Our Souls are Rested

Blog post by CDFI Coalition Board Chair John Holdsclaw, IV

Since I became the Board Chair of the Coalition of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI Coalition), I have intended to write a blog post, but as they say, “sometimes life gets in the way.” 

As I have watched the civil unrest and cries of social justice over the past two weeks, I received texts, emails, and calls from many of my work colleagues and friends who have reached out to check on me. While I am thankful for their concern, in many cases I have replied with “thank you” and nothing more. The shortness of my response was not to be terse, but could also not hide the numbness that I felt. A respected fellow board member from another organization told me that “You have a right to your silence. It is sacred and can be a space of comfort and healing. We are all dazed and bleeding and trying to figure out how to keep it together. I respect that taking refuge in your numbness is your way.” She was right, yet that numbness has my led to my motivation to act.  As Board Chair of the Coalition and beyond, I promise you that racial equity inside and outside the CDFI industry will remain a paramount concern of mine.

CDFIs were created to supply the tools enabling economically disadvantaged individuals to become self-sufficient stakeholders (including minority business owners) in their own future.  And while I applaud the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that played a tremendous role keeping small businesses afloat, many minority-owned small businesses were unable to secure those loans for their long-term sustainability.  CDFIs can provide solutions for minority-owned small businesses that are often unable to access capital and investments from traditional lenders. CDFIs have done that for years, serving those communities and businesses left outside the economic mainstream. The foundation for that sustainability can come from our advocacy for the $1 billion for the CDFI Fund proposed in the House of Representatives-passed HEROES Act, allowing CDFIs to provide loans beyond PPP as well. This is truly a marathon and not a sprint.

During these turbulent times, it is good to find inspiration from stories of coming together and advocating for more inclusive communities. I want to thank our partners and Coalition members for participating in our Week of Action, bringing much needed attention to the work CDFIs are doing, but also the need that remains for many low-income people and communities, including communities of color which are disproportionately impacted by both health and financial access disparities. You have taken to Facebook and Twitter using the hashtags # HEROESAct #CDFIsInvest #COVID19 #KeepCDFIsStrong, written amazing stories of impact, and, importantly, reached out to your Members of Congress in support for providing a $1 billion appropriation for CDFIs. CDFIs’ excellent track record providing access to capital for low-income underserved and underbanked communities make them the ideal resources to aid communities most in need. 

One story I want to share is of Local Market, located on the South Shore of Chicago, which was saved from damage when members of the community came together to keep the looters away.  After going six years without a grocery store in that community, neighbors were united and so proud of the grocery store that they did not want the same fate for the Local Market, as other locally-owned businesses in nearby communities.  As a part of National Cooperative Bank, a financing partner working with the City of Chicago on Local Market, I am proud to know that our work is making a tangible difference in peoples’ lives.

There are similar communities across the country like that South Shore community. While minority businesses continue to grow, creating nearly five million new jobs in recent years and with annual sales close to $700 billion, there are still great disparities in business ownership. The Minority Business Development Agency notes that while the number of minority-owned firms has grown by 35 percent, the average gross receipts for those firms dropped by 16 percent and this was before COVID-19.

The nation currently gripped in a COVID-19 and racial pandemic and we must all continue to do our best impacting communities.  But what happens when the protests end, the verdicts are rendered, and the television cameras and reporters wearing their masks leave? What more can I do, what more can you do in your community? During the Montgomery Bus Boycott (December 5, 1955 – December 20, 1956), Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Elder “Mother” Pollard was asked by a young Dr. Martin Luther King who described that after several weeks of walking to her destinations rather than take the bus, he suggested to Mother Pollard (thought to 72 at the time) that she might take the bus again for the sake of her health. She proudly replied, “My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.”  Let us all use our numbness as motivation and do our part to act on behalf of all communities across the country and use our rested souls to combat systemic racism and injustice.

John Holdsclaw, IV is the Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at National Cooperative Bank. Since its founding, NCB has an uncommon mandate to ensure our efforts benefit those most in need, supporting low-income communities and the expansion of cooperative initiatives. With this guiding principle, NCB contribute to the building blocks of sustainable communities: investing in clean energy, small businesses and affordable housing, expanding access to healthy food and affordable health care, plus much more.