John Hope Bryant

HOPE Snippet: U.S. Surgeon General Headlines HOPE Forum in Atlanta During National Women's Health Week

Operation HOPE Hosts Top Medical Leaders for Discussion about Preventive Health and Affordable Health Care 

ATLANTA, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Recognizing National Women's Health Week, Operation HOPE (HOPE) hosted U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA for a discussion on the relationship between physical and fiscal health in America. The Surgeon General was joined by Chief Medical Officer of Centene Corporation Dr. Mary Mason and Chief Medical Officer of Peach State Health Care Dr. Dean Greeson. Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, dean and executive vice president of the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) moderated the discussion at the Operation HOPE Financial Dignity Center at Ebenezer in Atlanta.

As the fourth installment in the HOPE Forum series, the event covered the important topic of "Investing in Your Health." The in-depth discussion explored the impact of health care on the economy and how individuals can invest wisely in personal health to improve the nation's overall well-being.

Dr. Benjamin, who has served as the U.S. Surgeon General since 2009, spoke in great detail about the significance of preventive health measures and promoted her pet project, "Walking to Fitness," a new campaign she is helping to lead.

Operation HOPE Founder and CEO, John Hope Bryant underscored the linkage between physical and fiscal health for individuals and families, especially those in underserved communities.

Read the full article on the Wall Street Journal here.

 

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Banking on Our Future and 100 HOPE Corps Volunteers Bring Financial Literacy Empowerment to Silver Springs, Maryland

Recently my Operation HOPE, Washington, DC and Operation HOPE, Maryland teams came together and had a very successful Banking on our Future volunteer event at Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring, MD. There were over 100 HOPE Corps volunteers present and involved, and included employees from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Women in Housing and Finance, Capital One, Fannie Mae, M&T Bank, Bank of India, BB&T Bank, Sandy Spring Bank, Bank of America, First Mariner Bank, FDIC, City First Bank, ETrade Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of Georgetown, and FINRA.

A special thank you to my friend and financial dignity supporter, Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot, who teamed up with US Comptroller of the Currency Barry Wides to teach a Banking on Our Future financial literacy class. Maryland Comptroller Franchot and US Deputy Comptroller Wides also spoke to the volunteers about Franchot's mission to get each county in Maryland to adopt a graduation requirement for a financial literacy class in the senior year. Severak counties have already signed on to support this financial dignity leadership initiative of Comptroller Franchot.  Operation HOPE certainly supports him.

A special acknowledgement to Jackie Starr, who is our Operation HOPE market president for the Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

Operation HOPE, Washington, DC and Operation HOPE, Maryland are part of the larger mission of Operation HOPE, which is now a leading global provider of financial literacy to financial dignity empowerment services for the underserved, the working poor and the struggling middle class.

With 2 million clients served, 20,000 HOPE Corps volunteers, and more than $1.5 billion in private capital directed into America's low wealth and underserved communities, creating thousands of homeowners, small business owners and entrepreneurs over the past 20 years, Operation HOPE is making a difference.  But we cannot achieve our mission alone.  We cannot seek to advance the final work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., eradicating poverty and achieving a measure of economic justice for all, alone.

Operation HOPE operates the HOPE Financial Dignity Center Atlanta at Ebenezer Church, located on the campus of the King Center and as the anchor tenant of the Martin Luther King, Sr. Community Resource Complex.  Martin Luther King, Sr, or "Daddy King" as he was called, co-pastored Ebenezer Church with his son Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement, and served on the board of a bank for 40-years; a little known fact.  Daddy King was also focused on making free enterprise work for all, as his son was focused in the last years of his life on poverty eradication and economic justice.

The mission of Operation HOPE is civil rights to silver rights, or making free enterprise work for all.

 

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Operation HOPE 21: Telling The Story of Our Founding

21 years ago, this day, May 5th, 2013, the bold vision of and for Operation HOPE was born in South Central Los Angeles, immediately following the Rodney King Riots of April 29th, 1992.

"Rainbows, after storms.  You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first."

After the Rodney King verdict came down, so many things just went dark in the community I loved so much. The community I still love.  But not all things were negative, in the days and weeks and months that followed.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters and her local leadership group, led by Brenda Shockley as I recall, stood up their vision of and for Community Build. Today, Congresswoman Waters serves on the financial services committee for Congress, continuing to push her agenda for her people.

Then City Counciman Mark Ridkey-Thomas, who today is an esteemed and accomplished lead member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.  I fondly remember Supervisor Ridley-Thomas for so many reasons, but a couple stand out for me.  Mark (as I respectfully call him as a friend) served on our first board of directors for Operation HOPE. I remember our parting conversation. It was our first letterhead. We were committed to "eradicating poverty across America," and Mark (Ridley-Thomas) wanted to eradicate poverty and empower people IN THE 8TH DISTRICT!  We were both right, but Councilman Ridley-Thomas was more right than me.  He was 100% focused on empowering and serving the people in the district he was elected to serve.  This impresses me now, as much as it impressed me then.  I was sad to see Ridley-Thomas leave our board back then, by I so respected "why" he did it.  I also got the phrase "With HOPE," which has become my global signature sign-off statement on all correspondence, from Mr. Ridley-Thomas.  Finally, back then I would say that Ridley-Thomas was the only sitting elected official who really knew and understood community development, community empowerment, and the power of financial dignity in one's life.  

The HUFFINGTON POST ~ Solving Poverty: Atlanta in Black and Green, the Tale of Two Cities

   

John Hope Bryant

Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur

As I noted in another 'Solving Poverty' piece for The Huffington Post, the new racism today is actually poverty.

Yes, it feels really bad if a racist calls you a highly offensive name, but it is completely un-dignifying when you cannot pay your rent, make your mortgage payment, or you find that your car has been repossessed by the lender while you were sleeping. You can walk away from the racist. And more so, when you know who you are, there is actually very little the racist can say or do to change the way you feel about yourself.

You cannot walk away from poverty.

The reality of poverty faces you as a parent every morning when your child looks up at you for lunch money, and as you reach into your pocket, finding only lent and marked up job wanted ads instead.

Or every time you stop for gasoline and have to stop the pump at $6, or you're at the grocery store, intent on collecting the ingredients for that special meal for your family, but finding that you are $20 short and have to put the healthiest choices back.

Poverty faces you in the unfortunately regular arguments you have with your spouse or mate (money is the number one cause for domestic abuse and divorce in America today), or the first time you have to address your teenage child, whose daydreaming about which four-year college they desperately wish to attend. And today, what I am describing is not a 'Black thing,' it's a 'green thing.'

Whether you are white, black, red, brown or yellow, today you just want to see some more green. U.S. currency, that is. We are all in this mess together.

Read, comment and share the complete article on the Huffington Post here.

 

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Solving Poverty: This Generation Needs An Economic Backup Plan

Solving Poverty: This Generation Needs An Economic Backup Plan

I recently met a very impressive young man while visiting with my father, Mr. Johnnie Will Smith, in Los Angeles, California.  This young man, who lived next door and is the son of one who helps to care for my proud and still self-powered father of 88 years young, possessed incredible vocal, musical, and even writing and producing talent.   In other words, he could not only sing and dance, he could 'think,' analyze and strategize too. The only problem with this young man's life success plan, as I shared with him, was that his primary dream plan did not have a practical backup plan.  And worse from my perspective, his backup plan, should really be his primary plan instead.  Let me explain.

Responsible rap (meaning rap that is true to its origins and roots), Hip-Hop, the broad world of celebrity, and our varied professional sports, are so very important to cultivate and carry forward as part of the larger African-American and minority success story framework for a race.  As Quincy Jones repeatedly burns into my soul and pounds into my thick head, "music, art and culture shapes the soul, helps to heal and bring together our world. They help to shape more well rounded people."  I agree with Q 100%.  

That said, having a career in music, the arts, entertainment (in front of the camera) and sports as the primary life success solution for more than 30 million African-Americans alone in this country, is just plain dumb.  Sure, a few lucky ones will make it through, but I would argue that most of them are not in fact all that 'lucky,' at the end of their career-day. A couple facts.

70% of all professional football players file bankruptcy within 5-years of retirement from the game, and there is a 100% injury rate amongst professional football players.

70% plus of all professional basketball players file bankruptcy within 5-years of retirement from the game.

And a vast majority of the "celebrity" artists, from rap to Hip-Hop and beyond, find themselves dead broke after a short, and often even highly visible career.  

Solving Poverty: Dr. King, Wealth and Poverty, from Birmingham, Alabama to the Black Mecca of Atlanta

This past week marked the 50th anniversary of the Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his Birmingham Movement of 1963.  Much is known about Dr. King's now famous Letter, but it is generally less known that the Birmingham Movement was rooted in economic justice and jobs.  

And so, it was fitting that this week the organization I founded, Operation HOPE, marked the occasion by hosting a special HOPE Forum at our new HOPE Financial Dignity Center at Ebenezer in Atlanta, featuring U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry. Comptroller Curry regulates national banks with total assets of more than $12 trillion.  

An authentic, thoughtful and caring leader with a direct impact on more than $12 trillion in banking assets, is precisely the sort of transformational leader we need to see more of in inner-city, rural and under-served communities in America. For me, it is all part of a growing movement and body of work, from civil rights justice, to civil rights empowerment for all.  

But the visit to Atlanta and the HOPE Center Ebenezer, located within the larger Martin Luther King, Sr. Community Resource Complex, across from the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, was not a celebration of the vast economic progress that has been made since Dr. King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail. There has been progress, no doubt. Quite a bit in fact, but grossly uneven in its impact; even amongst African-Americans.  A room full of Black prosperity is to be celebrated, but it not absent the reality of Black poverty and the unbanked which could be found less than 2 blocks away.

Frankly, much of what Dr. King attempted to deal with and address through his Birmingham Movement work, could very well be applied to the economic conditions today in both Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia.

Rich Food for the Soul ~ Images and Voices of Global Dignity Day, Brazil, 2013

 

Last year I traveled at the invitation of our Global Dignity Brazil Country Chair, Young Global Leader Ms. Christina Lopes, to participate in their Global Dignity Day celebrations in and for Brazil (more than 50 countries participated on October 17th, 2012 around the world).  I had no idea what I was in for, but when you witness the spirit of the energy of these young people, you cannot help but to be moved.  I actually was hesitant to watch this video, because I knew that I would be both sad, and inspired at the same time. I knew I might cry.  All were true, but ultimately, I was left with an immense feeling of hope for them, for Brazil, and for our world.

An Operation HOPE Client Testimonial That Made My Day...

A very special thank you to Michael Shepherd, Chairman and CEO of Bank of the West, along with the Bank of the West family, for making the HOPE Financial Dignity Center, Oakland -- and client experiences like this --- possible.

This is what we mean, when we say from 'civil rights to silver rights' empowerment for all.

 

 

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Civil Rights to Silver Rights Quote of the Day

Civil Rights to Silver Rights Quote of the Day

"Civil rights was waged and won in the streets, but the silver rights movement will be waged and won in the suites (from classrooms to corporate board rooms). Silver rights says that the new agenda is not about black, white, red, brown or yellow (race), but everyone wanting to see some more green (US currency)."

John Hope Bryant


John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling business author of LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass) the only African-American bestselling business author in the U.S., and is chairman of the Subcommittee for the Under-Served and Community Empowerment for the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, for President Barack Obama. Mr. Bryant is the co-founder of the Gallup-HOPE Index, the only national research poll on youth financial dignity and youth economic energy in the U.S. He is also a co-founder of Global Dignity with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland. Global Dignity is affiliated with the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the World Economic Forum. Mr. Bryant serves on the board of directors of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, an NYSE Euronext publicly traded company, and a division of $54 billion Ares Capital.

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Investor's Business Daily: Dignity Mortgages Are No Leftist Scheme—They're A Mainstream Housing Product

By JOHN HOPE BRYANT

 Posted 05:23 PM ET

Investor's Business Daily, in its article of Feb. 25, 2013," 'Dignity Mortgages': Welfare By Another Name," is a surprisingly fictitious attack on a concept designed to bolster the economy and help promote a responsible ownership society.

The basic contention of the article is that the Dignity Mortgage "is the left's latest scheme to make amends for its disastrous experiment to socialize mortgages."

Apparently, the authors are unaware that most of the concepts in the Dignity Mortgage have already been adopted by major well-respected financial institutions that believe originating loans to middle-income families who are financially literate is a sound business practice.

For example, one of the top three home originators has a well-performing mortgage product that requires just a 3% down payment, available to low-moderate-income families, or any family residing in a low-moderate-income census track. And, there is no minimum credit score required.

In contrast, the Dignity Mortgage is seemingly far more conservative, since it requires three times as large a minimum down payment (10%) and requires a minimum credit score of 620. It's worth noting that the Dignity Mortgage also evidently meets the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new qualified mortgage rules.

Although IBD appears to believe that the vast majority of the beneficiaries of the Dignity Mortgage would be high-risk minorities, it should be noted that the vast majority of those most vulnerable to predatory practices in the recent past were white families.

Over the next few months, we expect many financial institutions to develop their own versions of the Dignity Mortgage that help promote an ownership society and that could provide up to one million additional well-informed and responsible homeowners per year.

And this is something that the nation has to do. It's not optional, given that today, unless you have an 800 credit score and a 30% down payment, most people today (read mainstream) cannot actually get a loan. It's not about so-called poor people, but all people.

Sadly, many other comments in the IBD piece are equally off the mark or grossly inaccurate.

For example, IBD opposes our 10% minimum down payment (which is also three times higher than the minimum at FHA), saying that "inner-city housing groups could front them the money" at an average down payment of $25,000 and one million families.

To do so would require inner-city housing groups to have $25 billion a year available, every year, for down payments.

Any examination of the very modest budgets of inner-city groups would show the absurdity of such an argument. Twenty-five billion dollars is probably close to a thousand times more than the total net assets of these nonprofits.

Read, comment and share complete Op-Ed on link below.

Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/032513-649257-dignity-mortgages-arent-a-far-left-idea-but-a-mainstream-one.htm#ixzz2OcH3Bv1o 
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