Walker Webcast: John Hope Bryant on Financial Literacy, Relationship Building and Community Uplifting

In April 1992, four white Los Angeles policemen were acquitted on the charge of excessive force against Rodney King, an African American man. It was then that John Hope Bryant, an African American entrepreneur who had grown up on the streets of Compton and experienced poverty and homelessness, realized he was lying to himself. He’d believed that racism was dead, and that people were poor because they choose to be, opinions that changed when the Simi Valley, CA jury issued the “not-guilty” verdict.

“I realized I was a fraud at that moment,” he explained. “I had blamed poverty on my own people, and I had done the worst thing possible, which is to get up the ladder and pull it up after I got there,” Bryan explained to Walker & Dunlop and CEO Chairman Willy Walker during the June 8, 2022 Walker Webcast. At that point, he left his business, eventually becoming Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation Hope. The organization is dedicated to fighting financial illiteracy, boosting economic empowerment and uplifting communities in need. He also authored many books on the topic of financial inclusion and literacy and social uplift. He has also served as an advisor to sitting U.S. presidents and politicians on both sides of the aisle, as well as and corporate leaders.

And through it all, he’s convinced that capitalism can be a great force for change. The problem, however, was that “no one gave Black folks the memo on free enterprise, capitalism, economics and opportunity,” he commented. As a result, the majority of Black-owned businesses don’t have employees, don’t know how to keep their books and don’t have the infrastructure to get access to credit. “The fact that we never made this transition to free enterprise, capitalism and economic opportunity is what I call the unfinished work of the Third Reconstruction,” he explained. The First Reconstruction after the Civil War focused on basic freedoms and rights. The Second Reconstruction of the 1960s involved civil rights. And the Third Reconstruction is what Bryant has dubbed Silver Rights, involving economic access, credit opportunity, banking, finance and wealth creation to everyone.

Bryant consistently said financial literacy is key all of it. He was able to encourage then-President George W. Bush to create the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, to which he was named Vice Chairman. Unfortunately, with no money to back it up, “it’s an unfunded mandate at the government level,” he said.

In the private sector, Bryant is working with Fortune 1000 and Fortune 500 to offer financial literacy and coaching as a compensation perk. “Financial coaching for their employees is what healthcare was 30 or 40 years ago,” he explained, adding that such coaching relieves can help relieve worker stress from thinking about bills while on the job.  

Relationships also need to be a factor in supporting communities and capitalism. According to Bryant, people who are doing well didn’t get there because they filled out an application or had better grades. “It’s because the person next to you, somebody put their arms around you and said ‘do you want an internship, do you want a job over there, hey I think you’d do good at this,” he said. “It’s the hookup, the relationship capital, and we need to understand that we’re not on our own.”

Also important? Education. “We shouldn’t have K through high school, it should be K through college,” Bryant said. “You need an educated workforce in a technology-centric world.” And that education should include financial literacy, computing—and college. While college shouldn’t be free, “it should be a public good, not a private asset,” he said.

His last bit of advice to Walker Webcast attendees was to not be a jerk, but rather, strive for being a nice person. “Talk without being offensive, listen without being defense, and always leave your adversaries with their dignity,” he suggested. “If you don’t, they’ll spend the rest of their lives trying to make you miserable.”

On-demand replays of the June 8, 2022 webcast are available by clicking here and through Walker & Dunlop’s Driven by Insight podcast series.