Activism

Sacramento Civil Rights Group Accepts Boon from Billionaire

GSUL President and CEO Dwayne Crenshaw said in an October 31 announcement that the Urban League is grateful to the billionaire for the donation and appreciates Scott and her team’s recognition of the group’s impact and value to the Sacramento area.

Published

3 years ago

November 13, 2022

Oakland Post

MacKenzie Scott has a fortune worth $27 billion. Twitter photo.

By McKenzie Jackson | California Black Media

In October, the Greater Sacramento Urban League (GSUL) received its biggest donation in the civil rights organization’s 54-year history.

Philanthropist, author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, donated $2.4 million to the local chapter of the National Urban League (NUL) based in central California.

“By placing racial equity and social justice at the forefront of her philanthropic mission, Ms. Scott is shining a much-needed spotlight on the nation’s structural and institutional limitations and helping to build a stronger, more resilient society for everyone,” Crenshaw said.

According to the NUL, the Sacramento chapter was one of 25 Urban League affiliates that received over $100 million in contributions from Scott.

NUL President and CEO Marc. H. Morial expressed gratitude for the gift in a November 1 statement.

“As the nation’s economic first responders, Urban League affiliates are the most effective and impactful engines of empowerment for eliminating racial gaps in our economic and justice systems,” Morial said.

The donated funds will go toward GSUL’s mission of empowering, educating, and employing the youth and families of Black and other marginalized people to build thriving communities.

In particular, the monies will aid in the development of a mixed-use housing and community and economic revitalization project on GSUL-owned land in Del Paso Heights, a neighborhood in North Sacramento.

The group hopes to break ground on the development late next spring, said GSUL spokesperson Laura Murrell. Murrell said Scott’s financial contribution will jumpstart the development.

Although it was the lone Urban League branch in the Golden State to receive a boon from Scott, GSUL wasn’t the only California organization to receive a donation from the well-heeled benefactor last month.

The Girl Scouts of the USA announced that Scott gave $4.9 million to the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles. The gift was part of an overall $84.5 million donation to the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Headquartered in Inglewood, the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles serves more than 46,000 girls in partnership with 25,000 adult members and volunteers throughout the communities of Los Angeles County and parts of Kern, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties.

Sofia Chang, the Girl Scouts of the USA CEO, said in a statement that the charity is a great accelerator of efforts to give girls the tools to become the next generation of powerful leaders.

“We’re excited to prove how Ms. Scott’s investment in girls will change the world — because when one girl succeeds, we all succeed,” Chang said.

Several other groups across the nation also announced they had received monetary aid from Scott last month.

Scott, who has a net worth of $27 billion, has given away around $12.7 billion to more than 1,200 nonprofits since July 2020, according to Forbes. Scott does not give media interviews or make public appearances.

Since she supercharged her charitable giving after her divorce from Bezos in 2019, Scott has at times acknowledged her gifts on the blogging site Medium. As of press time, her last post on the website was in March.

In the post titled, “Helping Any of Us Can Help Us All,” Scott acknowledged 465 nonprofits she had given funds to since June 2021 and typed, “as always, our aim has been to support the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds. The cause of equity has no sides.”

Murrell, the GSUL spokesperson, said the organization was shocked by Scott’s charitable gift.

“She has a reputation of giving very generous donations to countless organizations across the U.S. that do incredible work. So, to have her recognize the Urban League and our Sacramento affiliate in particular was astounding,” Murrell said.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

4 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.