FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

April 26, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) issued the following statement on the passing of Alexis Herman, the first African American to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor:

“I am truly saddened to learn of the passing of my friend and Soror, Secretary Alexis Herman. Alexis was a faithful public servant, who devoted her entire being to the preservation and economic development of the Black community.

“Herman defied all odds, growing up in the segregated Jim Crow South to parents who were civil rights activists and educators, who helped lay the foundation for Alexis to become a change agent of social justice and a vocal opponent of inequality. She fought to desegregate schools in Mobile, Alabama, and worked with the Southern Regional Council to assist Black women to obtain managerial or technical jobs, and she would later become the youngest director of the U.S. Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau under the Carter administration. Before the term DEI, Herman would use her position to encourage large corporations, such as Coca Cola and Toyota, to diversify their workforce by hiring Black women.

“Alexis went on to become the first Black Secretary of Labor under the Clinton administration. During her time as Secretary, she was praised for handling the USPS labor strike, addressing child exploitation and labor laws, and increasing the minimum wage.

“Herman’s contributions to politics and the advancement of women are legendary. Her work alongside presidential candidates, her leadership under various administrations, and her tenacity to break gender and race barriers within the workplace have cemented Alexis Herman’s name in American History.

“My heartfelt prayers and condolences are with her family and friends, as well as the countless others she inspired over her lifetime of service and advocacy.” 

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” – Matthew 25:23

###