By Elena Temple-Webb
August 6, 2012

U.S. Conference of Mayors President Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter addressed the National Urban League (NUL) conference during its Annual Meeting in New Orleans last week.

Nutter's remarks came during a plenary session on voting rights on the heels of President Obama's address to the Urban League. Titled “Occupy the Vote: Are Voting Rights Under Attack?” the goal of the panel was to educate attendees about the move in many states to change laws regarding the type of identification needed to vote.

Explaining that these changes could potentially threaten the voting rights of millions of people, disproportionately impacting African Americans, Nutter said, “I am especially pleased with the work that the NUL is doing to raise awareness of voting rights because everyday mayors are on the frontlines working to make sustainable policy changes that give people the opportunities to succeed.”

Nutter also expressed concern about the pending new voting requirements in Pennsylvania. “With this new voter identification law, there is the potential for hundreds of thousands of registered voters in Pennsylvania to be disenfranchised. In a state that has [had] no documented cases of in-person voter fraud, is a law demanding state issued identification [to vote] really necessary?” he asked.

Nutter praised NUL CEO and President Marc Morial for his leadership and assured conference attendees that mayors are working in partnership with the Urban League's agenda.

“I look forward to a continuing relationship with the National Urban League in the months and years ahead. This year's conference shares the same concerns that so many mayors across this country do: How do we make the lives of our constituents better? How can we improve public education, create jobs, and focus on health and housing? … The USCM is moving forward with the best interests of our [shared] constituents in mind. We are working to put the priorities of our communities in front of Congress and the presidential candidates in the form of a Mayors- Agenda. We want to create a partnership with Washington, D.C. because 85 percent of people in this country live in cities. We will continue to fight for the needs of our individual communities and push forward our shared goals – expanding opportunities for education and employment.”

True to Urban League form, Nutter was not the only mayor who addressed the NUL Conference.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who started his career with the NUL, also addressed the conference on the issue of equal opportunity. At 29 years old, Hancock was the youngest leader of an Urban League chapter anywhere in America.

Host New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu delivered a moving call to address the epidemic of crime in his city and cities around the country. “On this issue of murder I am left in knots. In America last year, 13,000 people were murdered on our streets and these victims were disproportionately young African American men. In just 365 days, more Americans die on the streets than on 9/11 and in the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq, combined. A trillion dollars [has been] spent on those wars. [And] What have we spent to try and save these young men? What have we done? Not nearly enough.”

Landrieu implored the audience to get involved in saving America's youth. “Our communities will never improve if there is not personal responsibility. I believe that government cannot replace a family. But it takes a village, a healthy community to raise a child right. I demand that government invest in our communities so families can thrive and children can have a chance. … But it won't matter without personal responsibility. … Government can't solve all our problems; we each need to take care of our own business. There is no excuse. Quit waiting; start doing. We may not all be at fault, but we are all responsible.”

The theme of personal responsibility was echoed in President Obama's remarks the previous evening, who implored the teens in the audience to pay more attention to ‘homework than hanging out and watching the Real Housewives- so they can be prepared to compete with their global counterparts and participate in the international economy of the future. He reminded the NUL youth, “America says we will give you opportunity, but you-ve got to earn your success.”

To help expand educational opportunities, President Obama announced the establishment of a White House Initiative for Educational Excellence African Americans, “so that every child has greater access to a complete and competitive education from the time they-re born all through the time they get a career.”

When sharing his thoughts on the current state of the nation's economy, President Obama said, “Today we-re battling our way back from a once-in-a-lifetime economic crisis. When I took office, we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month. … We-d gone through almost a decade in which job growth had been sluggish, incomes had declined, costs were going up – all culminating in the financial system coming close to a breakdown. … Today, three and a half years later, We've had 28 straight months of private sector job growth. [Yet], We still have much more work to do. There's still too many out of work, too many homes underwater, too many Americans struggling to stay afloat.”

The President noted, “What's holding us back is a stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different views about which path we should take as a country. And it's up to the American people to decide what direction we should go,” as he encouraged the NUL attendees to be actively engaged in guiding that direction.

The National Urban League Annual Conference is the nation's largest civil rights and social justice conference, which attracts thousands of the nation's most influential community leaders, together with top policy-makers, academicians, business leaders and artists for three days of dynamic dialogue, intellectual exchange and community service.