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How a bank failure 150 years ago still shapes many Black Americans' relationships to financial institutions

Feb 15, 2024
The Freedman’s Bank was the first opportunity for formerly enslaved people to save and protect their money. But its failure in less than a decade still haunts Black Americans today.
Pictured above, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge at the Freedman’s Bank Forum held at the Treasury Department in 2022.
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The life and legacy of A.G. Gaston: a man who quietly helped fund the Civil Rights Movement

Feb 1, 2024
A.G. Gaston was a Black entrepreneur who invested millions of dollars into the Civil Rights Movement and Black America.
Entrepreneur A.G. Gaston, right, alongside Birmingham Mayor George G. Seibels Jr., in front of the the Citizens Federal Savings bank.
Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives

Midwest's pollution is spurring a reverse Great Migration

Dec 28, 2023
Thousands of Black families have left industrial cities like Detroit and Chicago due to environmental conditions. Many head to the South.
Adam Mahoney traveled through the Midwest visiting cities where blight and pollution are driving Black families away from the region.
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In "Black Folk," the history of the Black working class is a family story

Jun 14, 2023
Historian Blair LM Kelley traces that evolution through her own family roots.
According to historian Blair LM Kelley, as Black women moved to Northern cities during the Great Migration, many found domestic work that took them away from their families — but led to the creation of new communities. Above, a woman and child in Harlem, New York City, in 1946.
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Slavery ended in the 1860s. Why hasn't the wealth gap closed for Black Americans?

Jun 20, 2022
Juneteenth commemorates Black Americans' emancipation from slavery, yet their economic emancipation continues.
Demonstrators marched Friday in Newark, New Jersey, to celebrate Juneteenth and demand reparations for Black Americans. Structural and legal barriers have limited Black people's opportunities to build wealth.
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Why are Black people leaving big cities?

Kimberly Adams speaks to Politico's Brakkton Booker about a new ongoing series on Black flight from major cities.
Chicago is the first city being spotlighted in Politico's “The Next Great Migration," which outlines how the exodus of a city's Black residents can impact its politics and economy.
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Closing racial wage gap could lift 2 million Black Americans into middle class, study finds

Jun 28, 2021
A new McKinsey report details the sweeping economic disparities Black Americans face.
A new report from McKinsey says Black Americans are underrepresented in occupations like doctor that are traditional pathways to the middle class.
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For many Black employees, working from home can provide relief from inequitable workplaces

Jun 8, 2021
Working from home can give Black workers a break from microaggressions, but it can also cut them off from their peers.
Remote work gives Black employees more distance from the microaggressions and discrimination they might experience in the workplace.
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Many younger Black Americans started investing in the stock market during the pandemic

Apr 20, 2021
According to a recent survey, 30% of Black investors under 40 first got into the market in 2020.
Black Americans who didn't grow up talking about investing are now able to pass on information they never had to their own friends and family.
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More Americans express enthusiasm for COVID-19 vaccine

Apr 16, 2021
Black Americans are the least enthusiastic, which likely reflects a lack of both information and access.
The share of Americans who want a COVID-19 shot right away, or have already been vaccinated, has nearly doubled to over 60% since December.
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