NEW ORLEANS -- The head of the National Urban League says there are Lower 9th Wards in cities all across the country and that there needs to be a discussion and focus on issues affecting urban and black communities under President-elect Barack Obama.

Marc Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans, was among those attending the State of the Black World conference being held in New Orleans through Sunday.

Morial says New Orleans stands as an example of government failures, not unlike those in every community around the country. He also said that he's not satisfied by the pace of recovery in the city, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

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