By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
kmcneir@afro.com
Frustrated and concerned after President Gerald Ford in 1976 delivered his first State of the Union Address and failed to acknowledge the most pressing issues faced by Blacks, National Urban League (NUL) then-President Vernon E. Jordan Jr. decided to publish a report that provided a comprehensive analysis of the conditions under which African Americans lived.
The result would be the NUL’s State of Black America report which has since become a benchmark for assessing racial equality in areas that range from economics, employment and education, to health, housing and civic participation. The now annual report also provides a counter-narrative to discussions and debates which ignore or marginalize the realities of the Black community.
During this year’s National Urban League Conference held July 14-19 in Cleveland, Ohio, participants were eager to receive and analyze the State of Black America report, and to network, exchange ideas and participate in strategic discussions that focused on ways to better secure justice for all. The report, “A Revived Movement for Democracy – On the Ground and in the Culture,” served as the foundation for the musings of featured speakers who participated in plenary sessions or delivered keynote addresses – even energizing more intimate tete-a-tetes.
NUL President and CEO Marc H. Morial, during his keynote address on July 17 – the day on which the report was released – said recent efforts to erase decades of progress on racial equality in the U.S. have resulted in a “state of emergency” for anti-discrimination policies, personal freedoms and Black economic advancement.
He said as the nation witnesses an unprecedented rollback of nearly a century of civil rights victories, it is imperative that Blacks unite and prepare for the battles which lie ahead.
“It is worse than we feared. Our democracy is in crisis, and Black America is especially at risk,” Morial said. “The safeguards outlined in the U.S. Constitution to protect our freedoms are being systematically dismantled. Sixty years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the legislative process has been weaponized to suppress and minimize Black voices and votes.”
Morial also took aim at the Trump administration as well as those who support his agenda, either explicitly or through silent acquiescence.
“This all began not with policy but rhetoric which festered on the internet until it finally found a home in mainstream America,” he said. “It was always present but these views had been banished to the fringes until the current president allowed them into mainstream America.”
He concluded his remarks with a promise and a warning to America.
“This year’s report speaks to the state of emergency which Blacks and the nation at large face,” Morial said. “But we will not go away quietly. We’re fighting back with lawsuits, protests, legislative advocacy, selective buying campaigns and targeting the president’s racially motivated executive orders. And we remain committed to the Urban League’s “Three D’s: defend democracy, demand diversity, and defeat poverty because the war on ‘woke’ has now become a war on truth.”
Urban League advocates agree – ‘Black America cannot wait’
Justin M. Bibb, the fourth Black and second youngest mayor in Cleveland’s history, set the stage for the events that would follow after Morial highlighted the key aspects of the State of Black America report.
“We are indeed at a crossroads in America and that means we have a lot of work to do,” Bibb said. “As my late grandmother used to say, ‘Well done is better than well said.’ Here in Cleveland, I am working to continue the work and to honor the legacy of Carl Stokes – one of the first Blacks elected to lead a major urban city in America.
“We must focus on reducing the wealth gap between Whites and Blacks. We must ensure that Black businesses, like developers, get their fair share. Finally, we need to follow the blueprint that’s being used in the White House. The Trump administration knows how to use their power to get what the president wants. When we regain the reins of power, we need to do the same to address the needs and to work on behalf of our people.”
Three African-American women that continue to lead their respective communities and who serve as beacons of excellence for both Blacks and all Americans participated in the first plenary session of the conference which featured legendary journalist Ed Gordon as the moderator.
The panelists included Melanie Campbell, president/CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convenor of the Black Women’s Roundtable; Maya Wiley, president/CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; and Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, cofounder and executive director, The African American Policy Forum and a professor at both Columbia University and UCLA law schools.
“We are still making gains but some things are very different under the current administration,” Campbell said. “The mayor of Newark was arrested for doing his job. People are being hunted down and put in detention centers in Florida. One congresswoman from the state called them concentration camps. We must be strategic with how we handle this existential threat to democracy.”
Wiley, a civil rights attorney, said in keeping with the agenda of the current president, the door has been opened for competitive authoritarianism, a political system in which incumbents frequently violate democratic rules and norms to maintain power and who will even resort to violence to remain in power.
“Trump is the president and is running the country but he’s predating something that’s been around for a long time – a concerted effort of White supremacists,” she said. “Project 2025 outlines the gameplan which is to rationalize all forms of discrimination and we’re seeing this extremist ideology playing out in our government and our courts.
“To be clear, this is all about control,” Wiley continued. “If we remain silent and grow more afraid, we will soon lose any power, including the ability to freely speak to make our demands known to government. So, what do we do? We vote, we make our demands known and we do so loudly, and we remind leaders in government that we are their bosses.”
Crenshaw, one of the first scholars to explore the concept of intersectionality, said Americans must understand that the creation of unique experiences of discrimination and privilege are taking place in all levels of society.
“Americans would be wise to accept the fact that Blacks are the first community to experience what’s going to happen to everyone else,” she said. “It’s a long-standing reality – a policy or concept known as anti-Blackness. And as Rick James once observed, it’s a terrible drug which undermines the interests of Blacks and others.
“People are being fooled to believe that Trump wants to make America great again. But what he’s really doing is methodically stripping away the fundamental rights of and access to power for all Americans,”she continued. “Langston Hughes once noted that it was unnecessary to tell Negroes about fascism because we’ve always lived under it. We must protest and protect our history as chronicled in books, museums and Black institutions because that’s where our ideas, our memories and our strength lie.”
Crenshaw also said – perhaps particularly addressing today’s youth – that even with the advances made through the internet and social media, we cannot ignore how we were able to achieve past success in the battle for civil rights.
“We cannot fight this war on our phones,” she said. “The Civil Rights Movement was built through community and connections. Young people often say it’s a generational thing – they believe the new technology provides all we need to effectively communicate and to voice our concerns. But if history has shown us anything, it’s vital that we use our muscles in concert with our minds and put boots on the ground.”
To find out more about the State of Black America 2025 report, visit: https://stateofblackamerica.org/reports/2025
