Jill Biden and Al Sharpton Pay Tribute to Civil Rights Activist Sybil Morial

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — First lady Jill Biden, former ambassador Andrew Young and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who paid tribute during funeral services Monday for New Orleans civil rights activist Sybil Morial.

Morial, who was also the widow of New Orleans’ first Black mayor, Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial, and mother to former Mayor Marc H. Morial, died earlier this month at age 91.

New Orleans news outlets reported that Biden paid her respects in a video played for attendees at the service held at Xavier University, where Morial attended school and worked for 28 years. Young, the one-time United Nations ambassador and former Atlanta mayor who was a friend of Morial's since their childhood, also spoke:

“There's something magical, and spiritual, about the life of Sybil Morial that will never die,” Young told the mourners.

Sharpton, leader of the National Action Network, said Morial's activism made them all better.

“What Sybil Morial has done goes beyond her family, goes beyond her husband and goes beyond her children and grandchildren," he said. “All of us are better because she decided to join the struggle to make the country better racially and gender-wise.”

Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young Jr., bottom left, talks with Rev. Al Sharpton, right, founder and CEO of National Action Network, before the start of the Celebration of Life for Sybil Haydel Morial at Xavier University of Louisiana, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New Orleans. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Sharpton also read condolences from Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, who said Morial broke down barriers for all and lived a life of impact that will be inspirational for generations.

“Mrs. Morial will be remembered for the light she brought to this world,” Harris wrote.

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, sent condolences as well, describing Morial as “an extraordinary woman.”

Andrew Young Jr., former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, shares fond memories of going to a high school prom with Sybil Morial during a Celebration of Life for Morial at Xavier University of Louisiana, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New Orleans. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Morial was born Nov. 26, 1932, and raised by her physician father and schoolteacher mother in a deeply segregated New Orleans. She attended Xavier University of Louisiana, one of the city’s historically Black higher learning institutions, before transferring to Boston University, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was pursuing a divinity degree and guest-preaching at churches. She met King there and returned home, inspired to do her part in the Civil Rights Movement.

She founded the Louisiana League of Good Government, which helped Black people register to vote at a time when they still had to pass tests such as memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution. She also was a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging a Louisiana law that barred public school teachers from being involved in groups fighting segregation, according to the LSU Women’s Center.

The grandchildren of Sybil Haydel Morial carry out her casket during a Celebration of Life for Morial at Xavier University of Louisiana, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New Orleans. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

During reflections by her children, Marc Morial, who now leads the National Urban League, said the city had “lost its matriarch.”

“She is one of the last living personalities from that magic era of the 50s and 60s who opened doors so that we could walk through them,” he said.

He said he believed he and his siblings inherited many of his mother’s traits. His brother, Jacques, and sister, Julie, got their high IQ from her, while his sister Cherie acquired their mother’s ease at making friends and his other sister, Monique, manifested her drill sergeant enforcement persona, he said. As for himself, he said, he received her multitasking ability.

“She could cook, talk to you on the phone, help us with homework and every hair would still be in place. She was masterful in carrying out many things at one time,” he said.

In his final reflection, he told St. Peter, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, to get ready.

“Open the gates! Sound the trumpet! Roll out the red carpet! Our queen is coming your way!” he said, drawing a round of applause.