Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League
 

“Indisputably, due to historic inequities, this crisis disproportionally burdens Americans of Color and Women. They need continued Federal protections and oversight, not abandonment. The suspension of Equal Opportunity requirements in this crisis would not only penalize those protected by the civil rights laws, but it would also hinder the government’s work. The research is clear and compelling – diverse workforces produce better results. This Government policy should be reversed at once.” -- National Bar Association President Alfreda Robinson

The Trump era has seen a relentless erosion of civil rights protections. The Administration pivoted from defending voting rights to enabling suppression. It shifted resources from investigating discrimination and violence against racial minorities toward the protection of white Americans. 

By Kurtis Lee, Sandhya Kambhampati, Los Angeles Times

CAÑON CITY, Colo. —  

Jhil Marquantte lived behind the sandstone walls of the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in a 6-by-9-foot cell.

Marquantte, 46, spent years here in this mountain town, but always behind bars — locked inside Territorial, and most of the half-dozen other state prisons that dot this rural stretch of Colorado. If you asked him about home, he’d tell you it was two hours north in Denver where he grew up and his family still resides — and where he long dreamed of returning after serving his sentence.

To read the full article Click Here.

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League
 

"We're all competing against each other. This should have been a coordinated effort by the federal government, and the national defense authorization that the president has to essentially push this manufacturing really hasn't gone into effect in any way. And, so, yes, we're competing against each other. We're competing against other countries. It's a ... Wild West, I would say, out there." – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker

When I was mayor of New Orleans, I was called upon to lead my city through troubled times. I confronted a crisis of violent crime, I worked to keep my city safe during natural disasters. I often relied on support from the Governor and the President.

What's in the $2 trillion package? COVID-19 has shifted our lives and we're here to fight for your future. Let's start by looking at what the Senate bill offers. | The faces of leadership. See how the nation's governors and mayors have stepped up to fill the void left by the President's failure on the coronavirus crisis. | Make Black Count. Coronavirus has shown us the importance of investing in hospitals and schools – the Census helps with that. Let's make sure elders and workers are counted! | New episode. We're back with a new podcast episode on how students of color will be impacted by school closures due to the COVID-19 crisis. Take a listen. 

We know these are difficult and uncertain times. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you as we continue to grapple with the enormous scale and impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As you know, our staff began working remotely on Monday, March 16. We will continue to work from home until we receive guidance from City and Public Health officials that it is safe to resume normal operations. However, at the Urban League of Greater Kansas City (Kansas City, MO), we believe our role and responsibility during this time is to empower the community. Please know that we are open for business and are hard at work (remotely) doing all that we can do to provide you with information, resources, job referrals, job training, parenting resources, academic tutoring, and much more. These are challenging times, but we are EQUAL TO THE CHALLENGE!

There is a lot of pressure on families that were already struggling financially before the novel coronavirus began spreading rapidly.

The Louisville Urban League  (Louisville, KY) wants the community to consider donating to help some of the local residents that barely had enough money to provide food and other essentials for their families before they were recently laid off.

Sadiqa Reynolds, CEO of Louisville Urban League, told WLKY News that the organization is still operating all of its classes and services.

“We're doing it at a distance,” Reynold said. “We are having people call us, we're using mobile devices a lot, we're teaching classes online.”

Tax preparation services have been postponed to at least April 4.

The online services, like job readiness classes, at the urban league are seemingly proving their worth for people surprised to learn their employer laid them off.

Has work-life balance been a struggle for you? Join us for a supportive and educational session where you'll learn the keys to work/life balance when working from home, with guest speaker Tiffany Southerland. Tiffany Southerland is the Manager of Associate Recruitment, Diversity and Inclusion at Pepper Hamilton, the Host of "How Does She Do It" podcast, and a Career Coach at Four Corners Coaching.

Event Date: Wednesday, April 8th, 2020

Event Time: 12 PM EST – 1 PM EST

To register, click here.

The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation is joining forces with several national and state organizations to launch a social media campaign to get African Americans to fill out the 2020 census.

The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s Unity Diaspora Coalition, the National Urban League’s Black Census Roundtable, and more than 40 national and state-based partner organizations have launched Black Census Week. A weeklong social media initiative focused on promoting and encouraging the black population (native and foreign-born) to participate in the 2020 Decennial Census by being counted via online phone or mail before Census Day on April 1.

“Count Me Black!” is the theme for this year’s initiative and it aims to aggressively utilize a variety of social media platforms to get African Americans to fill out the census.

National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement in response to the passing of civil rights icon Joseph Lowery:  

“We in the Urban League Movement are devastated by the passing of Rev. Joseph Lowery. 

“Rev. Lowery served as a bridge between the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century and the current era, working side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and speaking at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. 

“The loss of a voice of his stature during a time of intense crisis in the nation is especially wrenching.   

“Those of us who serve in the civil rights movement will do our best to take up his mantle and honor his legacy by advocating for the most vulnerable among us during this unprecedented challenge.

“Our prayers go out to his family and friends. “