KNOXVILLE – The Knoxville Urban League (Knoxville, TN) has partnered with The Tennessee Office of Reentry to help those with a criminal record get a fresh start.

At an event on Wednesday, May 11th, the Office of Reentry, a new department created by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, joined an expungement clinic held by the Urban League’s RISE Reentry Taskforce. The expungement clinic helps those with criminal records clean up their records so they’re able to easily access social services.

The goal of this partnership is to help those with criminal records transition back into the workforce.

COLUMBUS – The Columbus Urban League (Columbus, OH) is looking to spotlight those that are making a difference in their community.

The Urban League will be hosting “HerStory Makers”, an event that will honor three amazing women and community leaders that are making a positive impact in their community. This year, the event’s premise on those who are living a legacy of service and commitment to others.

Columbus Urban League President, Stephanie Hightower, said of the event, “It’s an opportunity for black women, in particular, to be discovered. That their excellence is discovered and they are not only women who are surviving but thriving in the community.”

LOUISVILLE – The Brown-Forman Foundation, established by the spirits company the Brown-Forman Corporation, has just given Louisville non-profits a huge boost.

In a press release released last Tuesday, May 10th, the foundation announced that they will be giving Louisville non-profit organizations a $50 million in funding to strengthen educational opportunities within Louisville. Among those organizations is the Louisville Urban League (Louisville, KY).

The Urban League received $5 million from the Brown-Forman Foundation, which will be used to support that will increase educational access for families affected by the achievement gap, including tutoring for Black students.

CINCINNATI – The Urban League of Southwestern Ohio (Cincinnati, OH) recently joined an initiative with other groups to help grow minority business in Cincinnati.

The goal of the newly formed Lincoln & Gilbert initiative is to double the number of Cincinnati’s minority businesses within five years. The group is named after the Lincoln and Gilbert intersection that was the Cincinnati Black business district in the 1840s.

Joining the Urban League in this endeavor is the Greater Cincinnati/NKY African American Chamber of Commerce, and the Minority Business Accelerator, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. The collaborative effort has already received $2.5 million in funding from the city of Cincinnati.

NEW YORK and BUFFALO (May 14, 2022) – National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial and Buffalo Urban League President Thomas Beauford, Jr., issued the following statement in response to the racially-motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in the heart of its predominantly Black East Side community:

“Our hearts and deepest sympathies are with the families who have lost loved ones to another senseless act of racial violence.  

“As white supremacist hatred has raged out of control over the last few years, social media and gun merchants exploit it for profits, while atrocities and trauma continue to be inflicted on communities of color. 

"We call on state and federal law enforcement to pursue hate crimes charges against the shooter and pursue policies to prevent such tragedies. 

New community center alert! Read more on how three women built a community center on the ground of once segregated land in New Orleans. | Let’s talk women’s rights. Here’s why efforts to roll back reproductive rights are part of a larger agenda to re-establish white male dominance. | COVID doesn’t play fair. Although we don’t have full control over the spread of COVID-19, you can take control of your health + get vaxxed. Here’s how. | Roe v. Wade. Watch as we unpack the leaked SCOTUS draft, how it could affect you or loved ones + what’s next in the fight for abortion rights. | T-minus 3 days! On Tuesday, catch all of the virtual gems geared towards small business owners at the Small Business Capitol Hill Summit. RSVP now. | Need affordable internet? Read more on the FCC’s new federal benefit that will provide discounts to households for broadband services. | #NULCONF22 is coming! It’s time to secure your registration for the biggest conference of the summer. Meet us in D.C. from July 20-23.

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“At a time when open racism was becoming unfashionable, these politicians needed a more high-minded issue, one that would not compel them to surrender their fundamental political orientation. And of course. the beauty of defending a fetus is that the fetus demands nothing in return — housing, health care, education — so it’s a fairly low-risk advocacy.” – religious historian Randall Balmer

One of the enduring myths of American politics is that evangelical Christians were spurred en masse to political action by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, which protects the legal right to abortion.

NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE CELEBRATES SENATE’S HISTORIC CONFIRMATION OF DR. LISA COOK TO THE FEDERAL RESERVE, MAKING HER THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN IN U.S HISTORY TO SERVE IN THIS ROLE 

Calling Efforts to Overturn Roe "Part of a Larger Anti-Civil Rights and Anti-Women's Rights Movement," Urban League Leaders Urge Passage of Federal Women's Health Protection Act

NEW YORK (May 10, 2022) – Citing a particular danger to Black women, National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial and more than 60 other Urban League leaders from around the country have co-signed a letter to every member of the U.S. Senate urging passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which codifies the right to abortion into federal law.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 10, 2022) – National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial released the following statement following the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement that it secured commitments from internet service providers to reduce prices and raise speeds for eligible households participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity program.