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---Brookings Report finds
that Black homeowners are hurt most by neighborhood segregation---The
Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan
Policy released, "The 'Segregation Tax': What Racial
Segregation Costs Black Homeowners," a report which
examines homeownership as a wealth creation tool for different
ethnic and racial groups in the nation's 100 largest metropolitan
areas. The report, written by David Rusk, former mayor
of Albuquerque and author of several books on regionalism,
finds that after equalizing for income, Black homeowners
had substantially less value in their homes than white
homeowners. Home value and equity are the typical American
family's most important financial asset, and often the
only vehicle for passing wealth to children and grandchildren.
In recent years, federal policies have focused on increasing
the percentage of Americans who own homes - particularly
minorities, since their homeownership rates have lagged
behind those of whites. While homeownership has increased
for all racial groups, it is not clear whether homeownership
has increased the assets of all minorities equally. The
report's key findings are: (1) Home values for Black homeowners
were 18 percent less than values for White homeowners.
For every dollar of income, White homeowners owned $2.64
worth of house. By contrast, Black homeowners owned only
$2.16 worth of house. (2) Both Black and White homeowners
were hurt by high levels of racial segregation. For example,
a closer examination of Philadelphia census tracts reveals
large drops in the ratio of home value-to-income for all
homeowners as the percentage of minority residents increased.
According to Rusk, as more and more White homebuyers shunned
increasingly Black neighborhoods, demand for housing and
price competition were reduced in those neighborhoods,
home values were depressed, and the "segregation
tax" grew.
--- National Better Investing Congress
& Expo encourages millionaires-in-the-making---
"Do not be afraid to become a millionaire"
and "Do not be afraid to take risks and everyone
can be a millionaire-in-the-making," said Kelvin
E. Boston, financial commentator, author and entrepreneur,
during the National Association of Investors Corp.'s
(NAIC) annual Congress and Better Investing Expo, held
here Oct. 24 - 28. Boston made his remarks during a
dinner meeting of more than 1,000 NAIC members and supporters
gathered for the Congress. As NAIC celebrated half a
century of providing investment education to people
throughout America, Boston rallied NAIC's members to
continue to be proactive in securing their economic
futures and to encourage others to do the same. "NAIC
helps people see that they have the financial wherewithal
and human capacity to become a millionaire," said
Boston. "Too many Americans don't understand that
in today's economy, it is fear, not financial resources
that are keeping them from being a millionaire-in-the-making."
---Citizens Trust Adds Fire Power
to Loan Administration with Sparks---Citizens
Trust Bank has recently heated up the talent pool with
the skill and financial expertise of Ronnie Sparks.
Ronnie joined Citizens Trust Bank to serve as the new
Manager of Loan Operations. Formerly a bank examiner
for Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (FRBA), Sparks brings
a wealth of knowledge and experience to Citizens Trust
---National Urban League and technology---
The National Urban League announced that it has received
a Technology Leadership Grant of more than $2.7 million
in software from Microsoft Corp. Microsoft's Technology
Leadership Grant program provides major software donations
to national nonprofit organizations to enhance delivery
of services to constituents, organizational efficiency
and communications. For additional information, or to
apply for a Microsoft Technology Leadership Grant, call
425-706-8185. The deadline for 2002 applications is
Jan. 21, 2002.
---Carver Federal Savings Bank opens
new branch in Harlem---
Carver Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Carver
Federal Savings Bank, has opened its new, full service,
state-of-the-art branch in Harlem on Malcolm X Boulevard
at 117th Street. Deborah C. Wright, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Carver, said, "Carver's new
Malcolm X Boulevard branch is our first in eleven years,
marking an important milestone in Carver's growth strategy
as we position the Bank to best serve the growing financial
needs of the African- and Caribbean-American communities
in New York." The new Carver branch was designed
to celebrate Carver's history and the African diaspora
by The Phillips Group, an internationally-recognized
architectural firm, and by Jack Travis Architects, a
leading African-American architectural firm specializing
in African design.
---Pittsburgh African American Corporate
Executives Hold First Career Symposium---A
group of African American senior corporate executives
announced the success of the region's first career symposium
for African American corporate professionals and managers.
The Corporate Symposium was designed to provide African
American professionals an opportunity to participate
in a well-structured developmental experience that will
assist them in their career and professional growth.
"Research has shown that success factors, career
paths, and expectations of upward mobility differ for
African American professionals," says Greg Spencer,
senior vice president and chief administrative officer,
Equitable Resources, Inc. "However, these issues
are rarely addressed in a substantial way in management
education courses. The African American Corporate Symposium
attempts to bridge that gap" The African American
Senior Corporate Executive Group is a group of twenty
local senior officers who began meeting informally over
the past year. Through discussions, they confirmed that
they shared many of the same workplace issues and challenges.
---Turner Broadcasting's 10th ANNUAL
TRUMPET AWARDS---
Sidney Poitier, Andrew Young, Cicely Tyson and Tom Joyner
are among the honorees at Turner Broadcasting System,
Inc.'s 10th ANNUAL TRUMPET AWARDS. The star-studded
awards ceremony will be held at the Georgia World Congress
Center on Monday, Jan. 7, at 6 p.m. and will air in
a special presentation on TBS Superstation Saturday,
Feb. 23, at 7 p.m.(ET)/8:30 p.m.(PT). Previous honorees,
including Quincy Jones, Maya Angelou, Gladys Knight
and Johnnie Cochran are expected to attend the event.
The TRUMPET AWARDS, hosted this year by Richard Roundtree,
Nancy Wilson and James Avery, honor African-American
achievers in fields as diverse as law, politics and
entertainment.
The Living Legend Award will go to actor Sidney Poitier.
Winners of this year's Tower of Power Awards, which
trumpet public service and civic leadership, include
former Senator and U.S. Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun;
Supervisor, Second District LA County Board of Supervisors
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke; Rev. Dr. Jonnie Colemon, Founder-Minister
Christ Universal Temple; Sylvia Flanagan, senior editor
of Jet magazine; Spelman College President Dr. Audrey
Forbes Manley; National Institutes of Health Dr. Vivan
Pinn; Ernesta Procope, Wall Street broker and president
and CEO of E.G. Bowman Co.; White House National Security
Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice; and U.S. Congresswoman
Maxine Waters.
---Amistad Arrives in Georgetown,
S.C.----
Coastal Carolina University, located in Conway, S.C.,
announced the arrival of the Freedom Schooner Amistad
to Georgetown Landing Marina, Georgetown, S.C., Saturday
November 3 at approximately 2:00 pm for a two-week visit.
It is the first time that this ship, a living symbol
of universal freedom, will have visited the State. The
Georgetown Host Committee and nine other multi-racial
community committees have planned a series of events,
lectures and exhibits exploring race relations, reconciliation
and shared history. Throughout the two-week visit, students
and visitors will be invited, free of charge, to participate
in discussions and demonstrations of local culture,
view exhibits of the Amistad and walk historic Georgetown,
SC. Six thousand South Carolina school children are
scheduled to visit the ship and its exhibits along with
an estimated fifteen thousand other visitors. The visit
of the Amistad is significant for South Carolina, a
state that has struggled with reconciling its citizens
to its history. The Africans that were illegally enslaved
on the Amistad and successfully revolted were rice planters
from the West African Mende tribe. Many South Carolina
Low Country residents can trace their heritage to this
tribe.
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