Closing the Equality Gap

Forty years ago, the National Urban League with its guild, its affiliates, its organizational expertise, its mosaic of many people, and under the leadership of the late, great Whitney Young, played an integral role in the 1963 March on Washington, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of '65 and Great Society programs.

- Marc H. Morial, 2003 Keynote Address

Since its inception in 1910, the National Urban League and its local affiliates have been at the forefront of the civil-rights movement, and continue that leadership and advocacy role today. With key programs focused on empowering African-Americans to achieve equality in all aspects of American life, the League and its affiliates build the bridges that will close the equality gap for all people.

The League and its affiliates advocate for social justice in issues such as police brutality and affirmative action. The National Urban League's Institute for Opportunity and Equality (IOE) also closely monitors the economic, political and social climate of the nation, interprets the findings, and recommends active policy for change. The League and its affiliates advocate with programs such as:

• A Commission on the Black Male created to address concerns about the level of incarceration among young African-American men

• The Equality Index, measuring the equality gaps and disparities between blacks and whites in the five key areas of education, economic development, health, civil rights and social justice, was published in The State of Black America 2004

• COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) in partnership with the Department of Justice, acts as an interactive forum to help address police brutality and accountability issues in local communities