Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stood behind another lectern in a crowded room, this time in Hoover, where she gave her take on current events and the state of the country since she left Washington.

Jean-Pierre urged the room mostly filled with government officials from around the country to remain committed to their values and service to the people who chose them as their representative.

“The moment demands it. The people demand it, and history is watching,” she said. “The urgency is now. “

Jean-Pierre, who was President Joe Biden’s press secretary from 2022 to January 2025, addressed a packed ballroom Friday during a conference of the National Organization of Black County Officials.

Without directly naming President Donald Trump, Jean-Pierre’s comments Friday nonetheless were a direct response to the Republican administration and the prevailing national conservative agenda.

For example, she said school boards have now become battlegrounds. Early learning and other important programs are no longer stable. She also pressed county leaders to prioritize reinvesting in communities that need it most.

“We have a responsibility to do something about it,” Jean-Pierre said. “Budgets are values in action. Every dollar we redirect is a decision.”

Trump’s second administration is noted for its early action to slash federal spending and shrink the government workforce, in addition to rolling back priorities of the Democratic Biden administration.

The National Organization of Black County Officials concludes its economic development conference at Hoover’s Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa Sunday.

Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson, who is the local host, said the conference drew more than 400 people. The group toured Birmingham’s Civil Rights District in addition to touring sites in Montgomery.

“Everybody is just talking about how educational the whole trip has been. We had something for them to do each day,” Tyson said. “It was very successful.”

She called the gathering important because of the focus on economic development. Services, quality of life and the health of communities all revolve around economics and the need to generate money.

Jean-Pierre called it historically significant that the conference was in the Birmingham area, a place noted for its hard-fought civil rights gains.

“Just down the road children marched when grown men could not,” she said, referring to the Children’s Crusade protests of 1963. “There’s instruction in their bravery. Their example is not a memory, it is a mandatory.”

While Jean-Pierre lamented the prevailing national tone, she told the leaders that they had power to respond.

“We have to speak for those who are vulnerable and cannot speak for themselves. It is our mandate,” she said. “We are not just survivors of history, but we are the authors of our future.”