MEDIA ADVISORY

For Monday, January 19, 2015

FOR AN EMBARGOED COPY OF THE REPORT and IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

(English) Mike Leyba, Dir. of Communications, United for a Fair Economy

[email protected]       (617) 423-2148 x105    mobile: (562) 266-4357

(Spanish) Jeannette Huezo, Interim Co-Executive Director, United for a Fair Economy

[email protected] (617) 423-2148 x132

January 5, 2015

Report Release: State of the Dream 2015: Underbanked and Overcharged

This report sheds light on the racial aspects of the 93 million unbanked and underbanked adults and children in the United States, disproportionately people of color, and suggests innovative ideas on how to include them in the financial mainstream. Each year, poor and working class people hand over $89 billion worth of fees and interest to Wall Street, by way of alternative financial service providers such as check cashers, pawn shops, payday lenders, etc. These fees are levied on those that can least afford it and if addressed, could provide a powerful stimulus opportunity for the people and communities that need it most. This report proposes several solutions to this problem, including utilizing United States Post Office branches as a mechanism for financial inclusion, as has been done in the past, as well as advocates for expanding public-private partnership programs that work such as BankOn or private lending circles.

An Excerpt from the Foreword by Van Jones: “The marches that have organized across the nation in the wake of the killings of Eric Garner, Treyvon Martin, Michael Brown and countless other men and women of color are not just responses to any one violent act or extraordinary situation – they are the result of centuries worth of unequal treatment and political exclusion, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness in communities of color. That’s why this report, ‘State of the Dream: Unbanked and Overcharged’, is so important to our understanding of the current political moment. The historic exclusion of non-whites in housing, credit, banking, and politics have left many people of color behind.”

WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 13: Embargoed Copy Released to Media

Thursday, Jan. 15 at 2:00PM EST: Press Conference via Phone

Monday, Jan. 19: Interviews Available (English/Spanish)

Monday, Jan. 19: Full Report Release to public

Monday, Jan. 19: National Postal Banking Organizing Coalition Announcement via APWU Press

The State of the Dream report is released annually by United for a Fair Economy.

United for a Fair Economy is a national, independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that challenges the destructive effects of concentrated wealth and power and supports grassroots movements for greater economic equality.