As the racial wealth gap continues to widen, more public figures are holding conversations about establishing more Black-owned institutions within communities.
This week, rapper Michael “Killer Mike” Render, civil rights advocate Andrew Young, and entrepreneur Ryan Glove announced plans to establish a new Black-owned bank in honor of Black Wall Street.
The trio unveiled the Greenwood Bank to consumers after securing $3 million in seed funding. The bank will be the first digital banking platform for Black and Latinx business owners and consumers.
“It’s no secret that
traditional banks have failed the Black and Latinx community,” Ryan Glover told Black Business.“We needed to create a new financial platform that understands our history and our needs going forward, a banking platform built by us and for us, a platform that helps us build a stronger future for our communities,” Glover continued. “This is our time to take back control of our lives and our financial future. That is why we launched Greenwood, modern banking for the culture.”
Young said the new bank is something
much-needed–especially in light of the current political climate–to help advance the community and see it prosper. “The work that we did in the civil rights movement wasn’t just about being able to sit at the counter. It was also about being able to own the restaurant,” Young, the civil rights leader and former Atlanta mayor, told Black Business.“We have the skills, talent, and energy to compete anywhere in the world, but to grow the economy, it has to be based on the spirit of the universe and not the greed of the universe,” he said. “Killer Mike, Ryan, and I are launching Greenwood to continue this work of empowering black and brown people to have economic opportunity.”