A6
The Afro-American, May 11, 2013 - May 17, 2013
Howard Faculty Helps Evaluate Psychological Impact of Hurricane Sandy on Victims the natural science research. They are working in conjunction with Vernon Morris, Ph.D., director of NCAS and professor in the Department of Chemistry, and Bill Stockwell, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry. Hurricane Sandy and its destruction have largely moved out Members from the team spent three days visiting Atlantic of the media headlines, replaced by more recent news events. City, N.J., and Breezy Point and Staten Island, N.Y., talking with But for New York and New Jersey residents still dealing with residents about Hurricane Sandy and their personal experiences. devastation in its wake, it remains fresh. “We found that Hurricane Sandy had devastating effects on It is fresh, too, for the National Oceanographic Atmospheric the impacted communities,” Adams said. “The normal things Administration (NOAA) Center for Atmospheric Sciences that we take for granted on a day-to-day basis, like running water (NCAS) at Howard University, where faculty and students are and electricity, were wiped out. It damaged a number of homes assisting with research. NCAS is exploring the sociological to the point where residents were basically forced to move out of impacts of the storm on residents, how people responded and their homes and relocate to other communities.” why they reacted the way they did, as part of its research on how NCAS is funded by NOAA. NCAS research supports NOAA’s weather and climate impact society. mission and provides educational opportunities for students. NCAS recently surveyed some of the communities in the “With the social science research, we’re trying to find New Jersey and New York areas that were affected by the out what are some of the things that motivate people to take In New Jersey and New York, areas that were affected by protective action and what are some of the most effective October storm, which flooded New York’s subway system, destroyed more than 100 homes, left 53 people dead and caused the October storm destroyed more than 100 homes, left communication tools that will encourage people to process the 53 people dead and caused $18 billion in damages. $18 billion in damages, lost wages and income. information and respond accordingly,” Adams said, “so that we Terri Adams, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department can share these findings with NOAA.” of Sociology and Anthropology, said the team of natural and social scientists from Howard are In addition to their findings on large community displacement, the group also gathered examining the storm on a number of levels. preliminary data that support the idea that social class might affect people’s responses to “When a disaster happens, there are multiple layers of devastation that can impact an disasters, Adams said. individual or a community,” Adams said. “A focus of the research is to examine how people “If you look at some of the communities affected by Hurricane Sandy, you see large numbers respond to or take calls to action before a disaster. Then we examine how people respond to the of White Americans who were not necessarily left behind, but chose to stay behind,” she said. disaster after it has happened.” “So, what we’re trying to do is disentangle why people make those choices, and we think that The research is a collaborative effort being conducted by scholars in both the social and there might be some race, class and gender implications associated with this phenomenon.” natural sciences. Adams will lead the social science research alongside Carolyn Stroman, The research is a part of the larger, interdisciplinary research efforts taking place among the Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Communications and Culture; Tia Tyree, Ph.D., scientists of NCAS that will explore several different natural disaster sites. The research is still associate professor and interim chair of the Department of Journalism; and Cynthia Winston, in its developmental stage, Adams said, and the group has plans to return to New York and New Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology. Jersey to gather additional data. Everette Joseph, Ph.D., the NCAS deputy director, Beltsville Center for Climate and Systems Observations and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will lead Harris is communications director for Howard University Hospital. By Ronald J. Harris Special to the AFRO From Howard University
On Mother’s Day Continued from A1
coming to live with us because dementia had left her unable to care for herself. The day my grandmother, now 87, moved to Baltimore, I was unsure how to feel. Though I knew her face, I had a lot to learn about this woman who had gone from being a six-hour drive away to living right above my basement bedroom. Her walk had become slower, her hair greyer, her back more curved. But she was still my grandmother. * Dementia is a cruel thing. It robs sufferers of the details that make them who they are. That’s what it is doing to my grandmother. Grandma Evelyn had always been a woman in control. I remember how
nice her house was when we visited—the elephant sculptures and other memorabilia she had placed meticulously around the room. Her home was a time capsule of her family. The thing I valued most, though, were the details of my life she was able to fill in. Her stories about her children’s childhoods--including my dad, Reginald--enthralled me when I would visit. “Crews and them boys,” she’d say, referring to her husband, Bynum, my grandfather; my dad and three uncles. She was a very traditional Black woman who did everything she could to take care of her family. I remember that at meal time, she never sat to eat until her family had been fed. It was
always clear that her home and her sons were what made her the happiest. It was also great seeing her do the things that grandmas often do. Even into her 80s, she kept up with her gardening. Grandma Evelyn loved to stay busy. She survived her children growing to adulthood and one by one leaving home. She also survived the loss in 2008 of Granddad, her beloved, who died at age 86. They were married more than 60 years. Now, she’s dealing with her biggest challenge yet. * These days, instead of waking up to make breakfast, then spend the day working about the house and yard, Grandma Evelyn is limited to minor tasks. She will sweep
Carolina for her. She stares at a favorite picture of Granddad Bynum. She may tell a story about their life together. She often talks about two friends
the floor, put away dishes, fold laundry. There are signs posted around the house reminding her where the bathroom and telephone are and to beware of dangers like the stove. She watches gospel stations and listens to songs playing on the programs. A favorite activity is looking at the photo albums my dad brought from North
Photos by Andrea Crews
from her church back home. Amazingly, she does several
crossword puzzles each week. Now that I see her every day, she means so much more to me. It’s uplifting to see her eyes light up when she says “Hello!” and when she shouts out, “Grandma’s Andi Andi” when I walk into the room. We spend time together almost every day. I do her hair. I prepare her food if my dad is not at home. I help her fold clothes. I talk to her. She talks to me. It still gives me great joy to hear her speak, even though these days she may repeat her words several times. I know that she may not remember everything we share, but that’s okay because I will always be able to look back and recall those memories. I feel blessed to finally have them.
Black Banks Continued from A1
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. 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 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 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 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 only group in America that refuses to spend money in our community and we’re paying a high price
for it.” Access to major banks made Black-owned banks somewhat irrelevant, O’Connor argued. “They don’t have the same significance. A lot of what made them unique has disappeared,” he said. “[And] unlike other racially-concentrated banks, their best customers have outgrown them.” With desegregation, middle-income African Americans fled their inner-city communities for the suburbs. The defections meant that Black banks found themselves in mostly indigent
services such as non-bank money orders, nonbank check-cashing services, payday loans, rentto-own agreements, or pawn shops. The recent Great Recession, which was initiated by the implosion of the housing bubble in 2007, has created an even bleaker economic climate for Black banks, as the AfricanAmerican community faced unduly high jobless rates and the onerous toll of subprime loans. “Even though Black banks didn’t lead us into the Great Recession they were disproportionately hurt,” said Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, director
“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.” communities with high levels of unemployment, lower education attainment, drug addiction and crime, including vandalism, which meant higher costs of insurance. And Black churches, an important part of the banks’ clientele, also lost their best tithers, meaning they soon found themselves in arrears on their loans. “The need and role of Black banks were not to serve people who were not bankable,” said Joseph Haskins Jr., co-founder, president and CEO of Harbor Bank of Maryland. “Part of the problem that developed with Black banks is that they were too narrowly focused in communities that had changed radically. And many Black banks who failed to change their profile of banking were disproportionately serving those who were less capable of meeting the requirements of paying loans and other responsible aspects of banking.” African Americans comprise the largest rate of unbanked consumers, according to the FDIC. More than one-fifth of Blacks do not use any banking services, mostly due to lack of income. Another 33.9 percent are underbanked--meaning these households have a checking or savings account, but often rely on alternative financial
of NAACP Economic Department. “Even if you made a good loan, if your customer lost their job, they can’t make their mortgage.” As more and more customers—including churches, whose congregants had less capacity to give—defaulted on their loan payments and mortgages, the banks found their portfolios bogged down with toxic assets that could not be off-loaded. And, some financial experts say, Black banks were less able to access relief programs such as the Community Development Capital Initiative program, which was geared toward financial institutions that serve underserved communities and financed under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Linus Wilson, assistant professor of finance at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and coauthor of the study “Discrimination in TARP Investments,” said his research shows that nonAfrican American institutions were as much as 10 times more likely to receive federal subsidies from the program than Black-owned institutions after controlling for the financial health of the banks. “The TARP program is distasteful enough to most Americans. [But] the finding that racial
discrimination may have played a role in the selection of banks for the program is even more disconcerting,” he told the AFRO. Grant had a more optimistic outlook, saying despite the grave losses, Black banks survived the recession based on their conservative, riskaverse approach to banking and will continue to thrive because survival is part of their DNA. “These banks are doing well considering they have a very low percent of capital,” he said. “If you look at these banks, you would find a lot of resilience and creativity. They are experts at managing with few resources and small margins.” There is hope for the future of Black banks, the NAACP’s Asante-Muhammad added. “More and more, big banks are not looking to serve middle-income consumers and are leaving that to smaller banks and credit unions, etc. [For them] if the customer does not have $100,000 or more, [they question] is it worth the risk? And that opens up a space for individual community banks,” he said. Haskins agreed. Harbor Bank claims to be the first community bank in the country to have an investment subsidiary, Harbor Financial Services. Haskins said his bank survived by diversifying it’s services and clientele and using the latest technology. “It comes back to the survival of the fittest: Those that survive are the ones that are most adaptable to the changing times.”
‘Dead Giveaway’ Continued from A1
from the house in the 2200 block of Seymour Avenue. Georgina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, were also rescued, according to Cleveland police. Each had been held about 10 years against her will. The suspects are brothers Pedro Castro, 54; Ariel Castro, 52; and Onil Castro, 50. They are held in police custody pending the filing of charges.