June 22nd 2023.
In honor of Juneteenth, Operation HOPE has announced The 1865 Project, a new project that seeks to level the economic field in order to give American citizens more opportunities to support themselves in a free enterprise economy. With more than 250 offices across the country, Operation HOPE bridges the gap between low-income and middle-class citizens and the private sector.
The 1865 Project aims to complete the unfinished work of the Freedman’s Bank, which was formed by President Abraham Lincoln and social reformer Frederick Douglass. The goal of the bank was to educate formerly-enslaved Americans about finances, but due to a financial panic, all investments became worthless.
John Hope Bryant, the founder of Operation HOPE, discussed the Freedman’s Bank with BLACK ENTERPRISE for Juneteenth. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Andrew Young, Operation HOPE’s Global Ambassador, also worked on the mission by launching the Poor People’s Campaign in the 1960s.
The 1865 Project seeks to finish what was started all those years ago. Bryant believes that the Freedman’s Bank was the 1865 version of financial literacy for the underserved. He is challenging America to make good on a promise of economic participation for the formerly enslaved.
To make this vision a reality, Operation HOPE plans to implement a financial coaching model to connect underserved communities with the private sector. Since 1992, the organization has helped launch and grow over 250,000 Black-owned businesses, reduce client debt, increase client savings, and more. The 1865 Project will focus on four core demographics: youth in underserved schools, low-income adults in underserved communities, small business owners and entrepreneurs, and families that suffered from natural and man-made disasters.
BLACK ENTERPRISE has organized a month-long celebration for Juneteenth 2023 that will detail the history of Black prosperity and banking, and the future of investing and financial literacy for Black communities. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the unfinished work of the Freedman’s Bank and what Operation HOPE is doing to make sure it is completed.
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