Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“Sarver didn’t have his come-to-Jesus moment voluntarily. He was dragged there kicking and screaming. And he expected to find clemency there, at the spot where he exchanged his elite position for a dose of humility. But by pleading for a second chance, he was really fighting to keep his position of power. Sarver could very well mean it when he says he’s sorry, and he may make good on his pledge to emerge as a better man. Still, the forgiveness that he believes is his right does not come with the privilege of owning an NBA team.” – Candace Buckner

This week’s announcement that Robert Sarver has put the Phoenix Suns and Mercury up for sale is welcome news. The NBA and WNBA are well rid of his racism, misogyny, harassment, and abuse.

The gift will allow the organization to pay off all the debt related to the construction of its $53 million sports complex in West Louisville.

From families completely out of food to exploding call volumes, food banks across the Pittsburgh area are seeing their services taxed in new ways as the summer draws to a close and inflation remains high.

NEW YORK and KANSAS CITY -- National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial and Urban League of Greater Kansas City President and CEO Gwen Grant today applauded U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to investigate the employment practices of the Kansas City Police Department.

Event Name: Meeting a Mentor sponsored by Anheuser-Busch

Date: September 28th at 12:00pm EST

Event Description: Discuss how to obtain and build a relationship with a professional mentor with Daarina Musaddiq, Director of IT Foundational Support in the Tech Ops organization at Anheuser Busch.

Event Registration Link here.

ST. LOUIS – The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis (St. Louis, MO) held their annual Salute to Women in Leadership on Friday, September 9th.

The gala is an event that honors incredible women who embody the mission of the Urban League to help members of underserved and disadvantaged communities.

Honorees for this year’s gala include the University of Missouri-St. Louis Chancellor, Kristin Sobolik. Sobolik was praised for being the lead for the USML strategic plan focused on inclusive prosperity. Her other accomplishments include the introduction of more than a dozen new academic programs, a 20% increase in private philanthropy, as well as the university’s rise in ranking.

Other honorees include:

LOUISVILLE – The Norton Sports and Learning Center has now been paid for.

Thanks to a donation from the Brown family of the Brown-Forman Corporation, the Louisville Urban League (Louisville, KY) was able to finally pay off the project. ‘

The Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center opened its doors in February of last year and has already hosted events with athletes from all over the country. The economic boost those events have caused is something that the Urban League expected.

“It turns out this Sports and Learning Center has done exactly what we wanted it to do, not only for our souls but also for our community,” said Urban League president Sadiqua Reynolds. “We see the economic growth happening.”

TALLAHASSEE – In an effort to increase Black voter registration, the Tallahassee Urban League (Tallahassee, FL) went out to the city’s southside to register voters.

In an event held on Friday, September16th, the Tallahassee Urban League, along with other Urban Leagues across the country, took part in a national push to stress the importance of voting in all elections, not just national and state.

Curtis Taylor, president of the Urban League, said, “We have all these Urban Leagues right here in Florida and also nationally, everyone is pushing very hard to try and make sure that our citizens understand the importance of voting, the importance of registering to vote and the value of the vote.”