W.E.B. Du Bois said in 1897…“The man who won’t control his finances won’t control anything else,” and, “…nothing positive will ever occur in a community that fails to circulate its dollars.”
Frederick Douglass said in 1874, "…the failure of the Freeman Bank did more to set freed slaves back than 10 more years of slavery." The Freedman's Bank, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3rd, 1865, was chartered to teach freed slaves about money (the circa 1865 version of modern day financial literacy).
Ambassador Andrew Young said in 2005, speaking before 18 African Heads of State, “..you can make more money, honestly, from a growing economy, than you can steal from a dying economy.”
Van Jones said in 2013, “..nothing stops a bullet like a job."
I said earlier this week at the launch of Jacksonville 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida with Mayor Alvin Brown there, “if you deal with class, you get race for free.”
The real challenges of Ferguson, Mo. in November, 2014, are more about money, poverty and class, than race, police and the color line.
This does not mean that race is not a problem in America. Race is and remains a big problem here and around the world too. And this challenge is not new. I'm only saying that the real color challenge is green, not black or blue.
John Hope Bryant is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and 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). His newest bestselling book is How The Poor Can Save Capitalism (Berrett Koehler Publishing).
Bryant is a Member of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, and co-chair for Project 5117, which is a plan for the rebirth of underserved America.
Bryant is the only bestselling author on economics who is also African-American.
Credit: A special thanks to Architects Of Group Genius, which produced the HOPE Doctrine on Poverty movie on a pro-bono basis for Operation HOPE.
Follow John Hope Bryant on LinkedIn Influencers here.
Posted by Natasha Eldridge, Office of the Chairman