(WASHINGTON) - Today, civil rights leaders met with Attorney General Merrick Garland to discuss the May 14 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, and the Department of Justice’s role in addressing the spread of white supremacy across social media platforms and hate crimes tearing through Black communities across America.
“Long past time for a whole-of-society response,” insist National Urban League, Anti-Defamation League, League of United Latin American Citizens, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, National Action Network
In an effort to help fight childhood hunger and promote education, Denny’s launched the Hungry for Education™ Scholarship program in 2011, and has since awarded more than $1.5 million in combined scholarships to elementary, high school and college students across the country.
In September, Denny's identified the National Urban League as a strategic partner, to award scholarships to Project Ready students that submitted essays on how Denny's can help bring communities together, and one student will be selected by Denny’s to have their idea be put into action in their community.
KNOXVILLE – The Knoxville Urban League (Knoxville, TN) has partnered with The Tennessee Office of Reentry to help those with a criminal record get a fresh start.
At an event on Wednesday, May 11th, the Office of Reentry, a new department created by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, joined an expungement clinic held by the Urban League’s RISE Reentry Taskforce. The expungement clinic helps those with criminal records clean up their records so they’re able to easily access social services.
The goal of this partnership is to help those with criminal records transition back into the workforce.
COLUMBUS – The Columbus Urban League (Columbus, OH) is looking to spotlight those that are making a difference in their community.
The Urban League will be hosting “HerStory Makers”, an event that will honor three amazing women and community leaders that are making a positive impact in their community. This year, the event’s premise on those who are living a legacy of service and commitment to others.
Columbus Urban League President, Stephanie Hightower, said of the event, “It’s an opportunity for black women, in particular, to be discovered. That their excellence is discovered and they are not only women who are surviving but thriving in the community.”
LOUISVILLE – The Brown-Forman Foundation, established by the spirits company the Brown-Forman Corporation, has just given Louisville non-profits a huge boost.
In a press release released last Tuesday, May 10th, the foundation announced that they will be giving Louisville non-profit organizations a $50 million in funding to strengthen educational opportunities within Louisville. Among those organizations is the Louisville Urban League (Louisville, KY).
The Urban League received $5 million from the Brown-Forman Foundation, which will be used to support that will increase educational access for families affected by the achievement gap, including tutoring for Black students.
CINCINNATI – The Urban League of Southwestern Ohio (Cincinnati, OH) recently joined an initiative with other groups to help grow minority business in Cincinnati.
The goal of the newly formed Lincoln & Gilbert initiative is to double the number of Cincinnati’s minority businesses within five years. The group is named after the Lincoln and Gilbert intersection that was the Cincinnati Black business district in the 1840s.
Joining the Urban League in this endeavor is the Greater Cincinnati/NKY African American Chamber of Commerce, and the Minority Business Accelerator, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. The collaborative effort has already received $2.5 million in funding from the city of Cincinnati.
NEW YORK and BUFFALO (May 14, 2022) – National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial and Buffalo Urban League President Thomas Beauford, Jr., issued the following statement in response to the racially-motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in the heart of its predominantly Black East Side community:
“Our hearts and deepest sympathies are with the families who have lost loved ones to another senseless act of racial violence.
“As white supremacist hatred has raged out of control over the last few years, social media and gun merchants exploit it for profits, while atrocities and trauma continue to be inflicted on communities of color.
"We call on state and federal law enforcement to pursue hate crimes charges against the shooter and pursue policies to prevent such tragedies.
