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COMMENTARY: Capitol Hill hearing takes up the war between the needy and the greedy

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Any universe with payday lending is answering the question of how to make poverty a sustainable profitable enterprise,” noted Boston’s Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). “Well a lot of people are getting rich off of keeping people poor. And so how do we reform anything that’s based on that premise? The short answer is, we don’t.”

Published

7 years ago

May 2, 2019

Oakland Post

By Charlene Crowell, NNPA Newswire Contributor

At an April 30 Capitol Hill hearing, the multi-dimensional problems wrought by small-dollar, high-cost loans were brought to the attention of lawmakers serving on the powerful House Financial Services Committee. A witness panel representing bankers, consumers, clergy, and public policy organizations taught, recounted, reasoned and preached to lawmakers on the rippling and disastrous effects of debt-trap loans.

Each addressed the industry that reaps billion-dollar profits from the poor: payday, car-title, and other triple-digit interest small-dollar products. The average annual interest rate for payday loans in the United States is 391% although in more than 17 states, many of them home to consumers of color, the APR is even higher.

As consumers suffer financially, it’s a different story for payday lenders: $4.1 billion in fees every year in the 33 states that allow these debt traps, according to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). Similarly, the annual fees generated on car-title loans was found to be $3.8 billion.

The session occurred as the current Administration seeks to permanently reverse a payday rule that was developed over five years of public hearings, research and comments that sought the input of consumers, financial institutions and other stakeholders. Announced by the first Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director, the rule would require lenders to determine if a consumer could repay the loan, also known as the ability-to-repay standard.

With a new CFPB Director, the rule’s suspension was accompanied by an announcement of an intent to begin rulemaking anew. For the industry, the suspension provides yet another opportunity to take the teeth out of financial regulation. For consumers, long-awaited consumer protection that would have taken effect this summer is now indefinite.

With the average borrower earning $25,000 to $30,000 a year, whatever difficulty led them to a payday loan store or web site, made their lives even worse.

For Detroit resident Ken Whittaker, the hearing was a high-profile opportunity to share his personal experience with a $700 payday loan that wound up costing him $7,000, in addition to debt collections, a court judgment, and his tax refund garnished.

“I found I could not afford to pay off the first loan without taking out another one. Then I began a cycle of debt which lasted over a year,” testified Whittaker. “Soon I was paying $600 per month in fees and interest. I eventually closed my bank account to stop payments from being drawn out and leaving me without cash for my family’s rent, groceries and other essential bills.”

In the hearing’s most poignant moment, Whittaker appealed to the lawmakers saying, “Please support strong reform of predatory payday and car title lending for people like me. We work hard to support our families and make our finances stable, and this kind of lending only makes it harder.”

For one lawmaker, Boston’s Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Whittaker’s plea was heard loud and clear.

“Any universe with payday lending is answering the question of how to make poverty a sustainable profitable enterprise,” noted Rep. Pressley. “Well a lot of people are getting rich off of keeping people poor. And so how do we reform anything that’s based on that premise? The short answer is, we don’t.”

Todd McDonald, Senior Vice President and Board Director of the New Orleans-based Liberty Bank and Trust, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) spoke at the hearing from the perspective of community banks. His own firm operates in eight states through 15 branches. He is also a board member of the National Bankers Association, the leading trade association for the nation’s Minority Depository Institutions.

“As a CDFI that serves a largely low and moderate-income consumer base that often utilizes these high-cost, small dollar loans,” testified McDonald, “Liberty often works to help our customers get out of these predatory loans and into more manageable products.”

Since 2008, Liberty Bank has offered a payday and car-title loan alternative known as Freedom Fast loans that averages just over $6,000 and comes with an average interest rate of 12.6%. Liberty provides these loans to customers with credit scores ranging from a low of 500 to higher than 700. It also reports payments to the credit bureaus so that customers can also build their credit ratings.

For the Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, senior pastor of Dallas’ Friendship West Baptist Church and a leading partner in the Faith and Credit Roundtable facilitated by the Center for Responsible Lending, predatory lending is a matter of economic justice that deserves actions and not just hearings.

“Payday predators are a part of a hostile takeover of the economy of the unbanked and underserved. This exploitative industry targets and saturates communities that are already suffering from economic apartheid,” said Rev. Haynes to the lawmakers. “When the vulnerable are drowning in desperation the payday industry throws a ‘life preserver’ weighted with the iron of usurious interest rates.”

“We are calling for strong protections so that those who experience an emergency don’t end up drowning in debt they cannot repay,” added Rev. Haynes.” The pastor forcefully called for the CFPB to implement its “common sense rule” and for enacting legislation, like a bill introduced by Illinois’ Senator Richard Durbin, that would establish a national 36% interest rate cap while allowing states to have lower rate ceilings.

“Borrowers have described the debt trap, in their own words, as ‘a hole that you can’t get out of’, ‘soul-crushing’, and a ‘living hell’, Diane Standaert, a CRL EVP testified. “And research has shown time and time again, that these high-cost lending storefronts are disproportionately situated in Black and Latino communities, even when they have the same or higher incomes than white communities.”

The good Reverend Haynes agreed, adding, “The Bible teaches that nations will be judged by how they treat ‘the least of these’. It must not be said of this nation, “I was hungry, and you gave me a payday loan… I was given a bad hand and you gave me a bad plan.”

Amen, Reverend!

Charlene Crowell is the Communications Deputy Director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.

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Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled

BLACKPRESS USA NEWSWIRE — “Since the expiration of tens of billions of dollars in federal child care funding in 2023 and 2024, an already fragile child care system has been pushed even closer to the brink.”
The post Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

21 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Oakland Post

By National Women’s Law Center

The National Women’s Law Center released its annual State Child Care Assistance Policies report, finding that the number of children placed on waiting lists for federally funded child care assistance nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025 — and that number has only continued to grow.

The report serves as a key resource for state lawmakers, advocates, and policymakers by tracking state child care assistance policies and identifying where states are strengthening support for families and early educators — or falling behind.

“This deeply troubling increase in the number of children on child care waiting lists is the result of a failure to invest in this crucial sector,” said Karen Schulman, senior director of state child care policy and author of the report. “Since the expiration of tens of billions of dollars in federal child care funding in 2023 and 2024, an already fragile child care system has been pushed even closer to the brink.”

Key findings in the report related to waiting lists for child care assistance include:

• 17 states had waiting lists or a freeze on intake for child care assistance in February 2025, up from 13 states in February 2024.

• Approximately 106,700 children nationwide were added to waiting lists between February 2024 and February 2025, bringing the total to 225,500 children in February 2025 — a 90 percent increase compared to February 2024.

• The numbers climbed even further between February 2025 and summer/fall 2025, with more than 175,000 additional children added to state waiting lists in just a few months — a 78 percent increase.

• At least seven states newly began placing families on waiting lists or freezing intake, while at least 10 additional states saw their waiting lists grow, after February 2025.

The report also includes state-by-state data on key child care assistance policies, including income eligibility limits, parent copayments, provider payment rates, and eligibility policies for parents searching for work.

Click the link to learn more: Warning Signs: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2025.

The post Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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Venus Williams Calls a Sabalenka Exit a Tragedy

ROLLING OUT — Crucially, Williams did not read the comment as a real farewell. She said she did not believe Sabalenka truly wanted to leave, calling such an outcome a loss for both the player and the sport.
The post Venus Williams Calls a Sabalenka Exit a Tragedy appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 days ago

June 7, 2026

Oakland Post

The seven-time major champion read frustration, not a real goodbye, in the world No. 1’s words

By David Kesiena | Rolling Out

When the world’s top-ranked player said she wanted to walk away from the sport, Venus Williams chose empathy over alarm.

Aryna Sabalenka’s blunt remark after her French Open quarterfinal collapse rattled plenty of fans, but Williams heard something different in it. The seven-time Grand Slam champion treated the comment as the raw reaction of a hurting athlete rather than a serious signal about her future.

The collapse that triggered the comment

Sabalenka looked headed for a routine win over Diana Shnaider. She took the opening set 6-3 and built a commanding lead in the second, climbing to 4-1 and later serving for the match at 5-4 while sitting just two points from victory.

Then everything unraveled. Shnaider stormed back to steal the second set 7-5 and bageled the world No. 1 in the third, with Sabalenka dropping 12 of the final 13 games in gusty conditions that reached around 26 mph. The 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 result sent Shnaider into her first Grand Slam semifinal and extended Sabalenka’s long wait for a maiden Roland Garros title.

In the aftermath, Sabalenka did not soften her feelings. She told reporters she had no thoughts and no emotions left and felt like quitting on the spot. She described being stuck in a deep, dark mental hole during the match, unable to find her way back.

What Venus Williams said about Sabalenka

Williams reacted with understanding. She admitted the moment made her sad and said she had been swept up in Sabalenka’s emotions, feeling a surge of empathy for her. She praised the Belarusian for laying everything bare on court, where every feeling shows.

Crucially, Williams did not read the comment as a real farewell. She said she did not believe Sabalenka truly wanted to leave, calling such an outcome a loss for both the player and the sport. Rather than scold her, Williams offered a gentle observation about the rhythm of professional tennis. She suggested players might benefit from a little more time to gather themselves before stepping in front of the cameras, a quiet acknowledgment that athletes are routinely asked to dissect painful defeats before the sting has faded.

Sabalenka walks it back

The story did not end on that bleak note. Within days, Sabalenka signaled she was not actually quitting, framing the press-conference outburst as heat-of-the-moment honesty rather than a plan. At the time of the loss she had also left the door open, saying she would see how she felt in a few days and hoped to get back on track mentally. The walk-back lined up with how Williams had read the situation from the start.

It is not the first time a Paris quarterfinal has pushed Sabalenka to her limit. In 2024 she exited at the same stage and skipped her press conference entirely because of illness, with the tour later releasing her quotes on her behalf. The pattern underscores how heavily this particular tournament has weighed on her despite deep runs in recent years.

For now, attention shifts to the grass. Wimbledon offers Sabalenka a quick chance to reset, and a strong showing there would turn this French Open meltdown into a footnote rather than a turning point.

Originally published by Rolling Out — https://rollingout.com.

The post Venus Williams Calls a Sabalenka Exit a Tragedy appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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COMMENTARY: Using Art, Healing, And Community to Transform Mental Health Dialogue

THE CAROLINIAN — Operating at the intersection of the arts and mental health, Darkness RISING uses music, storytelling, wellness programming, and community engagement to inspire healing while addressing barriers that have historically prevented many Black Americans from accessing mental health support.
The post COMMENTARY: Using Art, Healing, And Community to Transform Mental Health Dialogue appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 days ago

June 7, 2026

Oakland Post

By Judaea Ingram | Special to The Carolinian

RALEIGH, N.C. – Music filled the air as families danced through the crowd, children gathered around activity stations, and community members explored wellness resources from local organizations. Black-owned businesses lined the streets while people stopped for chair massages, conversations, and moments of connection inside the wellness suite.

At the center of the event stood a simple but powerful reminder:

“You Matter.”

For Darkness RISING, those words represent far more than a slogan. They reflect the organization’s mission to break the stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community while creating spaces centered on healing, honesty, and hope.

Operating at the intersection of the arts and mental health, Darkness RISING uses music, storytelling, wellness programming, and community engagement to inspire healing while addressing barriers that have historically prevented many Black Americans from accessing mental health support.

The organization hosts a variety of programs and events throughout the year, including block parties, wellness workshops, mixers, kickoff events, community classes, and Darkness RISING: Live — a free annual arts and wellness festival now celebrating its ninth year.

The festival combines entertainment with healing-centered resources, featuring live music, dancing, singing, food trucks, Black vendors, children’s activities, mental health resources, wellness spaces, and opportunities for open conversations about mental health.

While the events may feel celebratory on the surface, organizers say the deeper purpose is creating safe spaces where people can feel comfortable discussing mental health without fear of judgment.

Darkness RISING also provides free nationwide resources, including a Black Mental Health Resource Packet, a Black Mental Health Provider Database, and its “Find Me a Therapist” initiative, which helps connect individuals with culturally competent care.

The organization’s work is rooted in addressing longstanding inequities that continue impacting mental health access within Black communities.

Historically, segregation, redlining, racial discrimination, incarceration, poverty, and unequal healthcare access have contributed to higher rates of behavioral health challenges while simultaneously limiting access to proper treatment and support. Darkness RISING approaches those issues through what organizers describe as a transformative justice lens, focusing on healing rather than punishment and creating equitable wellness opportunities for marginalized communities.

Its REBUILD program specifically supports justice-involved and formerly incarcerated people of color through free therapy and wellness support, while the REBUILD Youth program focuses on young people impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences, also known as ACEs.

For Rudolph, therapy became life-changing after decades of incarceration and years of rejection after returning home.

“Came home in 2015, started my own computer company, investing in real estate, did the normal thing and got some jobs here and there and was met with rejection after rejection and people telling me I am not a good person,” Rudolph shared. “Even had a rejection in church.”

He said one of the hardest battles became overcoming the mental barriers created during incarceration.

“I got in touch with a couple of friends, and they explained to me how I had to get over the mental hurdles and get rid of the way my prison mindset was in order to survive and become successful,” he said.

Rudolph later moved to North Carolina hoping for a fresh start, but the struggle continued.

“Things were looking bad,” he said. “Could not get a job. The struggle was real.”

Eventually, therapy and support through organizations like Darkness RISING helped begin his healing process. He said working alongside other justice-involved men through therapy gave him the ability to rebuild mentally while finding community with people who understood his experiences.

Stories like Rudolph’s reflect the foundation behind Darkness RISING’s mission: ensuring people feel seen, supported, and worthy of healing regardless of their background or circumstances.

Community members who attend the organization’s events often describe them as emotionally transformative.

Some participants say Darkness RISING encouraged them to seek therapy for the first time, while others say the organization gave them a safe space to openly discuss struggles they previously kept hidden.

“I have been encouraged by the beautiful, generous, brave and open individuals who come together and use their talents to create art, share personal experiences and provide hope to those who may be struggling with mental health,” one participant shared.

By combining art, wellness, education, and community outreach, Darkness RISING continues changing how mental health conversations happen within the Black community.

Not through silence.

But through healing, honesty, connection, and joy.

Originally published by The Carolinian — https://caro.news.

The post COMMENTARY: Using Art, Healing, And Community to Transform Mental Health Dialogue appeared first on BlackPressUSA.