OLYMPIA, Wash. – The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is capping-off Black History Month (BHM) by highlighting its Black leaders.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, who has led the agency since 2021, was the first Black person and the first woman elected mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. She argued that her tenure as the leader of HUD has empowered Black communities.
“During my tenure at HUD, we have supported more than a quarter of a million Black homebuyers…[and] launched a multi-million-dollar program that provides resources to Historically Black Colleges and Universities” Fudge said.
The department celebrated Black History Month by noting that HUD is historically and currently staffed by many Black policy professionals, including the deputy secretary and chief of staff.
The first Black HUD secretary was Robert Weaver, who was appointed by President Lydon Johnson in 1966. He was the first Black person to assume a cabinet position in American history.
