www.afro.com
Volume 121 No. 40
A1 $1.00
May 11, 2013 - May 11, 2013, The Afro-American
MAY 11, 2013 - MAY 17, 2013
On Mother’s Day, a Grandmother Celebrates a New Relationship
By Andrea Crews Special to the AFRO
Charles Ramsey Photo courtesy Cleveland Call and Post
‘Dead Giveaway’ By Alexis Taylor Special to the AFRO
Charles Ramsey never imagined he’d be thrust into the national spotlight from the yard of his Cleveland home much less called “hero” for, of all things, rescuing three women from who’d been kidnapped. However, that is exactly what happened on May 6. “I heard screaming. I was eating my McDonald’s. I went outside and saw this girl going nuts trying to get out of her house,” Ramsey told ABC News affiliate WEWS. Clad in a plain white tee and flashing a less than perfect smile, Ramsey explained how he rescued Amanda Berry, 27, Continued on A4
INSIDE A4
Retired NFL Player Empowers Baltimore Boys
B2
Character Education Essay Winners
INSERT
• Walmart
Listen to “First Edition”
afro.com
Your History • Your Community • Your News
Join Host Sean Yoes Sunday @ 8 p.m. on 88.9 WEAA FM, the Voice of the Community.
Join the AFRO on Twitter and Facebook
The sweetest joy of my life has been getting to know my grandmother. I never knew her well growing up. Grandma Evelyn lived in Greensboro, N.C., so I only saw her on occasional visits. There were few chances to hug her, sit with her or laugh with her. I learned from my limited contact with her that she was a woman who did not smile often, had the gnarled hands of someone who worked hard, had a commanding bearing and always kept her home pristine from the baseboards to the ceiling. I learned around Thanksgiving that she was Continued on A3
Evelyn Crews admires a photo of herself and her late husband.
Black Banks Face Challenges By Zenitha Prince Special to the AFRO The once-towering stature of the Black bank has diminished. After almost 125 years of serving the underserved, the Black banking community has been brought low by a shrinking clientele, questions of relevance, competition from big banks and the fluctuating fortunes of its traditional client base—churches, small businesses and lower- and middle-income Blacks, who have borne the brunt of the economic recession. “The state of Black banks is bleak,” said Paul O’Connor, founder of Angkor Strategic Advisors, a Chicago-based investment firm that works with Black banks, speaking about conditions within the minority banking community in that city. In the past few years, several Black-owned banks, including the
$2 billion-asset ShoreBank, one of the most active lenders on Chicago’s South Side, Covenant Bank and Highland Community Bank have closed or been absorbed into another institution.
barren soil of segregation. Beginning in 1888 with the Capital Savings Bank in Washington, D.C., these institutions provided loans for homes, small businesses, expanding churches and more, services that
Photo by Andrea Crews
still, when everyone else turns them down, Black banks are still there as the last resort—though we wish we were there first.” With integration, and the implementation of laws such as the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, which requires depository institutions to lend in the less-advantaged portions of the communities in which they operate, Black banks faced stiff competition from major lending institutions. And later, as these banks consolidated into financial behemoths, the smaller community banks were inched out even more. “After integration, one of the most toxic side effects is that we started to run and spend our money elsewhere,” Grant said. “We’re the Continued on A3
“The number of Black banks has been steadily dwindling since the 1960s. As of March 2011, the FDIC counted 28 Black-owned banks in the United States, down from 54 in 1994.” And the city’s statistics mirror those nationwide. The number of Black banks has been steadily dwindling since the 1960s. As of March 2011, the FDIC counted 28 Black-owned banks in the United States, down from 54 in 1994. And there are several others teetering on the brink of extinction. Black banks grew out of the
majority banks refused to provide to African Americans. “Black banks played a major role in helping to develop Black communities,” said Michael Grant, president of the National Bankers Association, which has represented the interests of Black banks for the past 86 years. “These banks were there for the community then and
Judge Clayton Greene Jr., the Other Mfume Named Black Judge on Md.’s Highest Court Chairman of Morgan and lawyers. It would be hard to imagine a person more qualified than Greene,” Gibson When Maryland Court of Appeals Chief said about the possibility that Gov. Martin Judge Robert M. Bell retires on July 6, he will O’Malley might nominate Greene to fill the leave one other Black judge at the upper levels chief judicial vacancy. of the state’s judiciary-Born in Glen Burnie, Judge Clayton Greene Jr. Greene attended Pasadena, Greene was appointed Md. public schools. to the appellate court by He earned both his then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich in undergraduate and law 2004. Greene, like Bell, has degrees from the University played an instrumental role of Maryland before in administering the state’s becoming an assistant courts. public defender in 1977. “He’s served with For 10 years, Greene distinction at every level of represented clients in Anne the court system, very much Arundel County. like Judge Bell,” said Larry In a historic move in Gibson, a law professor at 1988, Greene became the the University of Maryland first Black judge appointed School of Law. to the District Court of He said that Greene Maryland in Anne Arundel has displayed leadership County. as an administrative judge, Greene’s law career helping to ensure the spans nearly 40 years. upkeep of courthouse During that period he has Courtesy Photo buildings, managing court served as a trial judge Judge Clayton Greene Jr. case flow, assigning judges and administrative judge to courts and working as a liaison between until being elevated to the Circuit Court for counsel and judges. Anne Arundel County in 1995 as its first “He has worked as an administrative judge, African American judge. He also served as which is well-respected among both judges Continued on A4 AFRO Staff Writer
Regents Board By Krishana Davis AFRO Staff Writer Former Maryland congressman and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume has been named chairman of the Morgan State University Board of Regents. His term will begin July 1, the university announced. Mfume was selected at a meeting of the board on May 7 by a 14 to 0 vote. One member abstained. The chairmanship was vacated in February 2013 after thenchairman Dallas R. Evans was ousted. Evans’ dismissal came after a board rift following Evans’ push for the dismissal of MSU President David Wilson. “This is a great opportunity to help in the governance of a great university,” Mfume told the
Copyright © 2013 by the Afro-American Company
Kweisi Mfume AFRO. “I thank the members of the board for their vote of confidence and I look forward to serving with President Dr. David Wilson.” Along with tapping Mfume as the new chairman, the board voted to approve a new one-year contract for Wilson, which Continued on A4