Welcome to another blog post in our Success Spotlight Series, where we feature black-owned banks along with tips for how and why you should consider supporting them. Today, we’re featuring Liberty Bank and Trust Co. But first, let’s get clear on the wealth disparity in the United States, why it’s significant, and a few ideas for how we can all contribute to closing the gap.
As we’ve highlighted throughout this series, the wealth gap is massive and needs to be rectified. As of 2016, the average wealth of white families in the United States was $171,000. Compare that to the average wealth of black families, which was $17,600 (McKinsey). We do not share these statistics to be alarmist. We recognize that there are some things that are beyond our control. But in the case of wealth dispartity, there are things we can do.There actions each of us can take to help bridge this gap, even if it seems like we’re only making a small dent. All of our efforts compound on each other.
Four things each of us can do to start closing the wealth gap
- Support black-owned businesses and banks where possible. We previously shared a list of resources for identifying some of these organizations. In case you missed it, here’s the list again.
Here are resources to help you find black-owned organizations:
- Black Nation
- Official Black Wall Street
- WhereU Came From
- I Am Black Business
- Another option is to search social media (particularly Instagram and Twitter) for relevant hashtags, for example, #supportblackbusiness, #supportblack, #blackownedbanks #buyblack
- Spread the word about black-owned banks and businesses. This is one of the easiest things you can do to contribute. You can spread the word within your personal network and also on social media.
- Become financially literate. Learn as much as you can about financial literacy and share what you learn with others in your family and community.
- Provide support and encouragement for the young people in your life (and community) regarding financial literacy. We can all agree that young people are the future. So, it’s vital they are equipped with the right tools and knowledge to build and maintain wealth. This starts with adults being good financial role models. That’s the first priority. Next, it’s important that youth have access to education and tools to help them learn healthy financial management habits, and also topics like investments and savings.
Mission and vision of Liberty Trust and Bank Co.
Their story:
“At Liberty Bank, we’re passionate about helping more people achieve more freedom.
There’s real freedom here-the freedom you have as an individual to attain your goals, as a business to achieve your idea of success or even as a community that is gathering strength to reach its full potential.
By investing in the development of personal goals, business objectives, and communities, we’re making a difference by making the word “bank” a verb rather than a noun, using our resources to get things done.”
What’s interesting about Liberty Bank is its focus on helping people create more freedom in their lives. They understand how financial education and assets can affect a person and family’s sense of freedom to make choices. Their central focus is providing services that empower its customers.
Services
Personal account services
Business account services
Corporate financing options
Locations
Baton Rouge, LA
Detroit, MI
Forest Park, IL
Jackson, MS
Kansas City, KS
Kansas City, MO
Louisville, KY
Montgomery, AL
New Orleans, LA
Tuskegee, AL
You can find the address and contact information for these locations HERE.
Resources
Liberty Bank offers a suite of information and tools on their online resource hub. As a bank committed to providing services and resources to increase people’s personal freedom, they back that commitment up by providing adequate resources people can access.
We must remember our actions multiply when more of us come together and purposefully take action to close the wealth disparity gap. Don’t think that what you do doesn’t matter. They may seem small, but the actions of each of us add up to have a much larger effect and create change. This is the time for us to all do what we can to bridge the wealth disparity and help dismantle systems of oppression.