Small Unites, a national initiative to provide immediate support for American small businesses facing immense economic challenges, launches today. Small Unites is an advocacy program designed to rally consumers and communities across the country to champion the local small businesses they love and uplift them as they look to re-emerge and thrive in the new normal. By visiting smallunites.org, any consumer can make cash donations, buy products and services and promote their favorite business on social media platforms. Consumers can also start their own fundraising initiatives for their preferred small businesses.

Relive the March. We marked the 57th anniversary of Dr. King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech with the 2020 Virtual March on Washington. Watch it here. | Census lawsuit. We’re suing to stop the Trump's administration rushed Census timeline. More on what's at stake and how we're fighting back. | Upgrade Your LinkedIn. Join us this Wednesday to learn how to curate your LinkedIn profile from good to great, discover career opportunities, and more! | Get the facts. Take a few minutes this weekend to look up info about early voting and mail-in voting in your state. Here’s what to look for. | Updates from the Hill. Catch up on what’s happening with our D.C. team. Read on! | Mark your calendar. Wake up with Marc Morial every Monday at 8:30AM ET for his weekly commentary on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show!

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League
 

“Having helped to plan, execute or lead five decennial censuses serving nine Presidents of both parties, our expert opinion is that failing to extend the deadlines to April 39, 2021, will result in seriously incomplete enumerations in many areas across our country, The Census Bureau will not be able to carry out the nonresponse follow-up fully and will be forced to take steps such as fewer in-person visits and rely instead on the use of administrative records or statistical techniques on a much larger scale than in previous census. The end result will be under-representation of those persons that nonresponse follow-up was expected to reach, and at even greater rates for traditionally hard-to-count populations with potentially extreme differential undercounts.” -- Former U.S. Census Bureau Directors Vincent Barabba, Robert Groves, Kenneth Prewitt, and John Thompson

The National Urban League believes that high-quality in-person instruction is the ideal for student learning, this may not be consistently possible in many places due to public health concerns.

Any decision on school reopening must be conditioned on meeting the following four principles with public health concerns kept top of mind. If these principles cannot be met, we believe that school buildings should remain closed, and school systems should redouble their efforts to ensure that every student will have the support, resources, and opportunities imperative to be both truly educated and fully supported in a high-quality learning environment, whether that be in a virtual setting or in-person.

Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, James Hall, Interim President and CEO of the Urban League of Racine and Kenosha, along with Dr. Eve Hall, President and CEO of the Milwaukee Urban League, and Dr. Ruben Anthony, President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison, issued the following joint statement in response to the overnight murder of two Kenosha protestors and the shooting of a third:

MAGNET, the Ohio manufacturing alliance, has partnered with The Urban League of Greater Cleveland ( Cleveland, OH) and six other urban leagues across the state, including the Greater Warren Youngstown Urban League (Warren, OH), to donate thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer to help fight COVID-19 in minority communities.

Each kit contains three 1-gallon bottles of hand sanitizer, as well as a dozen small, refillable dispensing bottles. The Urban League affiliates will give the hand sanitizer kits to minority-owned businesses, and community organizations and faith-based organizations that serve minority communities.

“We are pleased to be able to be part of this effort to combat COVID-19 in the minority communities in helping to address the disparities that exist,” said Thomas Conley, president and CEO of the Greater Warren Youngstown Urban League.

A multi-day community convention with multiple events and community gatherings is currently being hosted in Louisville by national non-profit group Until Freedom.

The group said that the event, starting Saturday, August 22, and running until Tuesday, August 25, will include multiple workshops, empowerment programs, school supply giveaways, and a community BBQ all spreading energy and resources in the community while seeking justice for Breonna Taylor.

More than five months have passed since the shooting death of Breonna Taylor by LMPD narcotics officers, who were serving a warrant in her apartment on March 13.

“BreonnaCon will engage, activate, and transform the Louisville community by building a comprehensive slate of programming that will amplify the urgent need for Justice for Breonna,” Until Freedom Co-Founder Tamika Mallory said. “BreonnaCon will address a number of issues impacting the community including food insecurity.”

The Buffalo Urban League (Buffalo, NY) has recruited a new president and CEO: Thomas Beauford Jr. will assume the post on Aug. 31.

Beauford comes to the agency with more than 20 years of strategic and operations management experience, primarily in the financial-services industry, most recently with M&T Bank, where he was a vice president in the risk management and regulatory affairs division.

Beauford takes over for Brenda McDuffie, who is retiring after 22 years at the helm, growing the agency to an annual budget of $6 million with an array of workforce development and education programs across the region.

Finch credited McDuffie for her longtime leadership at the agency. “It is important for us to build up on the tremendous legacy she has established,” he said.