On Aug. 13 we kicked off our campaign to stop subprime car lenders from ripping off low-income Minnesotans like James of Brooklyn Park who paid over $15,000 for a car that is worth about $3,500 – and barely runs.
As Minnesota moves more and more toward increased use of renewable energy, low income families are being left behind. While they are the ones most likely to suffer from the continued use of fossil fuels, they have little or no access to the financing they need to participate in this new clean energy economy.
Leaders from MN State Baptist Convention, AME Church, ELCA Lutheran Church, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World discussed the extraction of wealth from communities of color
Minneapolis – Led by ISAIAH’s President Rev. Paul Slack and the President of MN State Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Billy Russell, clergy from multiple denominations met with Congressman Keith Ellison today to discuss reforming the predatory practice of payday lending at the state and federal level. Clergy called out the practice of payday loans as usury and specifically targeting the poor and people of color – keeping parishioners in debt and stuck in poverty.
St. Paul – (March 26, 2015) Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) held a field hearing on payday lending in Richmond, Virginia. At the hearing, Director Richard Cordray unveiled a new proposal to regulate the predatory payday lending industry. A coalition of Minnesota faith, consumer, and community groups, including ISAIAH, released this statement about the content of the CFPB’s proposal:
On Thursday February 5, faith leaders from African American communities and ISAIAH joined community and state leaders to announce their commitment to end racial disparities in Minnesota’s juvenile justice system.
“Our juvenile justice system is broken and racialized; and the time is now to repair it,” declared Rev. Ovester Armstrong, Jr., pastor at Macedonia Baptist Church in Minneapolis.
