The National Urban League (NUL) and local officials kicked off construction on the civil rights organization’s $242 million, 414,000-square-foot Urban League Empowerment Center on Thursday, June 17 at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building in Harlem.

The building will be located on 125th Street and will house NUL’s national headquarters, the Urban Civil Rights Museum Experience and the NUL Institute for Race, Equity and Justice along with offices for community groups including One Hundred Black Men of New York, United Negro College Fund New York and Jazzmobile Inc. 

Retail space will feature Target and Trader Joe’s and 170 units of affordable housing will be built. The project is scheduled to be completed by January 2025.

In the 1970s members of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth were arrested for tearing down a dilapidated building in the city’s West End to call attention to the lack of affordable housing.

Some four decades later, the sisters are still working toward housing equity in that community.

The congregation announced June 18 a $2.5 million dollar gift to the Louisville Urban League’s (Louisville, KY) “A Path Forward for Louisville” project. The Louisville Urban League’s mission is to help African Americans and those on the margins attain social and economic equality and stability through direct services and advocacy.

The gift will be used to renovate 50 vacant and abandoned homes into affordable rental units over the next three years.

The sisters presented Sadiqa Reynolds, President and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, with a $750,000 check during the press conference. That money will fund the renovation of 15 homes.

The Fort Wayne Urban League’s (Ft. Wayne, IN) massive weeklong Juneteenth celebration continued Thursday evening with an event called Lawn and Learn.

Dozens spread lawn chairs across the grass on the Urban League’s offices for an interactive back-and-forth over ways to keep improving Fort Wayne and empowering communities today and the future.

With a diverse age pool in the crowd, one of the questions that generated the most discussion was how millennials and elders in the community can peacefully coexist and get work done together.

Unity within the community was a central theme of the evening. Event moderator Janiece Norfleet noted the importance of collaboration towards that goal.

“We all have a place in our society and our community, and if we’re stepping on each other’s shoes trying to be seen, the whole community suffers.”

Building back our communities. In 2025 we are going #HomeToHarlem! Here’s everything you should know about our new headquarters. | Happy Juneteenth! Today we celebrate the freedom and liberation of enslaved people in Texas who were emancipated 156 years ago. Learn more. | Celebrating all dads! This Father’s Day, we honor all fathers + father figures who are the protectors and providers of their loved ones. | Catch up on the gems! This week we hosted the 18th annual Legislative Policy Conference. Watch the full replay. | Summer is here! Schools out and summer camps are in session. Here’s how you and your loved ones can stay safe this season. | Save the date. Join us on June 23rd for a Power Hour on Black men’s health discussing physical + mental health and COVID-19. Learn more. | Protect your vote. Our votes cannot be silenced. Here’s how you can urge the Senate to pass the For the People Act of 2021.

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The head of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City (Kansas City, MO) is seeking court action, filing a motion Monday to join a lawsuit filed by the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners against Mayor Quinton Lucas and the City Council challenging a measure that gives the city authority over a portion of the police department’s budget,

In her filing, Urban League president Gwen Grant alleges that the “current policing structure” fails to give Kansas City taxpayers a voice in how the police department spends its money.

Grant said she took the action on behalf of the city’s taxpayers because “the ‘Taxation Without Representation’ scheme maintained in the police board’s lawsuit and the current policing structure violates” the Missouri Hancock Amendment, which is a citizens’ initiative that limits state revenues and local taxes.