Written By: Stephanie Hightower

President & CEO, Columbus Urban League

From overwhelming appreciation through the Great Resignation, 2021 stands out as a year of contrasts, unfinished business, and, thankfully, tempered hopefulness.

Juxtapose this reality.

Thousands of our neighbors struggled to keep their homes. During fiscal year 2021, Columbus Urban League (Columbus, OH) alone fielded approximately 15,000 thousand calls from people on the edge of eviction or foreclosure.

It’s not over.

We may long for closure, but we can’t yet consign our masks to the sock drawer or circumscribe racism to a finished Wikipedia entry on U.S. history. Omicron is ripping through our ICUs and ERs, filling our hospital beds and exacerbating a health care worker shortage and burnout crisis.

Atlanta is partnering with the Urban League of Greater Atlanta (Atlanta, GA) nonprofit to launch the city’s first citywide guaranteed-income pilot program for low-income residents.

According to the mayor’s office, the Income Mobility Program for Atlanta Community Transformation, or I.M.P.A.C.T., will serve 300 residents who are at least 18 years old and live below 200% of the federal poverty line, about $53,000 for a family of four.

Participants in the program will receive $500 per month during the 12-month pilot period.

The program is designed to address Atlanta’s struggle with income inequality. It was inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who said more than 50 years ago that “the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.”

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

"You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect. I wouldn't have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and I wouldn't have gotten most of what I got done without your skill and determination. Most of all, you've been a good friend. As different as we are, I think we both saw something of ourselves in each other – a couple of outsiders who had defied the odds and knew how to take a punch and cared about the little guy. And you know what, we made for a pretty good team." President Obama’s final letter to former Nevada Senator Harry Reid

It’s known as “Obamacare,” but without Senator Harry Reid, who passed this week at the age of 82, there might never have been a President Obama, much less his signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“You got to be way out of it if you go into a meeting repeatedly with people of color, and you keep bringing three white men from Yale. It's just, no.” – U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver

About a quarter of the current members of Congress identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American. While low compared to the overall population – about 40% of Americans are people of color – it is the most ethnically and racially diverse Congress in history and represents an ongoing positive trend. It’s the sixth consecutive Congress to break the diversity record.

Washington, D.C. (December 22, 2021) – Today, National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s announcement to extend the pause on federal student loan repayment to May 1st, 2022:
 
“Today, President Biden gave the American people a much-needed holiday gift by taking action to extend the pause on federal student loan debt repayment. As the rise in Omicron variant cases have reminded us, our nation is still in the midst of a global pandemic that has impacted both our health and our economy. Many student loan borrowers, especially those in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, would have found it difficult to resume repayment in January and were at risk of falling behind in their payments.
 

Change must come. Read more on how we plan to mobilize on #MLKDay2022 to honor Dr. King’s legacy and take a stand for voting rights legislation. | #AllInAgainstCOVID. As you gather with family + friends, take the first step to protect your loved ones by getting vaxxed. Here’s how. | Homelessness crisis. Tune in to our #JusticeNOW Instagram Live to dive into actionable solutions to implement in your communities. | ’Tis the season to get Fresh & Vaxxed! We’ve partnered with the National Action Network for a special Christmas Day event. Learn more. | #StateOfBlackAmerica podcast. During your downtime, take a moment and tune in to all of our latest episodes, and share with friends + family.

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

The Tallahassee Urban League (Tallahassee, FL) hosted a Unity in the Community event Saturday (December 11), packing Georgia street with free information, food, and fun for all who came out.

Attendees were able to access things like health screenings, COVID-19 testing and voter registration.

But the key focuses of the event were fighting gun violence and drug use among local youth.

Local, state and law enforcement leaders stood shoulder to shoulder in their own show of unity, urging attendees to take action.

"The county and the city alone, we're not going to solve the gun violence problem," said Mayor John Dailey, standing with Leon County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor. "It's going to take everybody in the community coming together, and it's our role and responsibility as leaders to bring everybody to the table, create those incredible ideas, but to execute more importantly."

The Urban League of Middle Tennessee (Nashville, TN) announced a more than $5 million grant from Amazon to launch ULMT RED – Urban League of Middle Tennessee Real Estate Developers Academy, an initiative focused on accelerating new opportunities for emerging real estate developers of color while also increasing affordable housing in Nashville. The program, which is free of charge to participants, aims to foster careers and lower the obstacles that emerging real estate developers can face when trying to get real estate projects off the ground.

The goal of ULMT RED is to increase the number of real estate developers of color who are focused on affordable housing and inclusive community building across Nashville-Davidson County. Not only are these developers underrepresented in the real estate industry, they also lack access to the capital and resources necessary to advance much-needed affordable housing projects to help their communities.