The system is not broken.
It is working exactly as it was designed to operate.
As humans who move in this world, and as an organization committed to providing solutions for financial inclusion, Community Financial Resources is outraged and heartbroken by the continued acts of violence on our Black and Brown communities.
We stand and move with all who are grieving, angry, and exhausted. We stand firmly and unequivocally against white supremacy, police brutality, and state-sponsored terrorism.
In the past week, more peaceful protestors and journalists have been jailed than all the bankers who were jailed for fraud during the financial collapse. More than 40 million people are unemployed, the overwhelming majority being Black and Brown people, as a result of COVID-19. Meanwhile, billionaires have gotten $434 billion richer in the process.
These systems of oppression have existed long before technology enabled them to be witnessed virally and long before this pandemic confirmed how Black and Brown communities continue to bear the brunt of it due to failure by design, generation upon generation. We stand in solidarity and we say their names as we fight to create a more just and equitable future.
Rest in power: Emmett Till. Jimmie Lee Jackson. Rodney King. Sean Bell. Trayvon Martin. Eric Garner. Mike Brown. Oscar Grant. Freddie Gray. Sam DuBose. Sandra Bland. Korryn Gaines. Botham Jean. Stephon Clark. Ahmaud Arbery. Atatiana Jefferson. Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. And so many others who have been killed at the hands of police.
Here are ways to support Black liberation. Here are structural ways to end the oppression economy our systems are built on: Reform the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to ensure that people of color have access to financial products and services, cap interest rates on small-dollar loans at 36% APR, and protect the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB).
In solidarity,
Community Financial Resources
Parisa Esmaili, Carol Iascone, Ann Schnuer, Anthony Vinton, and Claire Buonocore
