Civil rights push for change to end racist attacks

“I wake up in black everyday,” said Bishop James Dixon II, pastor of the Community of Faith Church and president of the Houston NAACP. “These people woke up Black and went shopping. The only thing they did wrong in the mind of this extremist and people like him was that they woke up Black and went shopping in Black.

Some of the reactions to the murder this week of ten black people in Buffalo New York while shopping. Pastor Dixon is one of many civil rights leaders invited to Houston Newsmakers this week along with Khambrel Marshall.

Dena Marks is the senior associate director of the Anti-Defamation League Southwest and says hate crimes are on the rise in America for many reasons. She says we cannot lose sight of the role our politics of division plays.

“People are elected who not only fuel this hate but spread this hate,” she said. “We have to learn to be critical thinkers. We must learn to judge and understand what is the truth and we must certainly act.

A d

The action proposed by Houston Area Urban League President and CEO Judson Robinson is to work together to find answers.

“We need to have discussions. We have the ADL working with the NAACP and the Urban League,” she said. “Our young people are coming together and getting to know each other and understanding each other’s history and backgrounds and building relationships now so that in 10 and 20 years from now we won’t have these kinds of issues.”

See the full discussion on Houston and Newsmakers EXTRA from this week where our conversation continued. SEE MORE HOUSTON NEWSMAKERS HERE.

First-of-its-kind female-owned, female-led bank opens in Houston

This has never been done before!

A bank predominantly owned by women and managed by women. It’s called Agility Bank and it opens Monday, May 23 in Houston as the first bank of its kind in the United States.

A d

Lauren Sparks is the Founder, President and CEO and says Agility will be nimble with great digital capability to engage with and support customers like never before.

“You can do just about anything online with us,” she said. “You can even click a button and have a real-time conversation with your banker.”

They will also focus on supporting women and small business owners knowing that research shows women-owned businesses perform nearly 65% ​​better than all-male founding teams. They also tout the ability to process and approve small business loans in three hours!

See details on this week’s Houston Newsmakers.

Calling on living donors to help save lives

Mark Biscone had never met Matt Aklan before agreeing to donate one of his kidneys.

“I came across a message from one of my sister’s friends,” he said. “He said I was coming to a dire state. I need a kidney and if you are willing to get tested please contact me. And I said I would be sure to get tested. What are the odds?And then we were a game.

A d

He happens to be the chairman of the board of The Living Bank, an organization that started to help end the shortage of organs for transplant.

Kelly Perdue is President and CEO of The Living Bank.

“There are over 107,000 people on the waiting list,” she said. “Four out of five are waiting for a kidney. That’s 86% that could be saved with living kidney donation.

Learn about the relative ease of donating and how you can help with this week’s program.

More from this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Kambrel Marshall

• · Pastor James Dixon, President, Houston NAACP

• · Dena Marks, Senior Associate Director, ADL Southwest

• · Judson Robinson, President and CEO of the Houston Area Urban League

• · Lauren Sparks, Founder, President and CEO, Agility Bank

• · Laquita Cyprian, Director of Banking Operations. Agility bank

• · Kelly Perdue, President and CEO, The Living Bank

• · Mark Biscone, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board, The Living Bank