An elaborate mural on the side of a building in Miami has sparked a major revolution in banking for the African-American community.
OneUnited Bank created a 550 square foot mural called “Thunder & Enlightening” on the side of their bank’s Miami branch.
The mural, which was created by Addonis Parker, confronts a myriad of issues facing the black community, from racism and bigotry to police violence.
The year 2016 was a violent year that saw the murders of men like Keith Lamont Scott, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and over 200 other people at the hands of the cops.
This promoted the call to use the power of black’s $1.2 trillion in annual spending intensified when Atlanta rapper Killer Mike got behind the cause.
Killer Mike issued a call-to-action for African-American’s to start “banking black,” which spawned the viral hashtag #BankBlack.
“We’re excited that the ‘seed’ planted by the mural grew into the #BankBlack and #BuyBlack movement.” – Teri Williams, President & COO of OneUnited Bank.
“Our community is not only moving money but also ‘moving their minds’ by directly confronting the discredited adage that ‘their ice is colder’ or that Black businesses are inherently ‘less than,'” Williams added. “We now are focusing on collective economics and community wealth building.”
According to stats, there has been over $50 million in deposits into black-owned banks over the past 12 months.
