{"product_id":"9781642833409-the-banks-we-deserve","title":"The Banks We Deserve","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eReclaiming Community Banking for a Just Economy\u003cbr\u003eSeasoned journalist Oscar Perry Abello highlights the crucial role community banking has in championing and\u003cbr\u003erevitalizing communities, offering an accessible and inspiring path for new community banks.\u003cbr\u003eWe’ve never done anything big in this country without little banks. Yet the number of community banks in the US has\u003cbr\u003ebeen steadily declining for decades, giving way to big banks that have little connection to the communities they claim to\u003cbr\u003eserve. The massive, unprecedented shift toward such a highly concentrated banking sector has weakened our ability to\u003cbr\u003etake action at a community level and leaves many people, especially those who have been historically marginalized,\u003cbr\u003ewithout access to capital.\u003cbr\u003eIn The Banks We Deserve, journalist Oscar Perry Abello argues that community banking has a crucial role to play in\u003cbr\u003eaddressing urgent social challenges, from creating a more racially just economy to preparing for a changing climate. At\u003cbr\u003etheir best, community banks unleash the agency and aspirations of the communities that establish them.\u003cbr\u003eAbello challenges people working on racial justice, community development, or addressing climate change to start more\u003cbr\u003ecommunity banks or credit unions as part of their work, while also calling for policies and regulatory reforms that will\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehelp tilt the landscape back in favor of community banking.\u003cbr\u003eThe Banks We Deserve tells the stories of new community banks — like Adelphi Bank, in Columbus, Ohio, the first new\u003cbr\u003eBlack bank in 20 years; or Walden Mutual Bank in Concord, New Hampshire, the first new mutual bank since 1973 and\u003cbr\u003ethe first chartered specifically to finance a more sustainable food system; or Climate First Bank, in St. Petersburg, Florida,\u003cbr\u003ewhich has grown exponentially since opening for business in 2021. He hopes these stories inspire others to take some of\u003cbr\u003ethese same daunting-but-not-impossible steps.\u003cbr\u003eFor a community or industry that is being ignored by big banks, the idea of starting up a new bank or credit union rarely\u003cbr\u003efigures as an option. In The Banks We Deserve, Abello shows advocates, organizers, and innovators that it can be done, that\u003cbr\u003eit is being done, and describes a path to support more community banks and credit unions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57593447514486,"sku":"9781642833409","price":19.74,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_40585304_6586b4a3-ed41-47d5-b7b8-6b5bc59ce218.jpg?v=1775098784","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781642833409-the-banks-we-deserve","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}