Killer Mike Wants to Save America’s Disappearing Black Banks
#BankBlack, a campaign promoted by Michael Render of Run the Jewels, has brought attention—and new customers—to the few remaining Black-owned financial institutions.
Michael Render, aka Killer Mike.
Photographer: Dan Medhurst
Michael Render, the rapper and activist better known as Killer Mike, has been saying the same thing for years: America needs Black banks. But after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, Render is issuing another plea on behalf of the few Black-owned banks still standing. Once again, he’s urging fans to #BankBlack.
The campaign has worked—at least on the small, often precarious scale of Black-owned banks. The largest one, OneUnited Bank in Boston, quickly attracted $50 million of new deposits. Yet even with that additional money, OneUnited Bank is only an asterisk in the wider banking industry. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has more than 150 branches that are each bigger than all of OneUnited.