. At the community level, the National Urban League and its affiliates provide direct services that improve the lives of more than two million people annually.
Sources
https://westfaironline.com/123802/ exclusive-national-urban-leaguepresident-marc-morial-addresses-theracial-disparities-among-coronavirusvictims/ https://www.blackenterprise.com/natonalurban-league-demands-ppp-funding-goto-legitimate-imperiled-small-businesses/ https://nul.org/mission-and-history https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-morial59b05130/ https://www.energy.gov/diversity/ contributors/marc-morial
