[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1617-E1618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 95 YEARS OF SERVICE AND EMPOWERMENT: THE LEGACY OF THE NATIONAL URBAN 
                            LEAGUE CONTINUES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues and the country an important conference and series of events 
being held in Washington this week. On Wednesday, July 27, the National 
Urban League will celebrate its 95th anniversary with

[[Page E1618]]

a conference-summit on the challenges and advances in the empowerment 
of our communities to change the daily lives of Americans.
  With a broad and exemplary series of panels and discussion sessions, 
the Urban League will continue its legendary service in support of 
raising awareness of the limited job opportunities, challenging health 
care costs, increasing economic and social disparities, and 
disappointing gaps in educational equality. The Urban League will not 
only highlight and question the challenges and limitations faced by 
communities across the county, but they will also propose and examine 
solutions for those communities.
  For almost a century now, the Urban League has championed and 
advanced solutions to the crippling disparities that exist within our 
communities. They have long been involved with the struggle for 
equality and opportunity that faces the Black community, in particular, 
but economically disadvantaged groups nationwide.
  In reaction to the Supreme Court's 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision 
approving segregation in the United States, Black Americans were 
quickly relegated to the most menial jobs, the poorest conditions of 
housing and health care, and the least access to quality education. 
Individuals, such as Mrs. Ruth Standish Brown and Dr. George Edmund 
Haynes, led the effort to adopt and prepare Black Americans for their 
economic struggles in urban America. Their efforts led the Committee on 
Urban Conditions, the Committee for the Improvement of Industrial 
Conditions Among Negroes, and the National League for the Protection of 
Colored Women to form the National League on Urban Conditions Among 
Negroes, later shortened to the National Urban League.
  Since that mergence of groups and interests, the National Urban 
League has been at the forefront of fighting for equal opportunities 
and treatment of Americans in this country. They have pursued public 
and private strategies designed to provide training, assistance, 
development and awareness programs about the struggles for equal 
treatment and opportunity. Working with Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and 
Asians, the National Urban League has been a champion of the economic 
welfare of the disadvantaged.
  Today, the League continues that legacy of championship for economic 
justice. They continue to provide useful information to policymakers in 
their evaluation and development of programs to aid the poor. They 
continue to inform the community of mechanisms to overcome the 
challenges that lay before them. They continue to be an advocate for 
the poor, an information-provider for the decision-makers, and a 
champion of justice and equality for the Nation, and they do all of 
this at the local community level through its chapters in communities 
around the Nation.
  This week, led by its president, Marc Morial, who is providing superb 
leadership to the Urban League in the tradition of the great Whitney 
Young, the League continues its legacy and consciousness-building. I 
hope my colleagues will be reminded of the importance of this group to 
our economic development. As they conference in the Nation's Capital, I 
hope we would reach out and listen to the proposals and solutions the 
League provides. I hope we would provide them a voice for and an ear to 
their causes.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit the following article written by Zenitha Prince 
of the Afro-American concerning this week's meeting. I welcome the 
attendees and conferees of this year's conference to their Nation's 
Capital, Washington, DC.

                    Urban League Celebrates 95 Years

       July 23, 2005--About 15,000 people are expected to join the 
     National Urban League in ``Celebrating 95 Years of Empowering 
     Communities and Changing Lives'' during its annual 
     conference, which will convene at the Washington Convention 
     Center in Washington, D.C., from July 27 to 31.
       ``As we celebrate 95 years of direct service to communities 
     across the nation, we expect the annual conference in 
     Washington, D.C., to be the largest gathering of the Urban 
     League Movement,'' said Marc H. Morial, National Urban League 
     president and CEO, in a prepared statement.
       The annual conference will feature innovative and 
     interactive plenary sessions and events that present some of 
     the Nation's most illustrious and influential leaders. It 
     also gives us a chance to discuss and finds ways to help one 
     another in closing the tremendous gaps that exist in health, 
     education and economics. The annual conference helps bring 
     people together around issues of concern to our community and 
     the Nation.
       Among the featured speakers are U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton 
     (D-N.Y.); hiphop historian and author Kevin Powell; author, 
     activist and comedian Dick Gregory; and Rainbow Coalition/
     PUSH founder and president the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The 
     conference will also feature performances by India.Arie, 
     Brian McKnight, Doug E. Fresh and Chuck Brown.
       Most notably, however, the 2005 conference will feature a 
     new Influencer Summit geared towards engaging, connecting and 
     building young professionals. The list of speakers includes 
     (The Apprentice) star Kwame Jackson, who plans to discuss how 
     he parlayed his reality television experience into 
     opportunities that include a new company, Legacy Holdings, 
     which is even now brokering a $3.8 billion deal to build a 
     real estate development called Rosewood, just miles outside 
     of the District of Columbia, and a lucrative career on the 
     international speakers' circuit.
       ``I wouldn't be on this phone or have any notoriety if I 
     had stayed on my job [with Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs],'' 
     said the 30-year-old D.C. native. Modestly deflecting any 
     praise about his achievements, Jackson advised young 
     entrepreneurs that corporate America is a tough environment 
     for a young Black person, and that it takes tenacity and 
     vision to attain success. ``Being an entrepreneur is for 
     people who enjoy getting their teeth kicked,'' Jackson said. 
     ``You have to be the kind of person that will get up and ask 
     for more.''
       The Influencer Summit will also examine the changing civil 
     rights landscape and the young Black professional's role in 
     it.
       ``I think we're the up-and-coming leaders. Any civil rights 
     movement from here on out will be carried out by us,'' said 
     Larry Meadows Jr., president of the Washington National Urban 
     League Young Professionals.
       Both Jackson and Meadows agreed that the Black community is 
     moving into the ``second generation'' of the civil rights 
     struggle, which involves the fight for economic parity.
       ``We've grown by leaps and bounds, but if you look at it 
     economically, we've not gone very far,'' Meadows said. ``We 
     have a lot of successful individuals, and that creates the 
     perception that we're OK. But overall, we're still 
     struggling.''
       For more information about the 2005 National Urban League 
     Annual Conference, go to www.nu1.org; and for more 
     information about Kwame Jackson, check out his Web site, 
     www.kwamejackson.com.

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