Seconds after Centene Corporation CEO and National Urban League Board Chair Michael Neidorff’s prerecorded message of congratulatory remarks included regrets that he would be unable to attend the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Centennial Gala Saturday night, he made his way to the podium.
The audience was a bit 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 1350 came out to share this special evening with us.”
Yes, 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 the 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 in her remarks. She said that the organization has been a beacon to those in need of equity. “You’ve been there for those who say, ‘give me what I need and 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. We don’t want this celebration to be a culmination, we want you to look to the next 100 years.”
Along with Centene, Ameren and World Wide Technology helped assure that their transformative response continues with $1 million gifts presented early in the program.
“Thanks a million,” Ameren Illinois CEO Richard Mark said coyly before presented McMillan with a huge check.
Guests saw the difference that the organization has made since its inception in 1918 by way of a ten-minute video that gave an overview of the organization and gave some of the area’s most influential citizens to speak on its relentless work as a community resource.
“For 100 years the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has been a tremendous support to Metropolitan St. Louis and an advocate for African Americans in the St. Louis region,” Neidorff said. “It has played a vital role in promoting quality education and providing effective social service programs that strengthen the St. Louis region.
The video also featured some of the 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 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. And they did.”
McMillan’s annual President’s report provided a broader illustration of the organization’s impact by way of Save Our Sons and Save Our Sisters – an initiative formed based on the overwhelming success of Save Our Sons.
“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 of McMillan’s presence during the Ferguson unrest. “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 – which came as a direct response to the Ferguson unrest. McMillian said that Ferguson Center, which opened this summer, is already actively researching expansion ideas so that the center can serve on a larger scale.
“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.”
Wired for struggle, but worthy of love
When Davis approached the podium to deliver her remarks, 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 Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “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 relevance of the movement that brought him to Memphis 50 years ago that still rings true today.
“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.”
She also told them that they owe it to their ancestors to live a bold and purpose filled life.
“The future we can try to create for ourselves would not be possible if it had not been for those who came before us,” Davis said. “My father died of pancreatic cancer and my sister said, ‘he died, and he didn’t do anything with his life.’ It destroyed me because I believed it.”
Her father had a second grade education and worked menial jobs. As a result, the family lived in abject poverty.
“But someone told me ‘Viola, that’s a lie. He did have dreams. You were his dream,” Davis said. “I tell you tonight that you are your parents, your grandparents and your ancestors dreams.
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.”
