Homeowners
and Good Citizens from Around the World Protest Wells Fargo and Other
Banks' Predatory Lending and Greedy Profiteering policies.
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Jacquie Taliaferro, SFNAACP Communications Chair, Archbishop Franzo
King, SF NAACP Foreclosure Chair and Ed Donaldson, Housing Advocate at
"Occupy Our Homes" Protest at Wells Fargo Bank in Bayview Hunter's
Point.
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San Francisco -On
December 5,2012 across the USA many protests were staged about unfair
banking practices. ACCE, OCCUPYBERNAL and the SF NAACP Foreclosure
Chairman Archbishop
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Commentary by Jacquie Taliaferro, SF NAACP Communications Chairman
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Franzo
King appointed by SF NAACP President Dr. Amos Brown held a rally-protest
outside of the San Francisco Bay View Hunters Point Wells Fargo Bank
branch. The Bay View that was once 70% Black-African Americans, has been
increasingly fighting a high rate of foreclosures that is resulting in
yet another form of gentrification. Wells Fargo Bank has been
responsible for many of the foreclosures in the community.
At the
rally I took time to talk with some of the bystanders to get a sense of
their POV...Point of View. A City of San Francisco social service office
is located in the Bay View Plaza where WFB is located.
I asked
one of the social workers (a Black Women) what she thought of the rally
and handed her a flyer. "I am just happy to have a job and not be in
that situation, " was her response.
Another
social worker standing next to her would not take the flyer and said
with the Black security guard, "those people are on private property and
most of them don't look like they can afford a loan anyway." I asked
them "how does a person that can afford a loan look? Their answer, "look
at the way they are dressed." As I observed, most of the protesters
were dressed casual like most of the multimillionaires in Woodside and
Silicon Valley. "The Millionaire Next Door" also affirms outside
appearance is not always an indication of a person's ability to "afford a
loan."
The
front line exchange with the social workers and the guard reminded me of
when I was visiting a NAACP member's home and his white neighbor
stopped by. We where watching TV and the topic of race came up. We went
back and forth on this subject until we just decided to drop it. About 5
minutes later under his breath he said, "Blacks are so mean to each
other." We all acted like he did not say what we heard. Mostly we all
just wanted to relax and we also knew that his statement is true. Willie
Lynch theory came to mind, along with the documentation of how the
Black slave overseers were harder on Black slaves than white overseers.
This tendency of the oppressed to behave like the oppressor was seen in
the World War II Concentration Camps and in studies at universities like
Stanford.
The flyer I tried to share with them was about Wachovia's admission to slavery trade roots.
Wells Fargo obtained the holdings of Wachovia that bought the loans of
World Savings that dissolved after its predatory lending practices were
too blatant to defend. There was no room to include Wells Fargo/Wachovia
drug money laundering admission. What a tangled web of financial greed,
treachery, and arrogance they have weaved. Bankers, lobbyists, and
sleeping, careless or money-seeking lawmakers have entangled the
American people as jobs are shipped off shore in such a way that the
American Dream of home ownership has been strangled.
Even
the New York Times has indicated that the banking industry is
disingenuous when it comes to helping distressed homeowners in the
editorial from November 22, 2012-"More Questions About Mortgage Relief."
Aside
from the laws and policies that prefer the banking corporations above
the individual homeowners, there is the added problem of timing that
prefers the corporations. As banks have trillions of dollars and time on
their side, the individual besieged homeowner can be quickly removed
from their home. Bush Administration policies that changed the
Bankruptcy laws are of no use to many people. If they figure out at the
last minute that they could file for bankruptcy, many are at a loss
because the requirement to take a credit counseling class makes
bankruptcy null and void. Bankruptcy is usually a stopgap measure, a
limited means for homeowners to get some bearings to discover other
strategies to fight off the powerful banks. Keep in mind many of the
homeowners were duped by the banks predatory lending practices as
indicated by their $26 billion "mea culpa" settlement with states across the nation.
The NAACP recently put out a nationwide communication about foreclosure assistance.
National Message from NAACP: If you or someone you know experienced foreclosure between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010, visit www.independentforeclosurereview.com to see if you qualify.
http://www.naacp.org/action-alerts/entry/naacp-supports-congressional-initiatives-to-help-homeowners-facing-foreclosure
Here are other links for your consideration.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-29/banks-financing-mexico-s-drug-cartels-admitted-in-wells-fargo-s-u-s-deal.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/us/14justice.html
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/320-80/13895-us-sues-wells-fargo-in-mortgage-fraud-case
You can
do your own search and take the time to speak to people about their
experience and not make assumptions as the social worker and guard did
at the rally and protest. It was interesting to note that one story
highlighted at the rally was a United Airlines worker fighting to have a
foreclosure rescinded because of dual tracking ( bank saying they are
working on a modification while at the same time foreclosing and
auctioning off a home).
Also
sad to note that as the unnecessary show of force from the San Francisco
police department stood watch over the peaceful protesters, stories
flowed from their rank that many of their fellow police officers and
firefighters in San Francisco are in the midst of foreclosure.
If
trillion dollar banks guilty of mortgage fraud, drug money laundering,
slave trading and other financial atrocities can skate through the
judicial system, in a country built on justice and the importance of the
individual, surely policies can be put into place to give the people of
America a fair shake.
Help your neighbors--join the "Stop the Wells Fargo 27 Holiday Foreclosure and Evictions" campaign. A phone call and/or email can make a difference in whether someone has a home for the holidays.
Jackie Wright of Wright Enterprises-"Create humanitarian solutions to the foreclosure crisis."
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