It was 1849 when William Washington Browne was born into slavery. He escaped by joining the military, but fighting in the Civil War would end up being the least of his battles.
After the Civil War was over, Browne did it all. He was a pastor, an educator, but most importantly, he was a leader. He led the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers, a Black fraternal organization that helped the Black community. But in 1887, Browne ran into a problem.
Browne kept his savings for the fraternity with a white shopkeeper, but as racial tension continued to run rampant, Browne withdrew their entire savings account. The reverend took matters into his own hands.
Browne launched True Reformers bank in 1888, the first Black owned chartered bank in the U.S. The bank held business in his home, but with the help of all-Black funding, branches were started around the country. They flourished, even through some of the darkest times in the nation.
Even if it’s just a secondary bank account, we must support Black-owned banks so that they can grow and help build Black wealth. If True Reformers Bank was able to succeed because of Black funds, we can help our current Black banks flourish with the Black dollar.