Today in the pouring rain, 10,000 or more brave souls joined 400 plus proud Morehouse College graduates --- all crowded under ponchos, hats and even program books -- to hear their President "bring the message," to and for young black men of the future. And rain or no, the President did not disappoint.
And yes, I was one of those 10,000 being pounded by rain that seem to come on schedule. But no regrets here. Dr. King, my personal hero Ambassador Andrew Young, and countless others in the civil rights movement dealt with much, much worse, for much, much longer.
President Obama spoke directly to young black men who come at a critical time for America, as well a critical time of and for the traditional African-American experiencein America.
Young men who, if pointed in the right direction and truly inspired to make a difference, could very well remake and reset the very future of Black America. A Black American community that is arguably at a historic tipping point nearly 50 years since Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur
In the 50 years since the civil rights movement and Dr. King's dream, one problem (racism) has been replaced or at least matched by another -- poverty. Urban poverty, rural poverty, and poverty that hits blacks, whites, browns and others alike. As I have said previously in the Huffington Post, poverty is the new racism. If you are poor, everything pretty much sucks.
The old model of racism was based on race and the color line. The new model of racism is rooted in class and poverty. The old racism was obvious in signs that read White Only, from the southern states in the U.S. to South Africa. The new racism is more obvious in Misery Row.
Whether it is a feature on a boulevard in an urban city or a rural town, or whether it is at the entrance of a military base, the Misery Row looks pretty much the same. Predatory check cashers, next to rent to own stores, payday lending stores, title lending stores, and liquor stores.
One group of financial predators takes advantage of your financial problems and misfortune, while another associated group benefits by helping you to forget you actually have any.
Financial literacy may not be a sexy topic, but
financial illiteracy is literally everywhere. And in this new economic age we
all live in today, it's wrecking lives, hopes and dreams both large and small.
The number one cause of divorce, is money.
The number one reason for domestic abuse, is money.
The number one reason why police get injured on the job is not car chases or
shootouts, but domestic abuse calls.
The number one reason why minorities (and increasingly mainstream America too)
drop out of college is not grades or GPA, but money.
The number one cause for heart disease is stress, so says the American Heart
Association. The number one reason for stress – money.
Financial illiteracy is no longer the thing we assign to the so-called poor,
and those without a college degree, or a degree of material success. It is something that now effects and impacts
all of us, and we need to do something about it. Now. But before we put out the urgent call to our
elected officials, we need to also look at ourselves, our own lives, and our
own decisions.
This seemingly happy family (meaning, they get their joy from their inner being, and not their material possessions, which were not many) in a township in South Africa live on the equivalent of $2 a day. I met this dignity rich family while touring Operation HOPE South Africa's work in the country.
The young lady in the middle, who is 19 and now attending a good school (which by the way, she and her family have to pay for out of their already thin pockets), is my hope for South Africa. She is full of hope and as smart as can be. All she desired was an opportunity, and she would do the rest.
The only time that she stopped and felt any sadness at all in our presence, is when she broke down and cried about the conditions of her township. How (from her perspective) elected officials care very little about addressing the concerns, and conditions that they find themselves in today.
On April 27th, 2013, the King Center unveiled the Coretta Scott King commemorative rose, and I was honored and pleasantly surprised to return home from one of my many trips to find two of the beautiful roses at my home.
The roses were a gift from my friend and HOPE board member Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of the King Center (a post once held by her mother), and destined for a special planting location in my private park here in Atlanta, Georgia. But as I reflected on the Coretta Scott King commemorative Rose, I also began to reflect on the woman. The woman, as leader, mother, wife, keeper of the King legacy flame. I decided I had to write something in honor of her, on this special day.
Operation HOPE, the organization that helped to pioneer financial literacy as U.S. federal policy in January, 2008, as then President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order inspired by our on-the-ground work, is proud to once again have its work cited amongst U.S. policy makers.
I do hope that I find you well. I would like to thank you for sparing your time and effort to come and address my learners at Sandtonview Combined School, on Monday the 22rd of April 2013. Your presentation was so inspiring to me as the Educator/Teacher at the school working with the learners everyday and to the learners at large.
Its always good to hear from the "best of the best" in entrepreneurship in the world. We as a school were so fortunate and privileged to say the least. According to your stuff members, this was a first in South Africa where a programme was started and we were first to have a one on one conversation with the founding father of the organisation.
I would like extend my sencere gratitude to you once again for giving one of my learners, the opportunity of a lifetime, a paid internship with your organisation on completion/graduation. This has already motivated the youngster to even do better in his school-work and in terms of his behaviour right here at school. All the young business learners are so earger to follow in your footsteps and that of your partner Natasha Foreman.
The opportunity that you have given these learners is on that they will never forget in their lifetime. In addition I have also learnt, in my personal capacity as an Educator, various life changing lessons through your presentation. Your use of Twee and George in the selling of drugs and their death brought tears to my eyes. You know why? Its just because I am sitting in this classroom in front of my learners, some of whom are already using these drugs and its painfull as you see them destroying their own lives and what you tell them they do not even listern to you due to a variety of factors. Sir, your example on pregnant school girls, a reality that I see each and every teaching day of my life. I keep hoping that the ones that I have managed to inspire and brought to Operation Hope's Banking On Our Future programme will be inspired as iI did and be able to take their lives into a better future. Alutah continua with "Operation Hope" in South Africa and through-out the world as it is the only vehicle that will drive hunger and under-development from our continent.
May the Almighty protects you from all forms of evil so that one day I will meet you again and relieve to you my own personal life journey that I would have travelled.
Regards
Ganyiwa Isaac
Educator: Sandtonview Combined School, South Africa
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.
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --The National Urban League's (www.nul.org) State of Black America report released today concludes that despite social and economic gains, the African-American equality gap with whites has changed little since 1963—the year of the Great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the height of the civil rights movement.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Great March, this year's State of Black America—Redeem the Dream: Jobs Rebuild America includes a 50-year retrospective analysis conducted through the lens of The Equality Index®. The report shows that while the African-American condition has improved, including achievements in educational attainment and employment, this progress has occurred largely within the Black community. Double-digit gains in education, employment and wealth contrast sharply with the single-digit gains made in those same areas compared to whites.
Report more from the National Urban League on the 2013 Report release here.
