Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech nearly 60 years ago at the March on Washington for Jobs! OneUnited Bank is proud to be a part of a dream worth fighting for…a dream to inspire and build our community.
After 60 years, we embody our ancestor’s wildest dreams. Yet, after 60 years, it feels like we still can’t breathe. We pray for our community as police brutality stalks us. We demand an answer to the seeming evaporation of reparations, and we still witness constant first appointments.
Even so, we rise above. We march. We continue… we BUILD!
Building the Dream
Through community-wide economic empowerment and a coalition of our resources, we can manifest our dream for prosperity. Now is the time to invest in our businesses. Now is the time to #BuyBlack with marketplaces like Official Black Wall Street and put our companies on top!
Building the dream requires us to address the pronounced wealth and income divide between Black and white communities. Generational wealth conversations are being shared across social media and the Black dollar is being spent differently. Young leaders of today are tying dreams to actions by running for office, leading new business growth, joining the #BankBlack movement, and starting organizations like #BlackLivesMatter.
During the protests of 2020, “I can’t breathe” shared both our experience living through stifling injustices and, in a resounding audacity, declared that WE WILL BREATHE! We will DREAM! We will ACT!
Fighting for the Dream
As outlined in our 2022 Scorecard Update, the heart of our strategy is to eliminate the #RacialWealthGap, establish #FinancialLiteracy amongst our community, and increase our ability to support #BlackOwnedBusinesses.
Access to financial tools is critical for our community to continue pushing toward growth. That’s why we launched CashPlease, a national small-dollar, short-term loan program without the need for a credit check. In order to increase accessibility to our checking accounts, we launched the Black Wall Street Checking with no monthly fee.
Martin Luther King Jr. emphasizes the importance of working in solidarity with our allies to bridge gaps and close divides. We created the Greenwood Visa Debit Card to illustrate a promise and potential for our community.
What the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. teaches us is that both a dream and an action plan are important to make change tangible. Join us in celebrating the life and excellence of a champion for freedom. Let freedom ring!
