BOSTON – Marc Morial is a game changer and a very effective civic leader.
This conclusion was deduced after speaking with attendees who flew from around the nation to participate in the annual conference for one of the largest civil rights and jobs training organizations in the United States. Morial’s leadership at the NUL has elevated the organization in the eyes of the conventioneers and he has kept the organization inextricably intertwined within the fabric of the black community — all while building fruitful alliances with partners and other organizations to amply its influence.
“I love Marc Morial. He’s done so well in politics and done so well as the president of the Urban League,” says Pam Perry, who flew into New England from her metro Detroit hometown. “[Morial] is a visionary, he has humor, he’s thoughtful, he is well connected and he can make things happen. He’s done a great job as NUL president.”
Now that the 101st annual National Urban League Conference has concluded and thousands of Urban League members return to their hometown, people can take inventory of the organization and its longtime leader and the former mayor of New Orleans. The organization boasts that it is the greatest national entity that works on job training and urban youth
“Just as Whitney Young was that voice, Marc continues to be that voice for us. I think he is a good president,” says entrepreneur Endura Govan. “The fact that he’s been the mayor and that he’s held several corporate offices, has greatly prepared him to serve the Urban League. Because those relationships are being use to strengthen the local chapters.”
Not everyone sang Morial’s praises. Doreen Wade, a native of Massachusetts, believes that Morial “… would be a better president if he realized what the people that he is putting in control are doing. We are talking about economic empowerment, but I think that a large segment of the population [is] being left out,” she says. ”So this is being done by the people who he put in charge. And until he really looks at [what] the people whom he put in charge are really doing, the Urban League is going to be less and less important to the black community.”
But almost everyone else was pleased with what Morial has done thus far in his tenure.
“After other conventions, when the bus rolls out of town, then what? My community looks the same. Some of these organizations get tens of millions of dollars,” Lucas Riggins says in disgust. But his assessment of Morial is glowing. “Marc Morial is fantastic. He’s definitely fantastic because he positions himself next to the people. He doesn’t sit behind a door. He doesn’t sit high and look low. He gets out here on the ground and he’ll shake your [hand] and and listens to what you have to say and [see] if he can help. If he can’t, he’s the kind of guy who shoots straight from the hip. And that’s the kind of guy that I am. I can definitely identify with Marc Morial.”
Riggins pretty much summarized why Morial has retained a large following and equally devoted workforce.
“What he does is he empowers people. It’s not all about him. He’s raising up good people behind him. And that’s a good leader. From what I can tell, he is empowering people [and] giving them the ability to take it to the next level.” –terry shropshire
