Oregonian to Head Urban League : Hiring of Activist Ends Long Search by San Diego Chapter

A two-year search by the San Diego Urban League for an executive director ended this week with the appointment of Portland, Ore., activist Herb Cawthorne to head the troubled civil rights and social reform organization.

Cawthorne, 40, who heads the Portland Urban League, said he accepted “with my eyes wide open” the challenge by the group’s board of directors to pull the organization out of the red and restore its image and dignity.

He will replace interim director James A. Forde, who replaced another interim director in November. The 600-member group has been without a permanent leader since the December, 1985, resignation of Rudolph A. Johnson Jr.

Forde Set to Retire

Forde, 60, said he will retire now that the 24-member board of directors has selected “a qualified man with some good Urban League experience.” Forde said the league was on the upswing after struggling with an $80,000 budget deficit last fiscal year and restructuring its leadership.

Cawthorne “is inheriting a group that is on the upswing, with little or no deficit,” Forde said. “We’ve got a long way to go to be financially healthy, and we still have a lot of problems to solve in the community.”

Cawthorne, known nationally as a motivational speaker, hosts “Here and Now,” a weekly television talk show in Portland that addresses political and social issues. Before his two years with the Portland Urban League, he counseled black students through the Office of Special Services at Portland State University and served on the Portland school board.

Reorganization First

Cawthorne said the first order of business upon his taking office Aug. 3 is to discuss with his staff a short-term reorganization.

“I am not confused, nor is the board of directors, about the serious condition of the Urban League. The board was very frank with me,” Cawthorne said. “There will be some painful and difficult decisions to be made.”

Cawthorne said he will push for a dialogue between the black and Latino communities to find out their needs and how they can work together to fulfill them.

“San Diego is a perfect city to embrace a clearly directed Urban League,” Cawthorne said. “It can solve the problems that have plagued and irreparably divided so many major cities.”

The Urban League was founded 77 years ago in New York City to improve the economic condition of blacks.