The Powerful Legacy of Vernon Jordan

On March 1, 2021, the world mourned the death of a prominent figure of racial and economic justice, Vernon Jordan. He served as Executive Director of the National Urban League from 1971 to 1981. Jordan was, as many would say, a transformational leader in the movement against injustice. 

Vernon E. Jordan was born on August 15, 1935 in Atlanta, Georgia. Jordan was an ambitious student and graduated from David T. Howard High School in 1953 with honors. After graduating, he attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He was the only African American in his class. During college, Jordan was involved in the student senate, played basketball, and achieved state-wide honors from speaking competitions. When his college career ended, Jordan entered Howard University School of Law and, in 1960, received his J.D. 

Jordan began his legal career in 1961 by getting involved in the civil rights movement; he  aided the integration of the University of Georgia, and escorted Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes, Black students, through a hostile white crowd. He went on to hold many different titles. Among them were director of the Voter Education Project for the Southern Regional Council, Georgia field secretary for the NAACP, and delegate to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s White House Conference on Civil Rights. 

After Whitney M. Young’s death, Jordan was selected to lead the National Urban League. It was just three years after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., during a very difficult time for the Black community. He created the very first State of Black America report in 1976 in response to President Gerald Ford’s State of the Union Address and Senator Edmund Muskie’s response, which never once mentioned the enormous crisis facing Black Americans.

Vernon Jordan’s work played an undeniably important role in the fight against racial injustice in America. Our world lost a leader and incredible human being and he will be deeply missed.