Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League
  

If there is a moral to the story of the Essence Festival, it is this: underestimate Black women at your own peril.

In 1995, many in New Orleans did underestimate. They had a narrow, reductive view of Black women. Essence magazine and its sophisticated and cultivated readership simply were not within their scope of perception.

Thirty years later, the Essence Festival is as much a New Orleans institution as Mardi Gras, gumbo, and jazz, and a primary driver of the local economy. It is the nation’s premiere celebration of the creativity and power of Black women.

The U.S. added 206,000 jobs in June, reflecting steady modest growth in the economy boosted by consumer spending.

The modest growth rate, coupled with slowing wage growth is consistent with slowly declining inflation. The data suggests that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to reduce interest rates before September’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

It’s steady as we go in the midst of a heated presidential campaign.

Concerningly, Black employment declined by 73,000 while white employment grew by 173,000. At the same time, Black unemployment rose by 29,000 while white unemployment dipped only slightly by 7,000. The racial disparity in the labor market raised the Black/white unemployment gap to 1.80, drifting back to the previously persistent 2:1 ratio.

The overall unemployment rate edged up slightly to 4.1% percent.

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“Project 25 is a radical, extreme, pro-authoritarianism plan pushed by conservatives who are desperate to take our country backwards. It is a movement led by far-right extremists that attacks our nation’s founding principles, such as our system of checks and balances, freedom of speech and of the press, and separation of church and state. These are the very principles that keep our country strong and make America the best nation on earth.” – U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu

Eliminating safe, legal abortion and effective contraception. Obliterating of the very mention of sexual orientation and gender identity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, reproductive health, and reproductive rights from every federal rule, regulation, contract, grant, or piece of legislation.  Replacing skilled civil servants with extremist partisan hacks.

Cincinnati has seen big wins in its pursuit for equity over the last decade. But the city still has much further to go, according to a newly released report from the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio (Cincinnati, OH). 

The nonprofit held a press conference with city leaders Juneteenth morning to go over its findings from "The State of Black Cincinnati: Journey to Parity," an update to a similar report conducted in 2015 that evaluated inclusivity and equity among the city's economics, employment, COVID-19 outcomes, health, education, housing, criminal justice and civic engagement. The data-driven work paints a picture of how things stand for Black Cincinnatians, and includes guidance on action steps to make the city better.

Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), the global financial technology platform that makes  Intuit Turbo Tax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, in partnership with the Los Angeles Urban League (Los Angeles, CA) announced the expansion of the Intuit IDEAS (Invest, Develop, Empower, Accelerate, and Scale) Program. The program, which began as a pilot in Los Angeles, will now expand to a total of 100 small business owners; applications for the three cities are now open in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. 

The Urban League of Middle Tennessee (Nashville, TN) hosted an inaugural luncheon as part of a series of events aimed at promoting more affordable housing development in the region.

The first-ever Lunch and Learn event was held on June 17 and saw nearly 100 industry leaders, real estate professionals, Metro Nashville employees, and residents come together to discuss the stigmas surrounding affordable housing, according to a release.

Attendees were treated to presentations by Habitat for Humanity, Project Return, the Metro Development and Housing Agency, and Urban Housing Solutions.

The luncheon was part of the R.E.D. Academy’s Housing on the Horizon Summit going on this week, which is a program aimed at empowering “developers of color to become more competitive contenders in Middle Tennessee’s real estate development market.”

Cars by the dozens lined the parking lot of the University Preparatory Academy in West Palm Beach on Saturday morning (June 22nd) as area residents waited to collect free food.

Volunteers filled open car trunks with bags packed with fresh chicken, salmon, pasta, bread, fruit and vegetables. The food distribution was held as part of the Urban League of Palm Beach County's (West Palm Beach, FL) third annual Summer Food Drive. The food drive was held at three sites simultaneously in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Belle Glade.

Urban League President and CEO Patrick Franklin estimated that 400 to 500 families would be served at each site. This year's food drive was moved from July to June, with organizers wanting to tie the event closer to the end of the school year, Franklin said.

The summer food drive is similar to one the Urban League holds each fall to provide meals for families in need for the Thanksgiving holiday.