Earl Morgan, respected newspaper columnist, dies at 75

JERSEY CITY — Earl Morgan, a longtime reporter and columnist for the Jersey Journal, died at his Astor Place home on June 5.
He was 75 years old. An outspoken supporter of civil rights and equal opportunity for marginalized people in Jersey City and beyond, Morgan became a leading spokesperson on a variety of social issues – both in print as well as in appearances during his career as a journalist and citizen activist.
Morgan, a lifelong resident of Jersey City, was a civil activist in the area before taking a job as a journalist at the Hudson-Dispatch and later The Jersey Journal.
He was a persistent critic of government policy when it failed to provide equal opportunities to minorities in the community, and was vehement about the rise in crime and poverty – issues for which he held public officials accountable.
Since 2011, he was a vocal support of implementing the findings of the Croson Study, a report that appeared to show local government was not awarding contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses.
According a report published by his colleagues at the Jersey Journal, Morgan saw the election of Glenn Cunningham as Jersey City mayor in 2001 as one of the significant events in the history of the city. Cunningham was the first African-American and to date the only African American to serve in that post.
Jennifer Morrill, formerly a city spokesperson under Cunningham and other Jersey City mayors, worked with Morgan at the Journal early in her career. She called Morgan a mentor.
Published accolades for Morgan’s work have poured in from public officials and others in a testimony to the breadth of his influence over the last several decades.
At the time of his death, Morgan, as reported in the Jersey Journal, was working on a book called “Black Lives That Mattered in Jersey City.” He is survived by his wife and two children, Tawana and Kyle.