To Be Equal is a syndicated weekly opinion column distributed by the National Urban League to news outlets across the nation since 1963, when it was started as “the Voice of Black America” by National Urban League President, Whitney M. Young, Jr.

To receive the ReMARCs weekly e-newsletter featuring To Be Equal in your inbox,
please Sign Up Here

National Urban League
Thu, 21 Sep 2023 - 1:46pm

U.S. Open Champ And Phenom Coco Gauff Represents A New Era Of American Tennis

“If you can think it, you can do it. If you can dream it, you can do it. Just keep working hard. It won't come easy and it will seem impossible but if you keep working hard it will definitely happen.” - Coco Gauff 

Learn More


National Urban League
Fri, 08 Sep 2023 - 1:57pm

Wealthy Extremists Attacking Funding For Black Women Entrepreneurs Are Desperate To Preserve Systemic Inequality

“In the face of persistent, systemic discrimination against Black people and all people of color arising from our country’s long history of racism, Ed Blum and his recently-created front group are bent on dismantling programs benefiting the Black community. They seek to kneecap any effort to undo entrenched racial inequalities and further cement the status quo of inequitable market access.” -- Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. 

Learn More


National Urban League
Fri, 25 Aug 2023 - 12:05pm

60th Anniversary Of The March On Washington Celebrates Racial Unity & Collective Resistance To Extremism

“It is not merely sympathy and compassion for the Black people of America that motivates us. It is above all and beyond all such sympathies and emotions a sense of complete identification and solidarity born of our own painful historic experience. … bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.” – Rabbi Joachim Prinz, March on Washington, 1963 

Learn More


National Urban League
Thu, 17 Aug 2023 - 3:47pm

Racist Attacks Can't Hide The Massive Lawlessness On Display In Fulton County, Georgia's, Case Against Trump's “Corrupt Organization”

“With Trump, you don't need to look for a dog whistle. It's a bull horn when it comes to race. And I do think that's deliberate. We've seen the -- I mean, slanderous attacks that he has put out against Fani Willis, you know, alleged things I won't even repeat."

Learn More


National Urban League
Thu, 10 Aug 2023 - 6:29pm

Charles Ogletree Leaves A Profound Legacy Of Commitment To Justice And Equity, Compassion And Kindness

Ogletree passed away last week at the age of 70, but the fight for justice in Tulsa lives on. On the day he died, a group of survivors and descendants asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reinstate their most recent lawsuit, which a lower court dismissed last month. 

Learn More


National Urban League
Thu, 20 Jul 2023 - 5:29pm

A Tribute to a Titan: Honoring Jesse Jackson's Legacy and Our Shared Mission

Rev. Jackson, who this week announced his retirement from the organization he founded, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is not just a beacon of hope or a pillar of strength; he is a trailblazer, a mentor, a friend, and an inspiration to me and countless others.

Learn More


National Urban League
Fri, 07 Jul 2023 - 2:59pm

National Urban League
Thu, 01 Jun 2023 - 3:33pm

To Be Equal: Celebrating 20 Years Of Upholding A Tradition As “The Voice Of Black America”

“Show me a person who is full of prejudice, and I will show you a sick, unhappy, fearful individual who is not going anywhere and who is not growing. People don’t shut other people out; they fence themselves in.” – Whitney M. Young, Jr.

Learn More


National Urban League
Thu, 25 May 2023 - 6:56pm

A Climate In Crisis

“There’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent threat of a changing climate.” - Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

Learn More


National Urban League
Thu, 25 May 2023 - 4:53pm

March For Our Lives Follows a Venerable American Tradition of Student Social Activism [March 21, 2018]

“By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim, by allowing our movie and television screens to teach our children that the hero is one who masters the art of shooting and the technique of killing, by allowing all these developments, we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes.” – Martin Luther Ki

Learn More