National president lauds local groups

The dinner was a celebration of the expansion of the local Urban League.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
LIBERTY -- The president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League had high praise for the efforts of the local UL and the vision of its president, Thomas Conley.
Marc H. Morial was the guest speaker Friday at the annual dinner of the Greater Warren-Youngstown Urban League at the MetroPlex Center.
Members celebrated the Warren-Trumbull Urban League's 75th anniversary and the expansion of the local league. The event was the first for the new organization.
Morial said Conley has unified the Trumbull and Mahoning groups in a methodical and thoughtful manner.
"They have built a much stronger, more unified group here," Morial said. "This is my first visit to the region, and my first chance to get a sense for this part of the world."
Here's top challenge
He said the local Urban League's biggest challenge here is to make a difference in employment. He said the UL must highlight disparities between race and class, focusing on the betterment of employment, schools and education, health and quality of life.
"This region is ground zero in the economic transformation of the United States," Morial said. "This is the same region -- Ohio, Pennsylvania and western New York -- that gave this country its success and prowess in the 20th century."
To combat the global shift of manufacturing jobs out of the United States and the slide of middle class Americans into poverty, Morial said the Urban League must train and retrain people for 21st-century jobs.
"We must ensure that any new economic thrust must include African-Americans," he said.
Morial said young black people must find success in the classroom to survive.
"I want to see a world where the role models for our young people are not just rap stars and basketball players, but young people on the honor roll and excelling in college and in professional careers," he added.
Morial, who has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Georgetown University, was selected to head the National Urban League -- the nation's oldest and largest civil rights and direct service organization -- in 2003.
Ex-mayor of New Orleans
Morial was mayor of New Orleans from 1994-2002, having served a term as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. While he was mayor of that city, crime fell 60 percent; the police department underwent major reform; 15,000 new homes, 200 miles of new streets and a new sports arena were built; and the NBA's Hornets came to New Orleans. Before becoming mayor, he was a Louisiana state senator for two years.
At the Urban League, Morial established an empowerment agenda and an equality index that measures educational, economic, health, civic and civil-rights achievement in the league's annual "State of Black America" report. He also established a Black Male Commission and an Urban Entrepreneurial Partnership program.
Conley is president of the enlarged organization, which now serves Trumbull and Mahoning counties.
Conley, a Liberty resident who also is a member of the Liberty school board, grew up in Youngstown, graduated from The Rayen School, and received a bachelor's degree in business management from Malone College.
He worked in the Youngstown accounting office of Alvin Hopkins before serving as finance director for the Youngstown Area Urban League from 1986-91.
tullis@vindy.com