Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League
 
“The story of minority-owned businesses struggling to access capital is the story of banking practices that too often exclude people of color as potential customers. A federally guaranteed loan program must not do the same.” – Letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Small Business Administration head Jovita Carranza from 23 Senators

The $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program established by Congress earlier this month was supposed to help sustain small businesses imperiled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The money ran out in less than two weeks.

Then we found out  that the vast majority of the funding -- $243.4 million – went to huge, publicly-traded companies instead of legitimate small businesses. 

The contribution and importance of small businesses to the nation’s economy is well-researched and understood; for minority-owned small businesses the impact and significance will be even greater during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Not only will minority-owned small businesses be needed to help drive job re-creation, raise wages, and elevate better standards of living, they will also be a critical pathway for Black and Hispanic populations to close the racial wealth gap as we emerge from this crisis.

NEW YORK (April 21, 2020) -- National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial today commended senators who responded to the organization’s insistence on the inclusion in the interim COVID-19 bill of funding for Small Business Administration Disaster Loans and Grants and for community-based lenders.

National Urban League Hails SCOTUS Decision on Non-Unanimous Juries as “A step out of the Jim Crow Past"

NEW YORK (April 20, 2020) -- National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial hailed today’s Supreme Court decision outlawing non-unanimous jury verdicts as a step out of the nation’s Jim Crow past.

Urban League of Central Carolinas (Charlotte, NC) held its first virtual job fair Wednesday (April 15).

People got connected online looking for a job, and had a virtual one on one meeting with five employers.

Companies participating were Walmart, UPS, Atrium Health UPS, and RJ Leeper Construction.

Ted McDaniel is the President/CEO of Urban League of Central Carolinas. He says this virtual job fair was needed to give people who were laid off hope.

“One in five Charlotte area residents works in three industries” McDaniel said. “Retail, hospitality and restaurant - many of them are smaller size businesses and because of the pandemic - it has really been devastating to those industries we have - though our goal is to get residents back on their feet.”

To read the full article, click here.

Families feeling the strain from the coronavirus pandemic began lining up outside East St. Louis High School early Friday morning hoping to be among the 1,500 to receive a care package of food and healthcare staples.

The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. (St. Louis, MO held its third large food and supply giveaway for the St. Louis region. Volunteers distributed care packages containing fresh produce, milk, dried and canned goods, toiletries and fruit to St. Clair County families.

Their next event is planned for Friday, April 24 in Madison County. Logistics for the giveaway are still being planned.

As data emerges on the spectrum of symptoms caused by COVID-19, it's clear that people with chronic health conditions are being hit harder.

While many people experience mild illness, 89% of people with COVID-19 who were sick enough to be hospitalized had at least one chronic condition. About half had high blood pressure and obesity, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And about a third had diabetes and a third had cardiovascular disease. So, what explains this?

Are you in need of a new job? Join us for a supportive and educational session where you'll learn the strategies for a successful job search after experiencing a lay-off, with guest speaker JT O'Donnell. 

To register for this event, click here.

To learn more about this Affiliate's COVID-19 testing, click here.

Amid reports that massive restaurant chains and businesses that continue to operate received funds intended for small businesses shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic, the National Urban League today demanded the next legislative package include specific funding pools for legitimate small businesses truly threatened by the crisis.