Multi-year economic and environmental justice effort aims to strengthen frontline communities and disempower mass incarceration and systemic environmental racism
DALLAS — Hip Hop Caucus is launching a new economic and environmental justice campaign, Bank Black and Green, which encourages Black-owned banks to commit against funding the fossil fuel industry and mass incarceration and deploy capital to frontline communities of color. The Bank Black and Green campaign’s official launch and reception will take place during TD Jakes’ International Leadership Summit on Thursday, March 21 from 5 PM. – 9 PM CT at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, Texas.
The multi-year Bank Black and Green campaign aims to increase economic resources for frontline communities of color and encourages value-based impact investors to shift financial capital to Black-owned banks. The campaign also engages communities served by the Black banks to ensure their preparedness for accessing green capital.
“It is a privilege to take the #BankBlack movement into its next phase by launching the Bank Black & Green Campaign,” said Stephone Coward II Hip Hop Caucus’ Economic Justice Director and Cofounder of BankBlackUSA. “Economic justice, racial justice, gender justice, climate, and environmental justice are inextricably linked. Our goal is to change banking for good by strengthening the economic power of frontline communities of color and reducing economic disparities while disempowering systems of mass incarceration and environmental pollution.”
In collaboration with the National Bankers Association and the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, the Bank Black and Green campaign is organizing Black-owned banks in the United States through a pledge to commit to investing in the public health and safety of Black, Brown and Indigenous communities, and to shift millions of dollars of green lending and capital to the communities they serve – which are often first and worst impacted by economic and environmental injustice.
The Bank Black and Green official launch and reception will feature a conversation with RaShonda Young, CEO of Bank of Jabez and Nicole Elam, President and CEO of the National Bankers Association. The conversation will be moderated by advisor and entrepreneur Aaron Craig Mitchell.
Bank Black and Green is a campaign led by Hip Hop Caucus’ economic justice platform ‘Justice Paid in Full.’
For more information about Bank Black and Green, visit www.bankblackandgreen.com.
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About Hip Hop Caucus
Formed in 2004, the Hip Hop Caucus (HHC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that leverages Hip Hop culture to encourage young people to participate in the democratic process. Through a collaborative leadership network, HHC addresses core issues affecting underserved communities. HHC programs and campaigns support solution-driven community organizing led by today’s young leaders.
About Bank Black and Green
Bank Black and Green is a campaign led by Hip Hop Caucus’ economic justice platform ‘Justice Paid in Full.’ It’s a multi-year campaign encouraging Black-owned banks to commit against funding the fossil fuel industry and mass incarceration and deploy capital to frontline communities of color. To increase resources for frontline communities of color, Bank Black and Green also encourages value-based impact investors to shift financial capital to Black-owned banks. Learn more at www.bankblackandgreen.com.
