In celebration ofĀ the 50th anniversary of “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legendary “I Have a Dream” speech, New York Life designated Wednesday, August 28 as Cirilo A. McSween Community Empowerment Day in honor of New York Life’s first African-American agent Mr. McSween was the treasurer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for Dr. King.
In commemoration of this special day in American history and New York Life history, the company’s African-American Market Unit has set a goal for each of its 1,000 African-American agents and those serving the African-American community to honor the legacies of Mr. McSween and Dr. King and their histories of community empowerment by assisting families with financial protection and placing $1 million of life insurance in the African-American community on this day, for a total of $1 billion.
“New York Life agents are committed to providing families with financial protection and the peace of mind that life insurance affords.Ā However, statistics show that African-American families are more likely to forego life insurance coverage, and if they do have life insurance, they have less coverage in place than the average American family.Ā It is our goal to bridge this gap and provide African-American families the ability to create financial stability, economic opportunity and multigenerational wealth for themselves and future generations,” said Eugene Mitchell, corporate vice president,African-American Market Unit.Ā “With as little as $250,000 in life insurance coverage, a family can provide financial security for its children and a financial foundation upon which future generations can be nurtured and grow.”
Since 2011, New York Life’s African-American Market Unit has been working toward its $50 Billion Empowerment Plan.Ā The initiative’s goal is to help create $50 billion of tax-free wealth in the African-American community by insuring 200,000 lives for at least $250,000 each.Ā To date, the initiative has generated 35 percent of its goal, with 82,464 lives insured and $17.8 billion of life insurance in place.
