by Marc Morial
<TriceEdneyWire.com> — “Education is important because, first of all, people need to know that discrimination still exists. It is still real in the workplace, and we should not take that for granted” — Alexis Herman.
Fear and intimidation have long been used as weapons to subjugate and silence Black Americans. From the horrors of the Middle Passage to the brutality of Jim Crow segregation, the legacy of violence and racial terror in the United States has left deep scars on generations. National Urban League Board of Trustees Vice Chair Alexis Herman, who passed away last month at the age of 77, knew this history not from textbooks, but from personal experience.
On Christmas Eve, when she was just five years old, young Alexis witnessed members of the Ku Klux Klan brutally beat her father, Aubrey Herman, a political organizer and civic leader in Mobile, Alabama, simply for daring to register Black voters. This traumatic moment could have broken her spirit. Instead, it lit a fire.
She did not choose bitterness. She chose to fight—not with vengeance, but with vision. Alexis Herman’s life was defined by her courage to confront injustice and her tireless efforts to create opportunity where once there was only exclusion.
Before she made history as the first African American to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, Alexis was already a pioneer. As a young social worker at Catholic Charities, she traveled across the Deep South, challenging employers to hire and train young Black workers. She helped place Black laborers in jobs at Pascagoula shipyards in Mississippi. In Atlanta, she lobbied Fortune 500 corporations to expand white-collar roles for Black women, laying the groundwork for a more inclusive economy.
Her path was never easy, but it was always forward.
As director of the Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor during the Carter Administration, she fought for policies that improved working conditions and pay equity for women. And as Secretary of Labor, she faced complex labor negotiations, including the largest postal strike the nation had ever seen. With a steady hand, sharp mind, and deeply held principles, she brokered solutions that protected workers and preserved economic stability.
But her legacy stretches far beyond labor policy. Alexis Herman was a builder—of bridges, pipelines, and power. She believed deeply in the promise of public service and never stopped advocating for the voiceless. Her leadership helped usher in a new era of diversity within the federal government and opened doors for a generation of Black professionals.
Throughout her career, Alexis remained a close ally of the National Urban League and a committed advocate for our mission. She understood that economic empowerment, civil rights, and civic engagement are inextricably linked. She championed equity not only as a moral imperative, but as a measure of a truly just society.
As we reflect on Alexis Herman’s legacy, we remember a woman who never backed down from a fight but always fought with grace. Her life’s work is a reminder, in the challenging times we are facing today, that fighting for what’s right is worth the efforts of all of us and that staying true to your principles will help you prevail in the face of fear and adversity.
May we carry her torch forward, with the same strength, dignity, and unshakable commitment to justice that defined her extraordinary life.
