John Hope Bryant : 21st century middle class agenda

John Hope Bryant Mission Statement

"There is a difference between broke and being poor. Being broke is a temporary economic condition, but being poor is a disabling frame of mind and a depressed condition of your spirit, and you must vow to never, ever be poor again."
My vision for the poor, the under-served, and the wealthless of the world is to help them see themselves -- differently. We can do this by helping to expose, to educate, to empower, and ultimately to inspire them. To help them become "dreamers, with shovels in their own hands," quoting my friend Dr. Dorothy Height.
To see themselves for what and who they truly already are; rich in spirit. Assets, and not liabilities on the world's global balance sheet.
Because, I have seen, time and again, that given an informed choice, the poor do not want a hand out, but simply a hand up. They want the dignity that comes from doing for self.
That education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool, and when you know better, you tend to do better.
Moving from civil rights to silver rights. From integrating the lunch counter, to integrating the dollar too.
That low-wealth communities, the world over, represent future emerging markets waiting to be born. That one person can make a diference, and we are that one person. That we are all accountable and responsible for the world we live in, because it is literally the world we create. A little hope can make the difference.

Ribbon cutting event hosted by Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO
John Hope Bryant, HOPE Global Spokesman Ambassador Andrew Young,
HOPE Special Advisor Martin Luther King III, and HOPE Southeastern Board Member and Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall

(ATLANTA) -- August 2, 2010 -- Los Angeles-based nonprofit Operation HOPE (HOPE), the economic empowerment organization that has successfully educated, served and empowered more than 1.2 million Americans in the area of financial literacy and raised, funded and restructured more than $800 million in economic value for the underserved hosted a grand opening at their Atlanta regional office on July 29, 2010.

The open house celebrated the official opening of HOPE's regional office in Atlanta, which will house several regional staff, including HOPE Chairman John Hope Bryant. Along with the open house reception and ribbon cutting ceremonies at the new Peachtree Street offices, HOPE launched two hotlines focused on helping those needing economic counseling. The Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline and the HOPE Consumer Credit Crisis Hotlines are a part of Operation HOPE's commitment to support residents of Georgia and the Southeast Region.

Continue reading "Operation HOPE Officially Opens Atlanta Regional Office and Launches Mortgage and Consumer Credit Crisis Hotlines to Georgia and the Southeast Region" »

July 22, 2010

SPECIAL TO THE HUFFINGTON POST: Let's Stop Talking Down the Economy

In May, 2006, two years before the subprime mortgage crisis hit the U.S., and by extension (as the U.S. is still the largest economy in the world) globally, my friend Robert Gnaizda, Esq., then general counsel with the Greenlining Institute, and I predicted the coming crisis in an Op-Ed we co-authored in the American Banker newspaper. The subprime mortgage crisis hit with full impact in September, 2008, and the world has not been the same.

Well, another crisis is brewing, but this time the crisis may in fact be triggered by a combination of consumer anger and good intentions. These "good intentions" originate from the genuine interest to protect and serve the public by local, state and federal policy makers, and oddly enough, a good number of my friends in the advocacy and activist community, who of course genuinely believe they are doing the right thing in calling for, amongst other things, "the end to subprime lending." This would be well meaning, but it would also be wrong. Let me explain.

The first crisis, which began as a mortgage crisis, and then morphed into a general credit crisis, then a financial crisis, then an economic crisis, and is at present a global crisis of confidence, was not so much the result of the failure of capitalism and free enterprise, but the failure of greed. As I have said before in the Huffington Post, this crisis is today not so much an economic crisis as it is a crisis of virtues and values. We have lost our storyline.

The crisis was and is not a crisis of subprime lending. Yes, I said what you think I said.

Complete reading and commenting on the full article at the Huffington Post here.

July 22, 2010 in 21st Century Asian Agenda, 21st Century Black Agenda, 21st century middle class agenda, A Vision for the Future, Bi-Partisan Public Policy, Blogging for the people, Bryant on the Economy, Current Affairs, Economic Education, Financial Illiteracy, Financial Literacy, Global Economic Crisis and Response, HOPE Results, International Agenda, John Hope Bryant Authored, Leadership, Love Leadership Book by Jossey-Bass, Love vs. Fear Based Leadership, Media, Middle class agenda, Opinion and Commentary, Partnership with Community, Partnership with Government, Partnership with Private Sector, Poverty, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Something to Think About, Subprime Mortgage Crisis, The Silver Rights Movement | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)