Seconds after Centene Corporation CEO and National Urban League Board Chair Michael Neidorff’s prerecorded message of congratulatory remarks – with regrets that he would be unable to attend the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Centennial Gala on Saturday, March 24 – he made his way to the podium.
The audience was perplexed – until he provided a few additional remarks.
“My wife and I are celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary tonight,” Neidorff said. “But this event is so important that we have to be here.”
According to Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis President and CEO Michael McMillan, the entire region shared Neidorff’s sentiments.
“I want to thank each and every one of you for making this the largest Urban League banquet we have ever had,” McMillan said. “More than 1,350 came out to share this special evening with us.”
The gala had star power in the form of Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-winning actress Viola Davis as keynote speaker and Grammy-nominated R&B singer Eric Benet as post-program entertainment.
“For 100 years this Urban League has been working to answer the call for change and to eliminate the disease of poverty,” Davis said. “You’ve been there for those who say, ‘Give me what I need and I can show you my potential.’”
But – aside from the show-stealing Urban League Head Start Choir’s performance that blended Burt Bacharach’s “What the World Needs Now” and Nas’ “I Can” – the institution itself was the main attraction.
“You’ve responded time and time and time again,” National Urban League CEO Marc Morial said of the top-rated affiliate in the nation during his prerecorded remarks. “And each time you’ve responded with force and passion.”
Along with Centene, Ameren and World Wide Technology helped to assure that its transformative response to community challenges will continue with $1 million gifts each.
“Thanks a million,” Ameren Illinois CEO Richard Mark said coyly before presenting McMillan with a huge check.
Guests saw the difference that the local organization has made since its inception in 1918 by way of a 10-minute video that gave an overview of the organization, with some of the area’s most influential citizens speaking on its behalf. The video also featured individuals who know the power of the Urban League’s helping hand.
“If it hadn’t been for the Urban League, I would probably still be out here looking for jobs – and not knowing what to say in interviews,” said Sheldon Brown, a graduate of the Save Our Sons program. “The things that they taught me really had a big impact on my life.”
Christopher Metcalfe fought back tears as he spoke about how the Urban League’s employment services came to his aid.
“I heard a voice that said, ‘Stop at the Urban League,’” Metcalfe said. “The person there talked to me and felt my spirit. The woman said, ‘Do you know that the Urban league is known to help people like you get jobs?’ And they did.”
McMillan’s annual president’s report provided a broader illustration of the organization’s impact by way of Save Our Sons – which was born of the Ferguson unrest – and later Save Our Sisters.
“Michael was on the ground, and had been on the ground, so he could know what that community needed,” Monsanto Fund president emerita Deborah Patterson said. “He said, ‘We need a long-term solution with helping our young black men secure full-time employment.’”
McMillan announced the recent appointments of Redditt Hudson as vice president of Civil Rights and Advocacy and Michael Holmes as vice president of Workforce Development and Strategic Partnerships. He also announced a new facility coming to St. Louis city – the Home State Health Community Empowerment Center of North St. Louis. The center will be modeled after the Ferguson Empowerment Center, another direct response to the Ferguson unrest.
“The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has been an instrumental guiding and stabilizing force for change in our community,” Neidorff said. “Thank you for the work that you continue to do to make a positive difference – and make St. Louis a better place to live.”
When Davis approached the podium, she was met with a standing ovation. A hush came over the banquet room as they awaited to be inspired by the only African-American woman to win an Academy Award, Emmy Award and Tony Award for her stage, film and television work.
She told them that she was thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Mountaintop” speech when preparing her remarks. She looked to the speech – made on the eve of his assassination at the historic Mason Temple COGIC Church – and the current relevance of the movement that brought him to Memphis 50 years ago.
“Those sanitation workers carried signs that said, ‘I Am a Man,’” Davis said. “They were saying ‘I am human,’ because the racism and the racist systems preventing them from earning a decent living still to this day attempt to erase our humanity.”
Davis reminded the audience of the tremendous will of African Americans and their endurance in the face of insurmountable odds.
“We are wired for struggle,” Davis said. “But you are worthy of love and belonging. You were born worthy – you don’t have to hustle for it or beg for it. So let’s start trying to change the future.”
