‘I never saw a banker in my neighborhood’ – Former Obama advisor John Hope Bryant discusses new book, ‘Capitalism For All’

“John Hope Bryant is one of the foremost thought-leaders in our country, one of the best selling authors, [and] ranked number 145 [ … ] of the top 250 living individuals who have gone furthest in life.”

That’s what Marshall University President Brad Smith said Thursday, while welcoming Bryant , the founder and CEO of Operation HOPE, to the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center stage in Huntington. The ranking Smith noted was in reference to Forbes Magazine’s list of the greatest “Self-Made 250” Americans, released last April. 

“Keeping in mind that Oprah (Winfrey) was number one, [and] Martha Stewart was 250,” Smith added. “John was 145, but number one in my heart.”

In addition to his work as an author and inclusion in the Forbes Self-Made 250, Bryant served as vice-chair for the Council on Financial Literacy under President George W. Bush, as a member of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, and as chair for the Committee on the Underserved. Bryant was on-hand to discuss his new book, “Capitalism For All: Inclusive Economics and the Future-Proofing of America,” as part of the ongoing Marshall Artist Series. 

“I was nine-years-old in a classroom in Compton (California),” Bryant told those in attendance, before explaining that on one particular day, a well dressed white banker had visited his class to discuss the financial education of young people. 

“There really were not white men in my neighborhood unless it was a detective, and then it was a really bad suit – like polyester with a big tie,” Bryant continued, noting how this man was different. “He was rich. He had an Italian suit – you could tell by the stitching. He had an Egyptian cotton shirt and a nice felt tie. I was mesmerized.”

Bryant further noted how the man did not seem to want to be there that day, and it was more likely that his bank had required him to come.

“I raised my hand,” Bryant added. “‘Excuse me, Sir. What do you do for a living, and how did you get rich?’ I was dead serious. I never saw a banker in my neighborhood, or a person in a suit.”

Bryant recalled the conversation the two had had that day. 

“What do you do?”

“I’m a banker.”

“Well, what does a banker do?”

Bryant told the crowd how the man explained that a banker is responsible for the money borrowed by the bank’s clients. 

“So you’re trying to lend people money?”

“Yes.”

“And all I have to do is promise to pay it back?”

“Yes.”

“And if I don’t pay it back, then I don’t get dead?”

“In my neighborhood, if you didn’t pay the money back, then you didn’t come home,” Bryant explained. “And he looked at me and laughed, and said, ‘No, why would I kill you? We give you a notice of default.’”

This brief interaction, Bryant explained, spawned his lifelong fascination with what he referred to as “legal access to capital.”

Born in Los Angeles, California in 1966, Bryant was raised primarily by his mother, Juanita Smith, after his parents divorced. Bryant is a 1984 graduate of Santa Monica High School, and a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. In 1992, Bryant founded Operation HOPE, a nonprofit financial planning outreach organization offering financial counseling and credit and money management services, as well assistance with financial emergencies such as foreclosure and creditor-negotiation. 

Click HERE to watch the full conversation between John Hope Bryant and Marshall University President Brad Smith on Black By God: The West Virginian’s Facebook Page.

Including his latest, Capitalism For All, Bryant has authored seven books – bestsellers all. Known to those in the financial world as the “Conscience of Capitalism,” Bryant is the only private citizen in the nation’s history to have inspired the renaming of a building on the White House property. The Freedman’s Bank Building, which is situated on the eastern side of Lafayette Square, was formerly known as the Treasury Annex, and houses the offices of Foreign Asset Control, the Treasury Library, and the Treasury Department Federal Credit Union.

On Aug. 6, Operation HOPE announced the wide-launch of its new artificial intelligence-powered financial education and support tool, Juanita. 

Named in honor of Bryant’s late mother, Juanita is an on-demand digital financial wellness coach. Working through the existing Operation HOPE client portal, Juanita delivers personalized financial guidance on a wide variety of topics, including budget building and management, understanding credit ratings, setting financial goals, and managing debt. 

“You’ve got to believe,” Bryant noted. “You’ve got to believe that this is your world, this is your city, this is your family. And the person sitting next to you, you love them whether you know them or not. That is your brother, that is your sister, that is your friend.”

After his Huntington appearance, Bryant returns to his home state of California, where he will be appearing, on Sept. 9, at Malik Books in Los Angeles’ Crenshaw Mall.