Summary of recent news articles on black-owned banks 08/06/16-08/13/16

Black-owned banks tend to serve communities with weaker repaying ability that have been hardest hit by the financial crisis. This has led to black bank losses, and as larger banks expand to take market share in black communities, black-owned banks need to develop new business models to balance social mission and profitability.

Recent black community economic empowerment efforts have encouraged many African Americans to bank at black-owned banks and patronize black-owned business. The question is how can black-owned banks make this movement sustainable?

#MoveYourMoney…Black Family Summit Addresses #BankBlack Social Media Movement. By Diane I. Daniels, New Pittsburgh Courier. August 12, 2016.

Because of the #BankBlack and #MoveYourMoney campaign on social media, one of the two full service Black Federal financial institutions in Pennsylvania, Hill District Federal Credit Union had 54 new memberships in July. The Member Service Representative Erica Witherspoon will discuss the benefits of being involved with a credit union and the campaign during the fifth annual Sisters Saving Ourselves Now Black Family Summit Aug. 13 at Carlow University.

Local Pastors Make the Case for Black Banks. By Arionne Nettles, Chicago Defender. August 12, 2016.

Chicago faith leaders gathered to share their initiative to encourage their congregations to open accounts at one of the city’s Black-owned banks, Seaway Bank and Trust Company. The group, which contains 100 pastors from across Chicagoland, held a press conference on Aug. 9 to promise $100,000 in deposits for Seaway. Banking with Seaway, the pastors say, is a way to directly help Chicago’s Black communities.

Why Black Banks Are So Important, According to Teri Williams. By Lakin Sterling, Fader. August 12, 2016.

The President of One United Bank, the largest black bank and the first black bank with online banking: “It’s about moving our money, moving our minds and it has to continue.” Teri Williams said #BankBlack is just the beginning of the movement to encourage African Americans to switch to black-owned business, to change people’s mindset, to view economic autonomy just as important as the protests against police violence.

Women Business Owners Call to Action: #DivestToInvest in Black Banks. By Carolyn M. Brown, Black Enterprise. August 12, 2016.

Four African American women business owners and professionals recently hosted #DivestToInvest black bank enrollment event in Washington, DC to increase awareness about the widening wealth gap. Over 100 business owners, stakeholders, and community leaders attended the event. The meeting called for members of the black community to support black-owned banks and businesses. It also called for increased financial literacy, opportunities, and resources for communities of color.

Some Black Business Owners Strain to Sell to Black Customers. By AP, Crain’s Chicago Business. August 10, 2016.

While calls have been increasing for black consumers to support black-owned businesses in social media, some black business owners share that they can find it hard to sell to black consumers. The factors can be logistical or practical, such as being located farther away or having higher prices than big chain stories, and also emotional, such as the perception that national brands are better. Black consumers with lower incomes, little spare time and lacking the means to travel might have difficulty devoting to the endeavor.

This New Chrome Extension Helps You Find Black-owned Businesses. By Alana Levinson, Fusion. August 9, 2016.

As part of a Reboot Safety hackathon, Coleman, the organization’s programs and outreach director, decided to build the BuyBlack Chrome extension, which helps online shoppers find black-owned businesses. Coleman hopes that the eventually, users of BuyBlack will be able to easily submit businesses and build lists of their favorites.

How Black Co-Ops Can Fight Institutional Racism. By Sage Howard, VICE Media. August 9, 2016.

As the extension of Black Lives Matter, a great deal of conversation happen right now around what needs to be done to address the economic plight of blacks and how that struggle is connected to topical issues like police brutality. Dr. Nembhard shared that investing in co-ops, instead of some black businesses as capitalist and exploitative as white-owned businesses, can address the systemic racism in America today.

Killer Mike Urges Michael Jordan to Invest Air Jordan Profits into Black-Owned Banks. By Kyle Rooney, HotNewHipHop.com. August 8, 2016.

Killer Mike has been at the forefront of a collective movement to promote social change, specifically his call for people to start supporting black-owned banks. In an effort to influence others to support his cause, Killer Mike has publicly called out Michael Jordan to send the recent profits from last weekend's "Tinker Alternate" Air Jordan 7 into black-owned banks.

Community Group, Bank to Host Account-opening Drive for Nashville's Black Residents. By Will Racke, Nashville Business Journal. August 5, 2016.

As Nashville's oldest minority-owned financial institution, Citizens Bank will host an account-opening drive on Saturday to promote financial literacy and economic independence among Nashville's black community. Nashville native and talk show host Sha Dixon is a key figure in the local push of #BankBlack movement.