With John Calipari among 74 coaches taking part, the John McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative is now taking applications for Future Leader opportunities at schools across the country.

Calipari will fund six positions at the University of Kentucky, UK announced Monday. Information about the program and how to apply can be found at MinorityLeaders.org.

Calipari has spoken of the program as a way for minorities to gain access and opportunities for work in athletic departments. On multiple occasions, the UK coach said he considered the program as a way he could make a difference in dealing with this country’s systemic racism.

The idea sprung from the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other people, he said. Those killings sparked protests of this country’s history of systemic racism.

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Event Date: August 19th, 2020 – Wednesday

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It's finally here. Our highly-anticipated 2020 State of Black America®: Unmasked report is hot off the press! Read it now. | State of Black America® Virtual Series. Didn’t catch the livestream? Watch all four sessions here, filled with powerful nuggets and insights! | On the historic VP pick. Senator Kamala Harris is the first Black woman named to a major party national ticket. Here’s why that's so significant. | Free small biz webinar. Join us on August 20th to learn how to build leverage, flexibility, and sustainability for minority-owned small businesses. | Applying for jobs? But receiving very few responses? Tune in this Wednesday, August 19th to learn tips for getting your resume in front of a recruiter. | Monday mornings with Marc. Kick off the week with updates from Marc Morial on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show. Tune in Mondays at 8:30AM ET!

Author Jeffrey Bennett and publisher Big Kid Science will donate 100% of their 2020 proceeds from Dr. Bennett’s six critically acclaimed children’s books to support National Urban League programs for the education and empowerment of black youth.

A Tampa Bay area nonprofit just got a much-needed surprise from the Rays.

The team’s $25,000 donation will go toward social justice initiatives and will help struggling workers and businesses.

On Opening Day, the Rays made waves across the baseball world with a tweet on the death of Breonna Taylor, killed by police on a no-knock warrant in Kentucky. The team also pledged to donate $100,000 to five groups that fight systemic racism.

The Pinellas County Urban League (St. Petersburg, FL) got a check for $25,000.

“Outside of being flabbergasted, I was excited," said President and CEO Reverend Watson L. Haynes. "Every organization has that desire to really speak out on issues but there’s no opportunity to create that mechanism and now the Rays have given us the mechanism to do it.”

FC Cincinnati is doubling down its efforts to combat racial discrimination.

On Monday, the Major League Soccer club announced the launch of its "One Club, One Community, One Goal" platform, which features both internal and external steps the team is taking to promote racial equality within Greater Cincinnati.

According to a news release, the steps FC Cincinnati has already taken include:

Selecting eight local organizations to receive a combined $250,000 in donations from the team's owners. Those organizations include: the African American Chamber of Commerce, Mortar, the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio (Cincinnati, OH), High Achievers, The United Way of Greater Cincinnati Black Empowerment Works Fund, Citylink, Cradle Cincinnati and Cincinnati Public School’s Speak Up Speak Out.

The Austin Area Urban League (Austin, TX) distributed 10,000 kits of personal protective equipment to local minority families that drove to the Wilhelmina Delco Center this week.

Minorities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in the Austin-Travis County area. Austin Public Health’s data from early July showed that 52% of confirmed cases and 41% of deaths in Travis County self-identified as Hispanic.

At that time, the Hispanic/Latinx community made up 59.8% of hospitalizations in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area. 

The local Urban League handed out five PPE kits per car to help keep the communities safe. Each kit included hand sanitizer, antibacterial soap, gloves, masks, moist towelettes and tissues.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer on Monday announced a plan to expand internet connectivity in West Louisville — a need recently expressed by some West End stakeholders.

Fischer said Louisville Metro Government has partnered with the firm Digital Decision to install roughly 30 Wi-Fi access points throughout the Russell neighborhood, which he said will double the access to free wireless internet service in this West Louisville neighborhood.

The project is made possible in part by a $400,000 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant that was awarded to the city through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, the mayor’s office said in a news release.