Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“The freedom to learn is the freedom to live. We cannot survive our current political moment or unlock the promise of our future without the tools to understand and make sense of our past.  And that’s precisely why those opposing democracy and equality are trying to take away our books, our concepts, and our knowledge. Ignorance about our past is the Achilles heel of democracy. And we can’t save this democracy without confronting its weakest link. That’s why we have to fight for the freedom to learn.” — Kimberlee Crenshaw

When the deadly COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across the United States in 2020, President Donald Trump infamously made the mind-boggling assertion, “If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any.” 

NEW YORK (April 25, 2025) — National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement regarding the death of Alexis Herman, Senior Vice Chair of the National Urban League's Board of Trustees and former U.S. Secretary of Labor:

“The entire Urban League family is grieving the loss of a gifted public servant, esteemed colleague, and cherished friend.

“A lifelong champion for working Americans and underserved communities, she blazed a trail for women of color as he youngest director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau in history and the first Black Labor Secretary.  She led the effort to institute a global child labor standard; moved people from welfare to work with dignity; and launched the most aggressive unemployed youth initiative since the 1970’s. She presided over a period of record-low unemployment and successfully advocated for a pivotal hike in the federal minimum wage.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has launched “The Pact: A Civil Rights Coalition Unity Commitment,” a declaration of mutual support among dozens of major nonprofit organizations representing millions of people nationwide. 

NEW YORK (April 2, 2025) — As Sen. Cory Booker's record-breaking denunciation of the Trump administration concluded in its second day,  the National Urban League offered enthusiastic support for his amplification of the voices of Americans who are being harmed by its extremist agenda.

"Senator Booker speaks for the American families who fear the loss of access to affordable healthcare, for marginalized communities whose protection from discrimination and violence is being stripped away, for law-abiding immigrants who face deportation, imprisonment, and persecution," National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said. "He speaks for the millions of Americans who are asking, as he asked on the Senate floor, how much more can we endure before we say enough is enough?"

Gov. Andy Beshear has replaced two members of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, including former Chair Diane Medley.

In a stunning act of political retribution and ideological extremism, the Trump campaign and its allies have launched a crusade to dismantle the Department of Education. The attacks are not just symbolic — they are existential. Executive orders, lawsuits and budgetary sabotage aim to gut the department’s authority, revoke billions in funding and leave America’s students — especially our most vulnerable — without the federal oversight and protection they deserve.

The Urban League of Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) and iBridge LLC have unveiled their collaboration, Impacful LLC, a new partnership aimed at delivering technological solutions that empower nonprofit organizations to improve their operations and increase their effectiveness.

This strategic partnership unites the technological expertise of iBridge with the deep understanding of community best practice solutions held by the Urban League of Broward County.

The collaboration aims to equip nonprofits with innovative tools to streamline their processes and better serve their communities. This joint effort builds upon a shared vision to empower the nonprofit sector with resources that foster growth and efficiency.

The Knoxville Area Urban League (Knoxville, TN) is preparing to host its second KAULED to Lead Young Professionals Conference.

Set for May 3 at the University of Tennessee Agriculture & Natural Resources Building, KAUL hopes to equip young professionals in Knoxville with skills and a network of like-minded individuals.

“I think Young Professionals these days are tasked with a lot in the office space, in terms of their work, how to excel, how to work up the ladder but how to be intentional in terms of getting those skill sets to succeeded,” said Knoxville Area Urban League Young Professionals Vice President Craig Pickett. “Also learning how to balance that with their personal attributes and how to give back in the local community and give them the opportunity to connect with individuals and gain intentional and strategic knowledge from key experts around the state of how they can engage with people in their fields but in their community as well.”

The Urban League of Greater Madison Young Professionals or ULGMYP (Madison, WI) will host their second annual Health and Wellness Fair on Sunday, May 4, at Madison College’s Truax Campus.

The event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is designed to give community members tools and resources to better their health across multiple dimensions — physical, mental, and financial.

“What this event hopes to accomplish is not only allowing our members as a part of the young professionals organization to learn more about their health and their wellness and how to find tools to really lean into practicing better healthy practices, but it also wants to encourage our community to do it as well,” said Bobbie Briggs, ULGMYP personal and professional development chair.

Briggs said this kind of event is especially important for the population ULGMYP serves.