PRESS RELEASE:
THE BLACK MALE COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA ANNOUNCES MAJOR AFRICAN AMERICAN ECONOMIC IMPACT TO PHILADELPHIA
“THE BLACK FOLKS PLAN” A MULTI-BIILION GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE
On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 12:00 noon at the Guardian Civic League, 1516 W. Girard Ave. BMCCP in conjunction with The Friends of the African Union (FAU) will announce “The Black Folks Plan,” a Multi-Billion grassroots initiative that will have a direct impact on Real State development, Human Service, and Culture in the City of Philadelphia.
The Black Male Community Counsel of Philadelphia was selected by the FAU to organize African American grassroot non-profits and for-profits projects to be a part of what is now The Philadelphia Project Coalition. BMCCP has gained a track record of Boots on the Ground, All Hands on Deck efforts for the betterment and upliftment of the Black Community.
The African Diaspora Directorate, Friends of the African Union, NCRC and the new $60B Truist Bank Community Benefit Agreement “CBA” will be used for People of African Descent to do business in Philadelphia.
Since 2016, the NCRC has facilitated the creation of CBAs worth nearly $150 billion with 10 Banking Groups: KeyBank in March 2016 for $16.5 billion; Huntington Bancshares in May 2016 for $16.1 billion; Fifth Third Bank in November 2016 for $30 billion; First Financial Bank in October 2017 for $1.7 billion; Santander Bank in November 2017 for $11 billion; IBERIABANK in November 2017 for $6.7 billion; First Tennessee Bank in April 2018 for $4 billion; Wells Fargo & Company (DC) in October 2018 for $1.6 billion; Fifth Third updated agreement in October 2018 for an additional $2 billion; and, the latest with Truist in July 2019 for $60 billion.
The largest-to-date plan, finalized in July 2019, which went into effect in December 7th, 2019, is a three-year $60 billion agreement for the region served by Truist Financial Corporation, which includes Philadelphia, PA. The combined company to be created through the merger started operations with 450B in assets and is the 6th largest bank in the USA.
Truist committed $31 billion towards specific home purchase lending to people of color and LMI Communities. It dedicated $7.8 billion in lending to small businesses with annual revenue of less than $1 million, $17.2 billion to Community Development loans and $3.48 billion to Community Development Investments. Truist also pledged $120 million for CRA-qualified grants. In addition to the monetary obligations of the agreement, Truist pledged to open 15 new branches in LMI Neighborhoods and Communities of color and to create a Signature Capacity Building program with a focus on Racial Equity and Economic Mobility. Truist also strives to spend 10% of their third-party vendor spending on diverse suppliers. Lastly, Truist committed to creating a Community Advisory Board in collaboration with NCRC.
“Banks have an important role to play in our Communities, and these Community Benefits Agreements help ensure they fulfill that role for everyone, including low and moderate-income Communities and Communities of Color,” said John Taylor, President and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the driving force behind the recent proliferation of bank CBAs.
Furthermore, we plan to leverage the Trusit CBA to benefit the people of Philadelphia through the creation of the Friends of the African Union SmartWISE Community Reinvestment Coalition of greater Philadelphia to reach out beyond just the 600,000 Black folk built on the FAU SmartWISE Community Reinvestment Coalition Model.
WE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR
CONTACT: STANLEY CRAWFORD – 215 275 4015, stanleycrawford6@gmail.com
