Washington, D.C. (August 11, 2021) – Marc H. Morial, President, and CEO of the National Urban League, issued the following statement after the Senate passed its budget resolution, S.Con.Res. 14, by a vote of 50-49 this morning:  

“We are pleased that the Senate adopted a budget resolution, which realizes the vision of President Biden’s landmark American Families Plan. This will provide much-needed investments in American workers, families, and communities. Recognizing that infrastructure means more than bridges and roads, it also means affordable housing, broadband, access to healthcare, and investments in our human infrastructure such as paid leave, childcare, and universal pre-K.  

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“There’s no evil that’s inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism, and it’s something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge. It’s our special responsibility because we know, better than anyone else, how racism is used to divide working people.”  -- Richard Trumka

As the leader of a movement whose history is fraught with racial conflict, Richard Trumka was fiercely anti-racist.

Early in his presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, Trumka established a solidarity program with Black mineworkers living under the brutal apartheid regime in South Africa.

Then in his early 30s, Trumka rallied support for a boycott of Royal Dutch Shell, a major investor in South African industries, stressing the need for American unions to join the struggle.

19 states currently have special laws called “Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights” (LEOBR) laws. The laws vary from state to state, but most give special rights to police officers that ordinary people do not get and prevents communities from investigating misconduct that could lead to discipline. These special rights include protections during the investigation of misconduct (including procedural privileges like allowing delays before questioning an officer about misconduct), limits on what discipline can be imposed for certain misconduct, and expungement of disciplinary records.

Maryland was the first state to enact a state LEOBR law, and in April 2021, it became the first state to repeal the law. Maryland’s repeal has called attention to the issue and served as an inspiration to others around the country.

Written by: Mohema Hussain

2021 National Urban League Summer Intern

 Hundreds of children received new shoes and school supplies Saturday during the 19th-annual Shoes for School event.

The event was put on by Knoxville Area Urban League (Knoxville, TN) and Covenant Health at Caswell Park.

“We appreciate our partner Covenant Health, sponsors and volunteers who have helped us send kids back to school with their best foot forward,” said Phyllis Y. Nichols, President and CEO of the Knoxville Area Urban League. “Breaking down any financial barriers for parents helps students start their semester off right, and it’s all thanks to the community.”

In all, more than 600 children received shoes, and the Urban League estimates that about 2,000 picked up school supplies. Attendees enjoyed food, games, inflatables and free items set up by 27 booth sponsors representing businesses, civic and nonprofit organizations, church groups and others.

The San Diego Black Homebuyers Program is meant to cut back the racial wealth hole in San Diego by investing in generational wealth-building alternatives by means of Black house possession.

The program is funded with a preliminary pledge of $1 million by the San Diego Foundation’s Black Community Investment Fund, together with administrative funding from Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s office.

Participating lenders will present a minimum of $9,000 in grants to qualifying house consumers and assist them leverage matching grants by means of sources such because the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco’s Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership, or WISH.