Job Loss in April Was Historic; Historic Racial Disparity Only Worsened Under COVID-19 

Written by Dr. Bernard A. Anderson, Professor Emeritus, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Senior Economic Advisor, National Urban League

The April Jobs Report was expected to be momentous, but the numbers still have the power to shock. The 14.7 percent unemployment rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the highest since the peak of the Great Depression. At least 20.5 million people lost their jobs in April, bringing the 7-week total to about 33 million.

NEW YORK (May 7, 2020) -- National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial today commended Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer for taking up the League’s proposal to use coronavirus aid returned by large public companies for legitimate, Main Street and rural small businesses and the lending institutions that serve them. 

NAACP, National Urban League, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and the National Action Network (NAN) today released the following joint statement in response to the recent killing of Ahmaud Arbery:

The video we have all seen does not show a citizen’s arrest. It shows an execution.

It is clear that law enforcement authorities must immediately arrest the McMichaels for this crime. The failure to hold these two individuals accountable for the killing of Mr. Arbery would mean that white citizens may hunt down an unarmed, non-violent Black man in broad daylight and kill him with impunity. Nothing in Georgia law licenses this conduct. The McMichaels must stand trial for this killing.

(May 5, 2020) –Today, national Black civil rights leaders participated in a call with former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, a day after the release of Lift Every Voice: The Biden Plan for Black America. Among the participants were Reverend Al Sharpton, President of the National Action Network, Melanie Campbell, Convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable Public Policy Network, Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP and Marc Morial, President & CEO of the National Urban League.

The National Urban League congratulates our leader Marc Morial on the release of his book, “The Gumbo Coalition”. Marc highlights 10 leadership lesson that he has shared in writing and as the leader of the National Urban League.

We think it’s a great way for the public to learn more about the organization and the work that it does to benefit under resourced and under served communities.

To learn more about the book click here.

Tens of thousands of Central Texans have lost their jobs in the month since the coronavirus public health crisis began, according to statistics from Workforce Solutions Capital Area, putting many in a position to ask for help for the first time.

That can leave families in an unfamiliar and stressful position, said Sara Ramirez, executive director of Catholic Charities of Central Texas.

On Saturday May 2, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. (St. Louis, MO) hosted the area’s largest food distribution to 2,500 families in need throughout North St. Louis County. It is the 5th weekly distribution that the Urban League has held to help residents ravaged with unemployment, poverty, and uncertainty during the COVID-19 Crisis, feeding 10,000 families total.  

“The Urban League is committed to helping our neighbors to navigate the COVID-19 crisis by providing free food, toiletries, personal protective equipment and testing to help them achieve their best possible outcomes. It is our goal to provide Free Food & Toiletries Giveaways on a weekly basis throughout the Summer of 2020 in the St. Louis Metropolitan Bi-State Region. We are also incredibly grateful to our partners, sponsors and volunteers for helping us to execute these worthy events,” said Michael P. McMillan, President & CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc.

With school buildings closed for the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus crisis, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland Guild (Cleveland, OH) is “Keeping their Promise” to help others by handing out laptops to Wade Park Elementary School students who couldn’t participate in their online classes without them.

The promise was kept thanks to community partners that stepped up.

To read the full article, click here.