As she prepares to step down after 27 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA), Esther Bush is proud of accomplishments she said the agency achieved during her tenure including starting the city’s first charter school, increasing housing and food supports for marginalized families, and advocating for social justice.

But much more work needs to be done by civic and business leaders to make Pittsburgh equitable for Black people and all of its residents, she said.

“Pittsburgh has sufficient resources to pull it off,” she said, referring to large corporations, foundations and health care institutions that call the city home.

“But who’s going to take the first bold step and not apologize for it?” she said Friday during an interview at her office in the Warner Centre, Downtown.

Wawa unveiled brand new menu items developed by Project Ready, the Science Leadership Academy of the Urban League of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA), among Beeber students.

Working with the Urban League of Philadelphia, local students took part in Wawa’s class of the Future Food Scientists 2.0 Program and Menu Development Challenge 2021, where they worked with professionals at the Wawa Innovation Center to create new, fresh and innovative dishes that revealed during an in-store ceremony and presentation.

The Urban League of Philadelphia and Wawa opened the new menu with a celebration at the Wawa Store on 6th and Chestnut St. in downtown Philadelphia.

There were around 50 students in attendance when the winning team and the new menu were announced. The celebration naturally included Wawa food, music, games, and prizes.

More than a year after her death, Louisville showed Breonna Taylor's legacy is still alive on what would have been her 28th birthday.

The Breonna Taylor Foundation, established by Taylor's mother Tamika Palmer last year, invited the community to join her at Waterfront Park on Saturday evening for "Praise in the Park" in honor of the late emergency room technician.

Hundreds of people turned up — despite the barrage of cicadas on the Big Four Lawn — to pray, dance and sing together.

Palmer promised to continue to be visible as long as no one has been held accountable for her daughter's death, and thanked the crowd who joined her on her first-born's birthday.

"Anybody who's shared her picture, said her name, did a ride, showed up. It doesn't matter what it was. I thank you and I appreciate you," Palmer said.

Happy Pride Month! For #Pride2021, we want everyone to be free from discrimination. Here’s how we can uplift LGBTQ+ communities. | Vaccine facts. Ready to travel this year with your tribe? Here are the facts you need to have a safe + vaccinated summer. | The virtual roundtable. On June 15-16, 2021 we want to see you in attendance for #LPC2021. Check out our lineup of phenomenal speakers. | New jobs report. Dr. Bernard Anderson, our Chief Economics Adviser, shares an in-depth look at the state of the economy. Here’s what the numbers tell us. | #SayHerName. Breonna Taylor would’ve been 28 years old today if she was still alive. Here’s how we can take action to honor her legacy.

MAY JOBS REPORT: ECONOMY “RISING LIKE A PHOENIX”

by Dr. Bernard A. Anderson
Professor Emeritus, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Senior Economic Advisor, National Urban League

As the season moves from spring to summer, the economy is rising like a phoenix.  The pandemic is coming under control following widespread population vaccinations.  Business activity is increasing in many industries driven by federal government spending.

Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY

Mayor Tishaura Jones peels off her bedazzled facemask while standing outside downtown's St. Patrick Center, preparing to address the crowd about the facility's new women's center. 

On one side of a 6-foot black steel fence closest to the Catholic-based homeless shelter's entrance are clergy, dignitaries and other stakeholders.

The other side is home to a large gravel lot where about a dozen homeless people – mostly men – sleep, wander and watch the mayor.

To read the full article Click Here.

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“Rather than divide and discriminate, let us come together and create one nation. We are all one people. We all live in the American house. We are all the American family. Let us recognize that the gay people living in our house share the same hopes, troubles, and dreams. It's time we treated them as equals, as family.” – Rep. John Lewis

This week marks the beginning of Pride Month, which commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a turning point in the movement for LGBTQ rights.

It’s a time for those of us in the racial justice movement to affirm our solidarity and acknowledge – as the late Congressman John Lewis said – “You cannot have equality for some in America and not equality for all.”

NEW YORK (May 31, 2021) – National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement in response to the death of longtime Board of Trustees member and former Chair John D. Hofmeister:

A Century Later, Tulsa Massacre Exemplifies America's Reluctance To Confront Its Legacy Of White Supremacism 

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams,” she said. “I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history but I cannot.” – 107-year-old Viola Fletcher, survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre

They killed an estimated 300 people.  They inflicted serious injury on more than 800 people. They burned more than 1,250 homes to the ground, along with every church, school and business. They left 10,000 people homeless, and wreaked about $200 million in property damage in today’s dollars.