Day: January 11, 2020

A $60B Bank based community benefit agreement

ManagingDirector

The African Diaspora Directorate and its Co-Founder plans to take advantage for itself and members of a three-year, $60 billion community benefits plan for the region served by Truist Financial Corporation

The three-year, $60 billion plan, based upon discussions between the banks that formed Truist (BB&T Corporation and SunTrust Banks, Inc.), the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)  and its community-based members, like t he African Diaspora Directorate, will increase financial resources for low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities across the eastern United States.

The plan’s specific goals include:

  • $31 billion for home purchase mortgage loans to LMI borrowers, LMI geographies, minority borrowers and/or majority-minority geographies
  • $7.8 billion for lending to small businesses, to support the growth of businesses with revenues less than $1 million.
  • $17.2 billion in Community Development Lending (CDL) supporting affordable housing development, small business growth and lending to nonprofits that support the LMI community
  • $3.6 billion in Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Qualified Investments and Philanthropy, of which $120 million will be designated for CRA-qualified philanthropic giving

The plan was developed through direct participation in six input and listening sessions held in urban and rural communities throughout the bank service areas, as well as input from participants in the regulator-hosted public meetings. It focuses on affordable housing and small business development, economic stability and mobility, workforce development and public safety.

Participants of the Community Benefits Plan announcement. Leaders from NCRC, BB&T, SunTrust and community organizations attended the $60 billion community benefits plan announced July 16, 2019, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Many bank mergers proceed without any detail on how communities will benefit from the combination,” said NCRC CEO Jesse Van Tol. “However, BB&T and SunTrust showed tremendous leadership by participating in a collaborative process with NCRC and our community-based member organizations to establish the largest-to-date community benefits plan. This plan spells out a substantive and detailed commitment of loans, investments and services to LMI people and neighborhoods across 17 states and the District of Columbia.”

Under the plan, the banks also committed to opening at least 15 new branches in LMI and/or minority communities and to work with a community advisory board made up of representatives from community organizations that work within LMI neighborhoods, to provide updates on the progress of the plan. Truist will work with NCRC to mutually identify proposed members of the Community Advisory Board.

“This plan will provide a much-needed influx of investment into critical programs that improve affordable housing, mortgage lending, small business development and economic development projects to LMI people and communities across most of the eastern half of the country,” said NCRC President and Founder John Taylor. “We very much appreciate the strong collaboration demonstrated by the executive leadership of BB&T and SunTrust banks, as well as the critical role our members played in our discussions with the banks.”

In February 2019, BB&T and SunTrust announced a proposed merger that would result in the sixth-largest U.S. commercial bank based on assets and deposits. The merger is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2019, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval of both companies’ shareholders.

Since 2016, NCRC has negotiated community benefits plans with seven banking groups for lending, investments and philanthropy worth a combined $150 billion in the communities served by the banks.

“The Community Benefits Plan exemplifies what Truist will stand for and how it will support local communities in the years to come,” said BB&T Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kelly S. King (Current Chairman and CEO of Truist Financial), . “Both BB&T and SunTrust have a long legacy of serving the community, but together as Truist we will be uniquely positioned to invest in ways we never could on our own. We are committed to building growing, diverse and vibrant neighborhoods in the regions where we work and live.”

“Truist is creating the premier financial institution to serve the diverse needs of our clients and communities, and this plan is an initial stake in the ground as to our values and commitments. Our legacy companies share a strong history of being more than members of the communities we serve, but also partners in developing affordable housing, promoting financial literacy, and promoting access to critical programs and services. Today’s announcement is a reflection of that history and a look ahead at what we can collectively achieve as one combined institution,” said SunTrust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William H. Rogers, Jr. (Current president and chief operating officer of Truist Financial Corporation)

AfDiDi and FAU in Philadelphia

ManagingDirector

Date: December 9th 2019

To: The Black Male Community Council of Philadelphia (BMCCP)

FROM: Friends of the African Union

On behalf of the FAU this letter of intent is to inform the BMCCP and their designated affiliates of our plans of “The Black Folks Plan Project”. A comprehensive project with four action items that will create a major paradigm shift for people of African descent.

 Action Items:

  1. Real Estate Development with a comprehensive Community Benefit Agreement
  2. Human Service
  3. Culture
  4. Participation in a united Civil Society Organization, the African Diaspora Directorate, as the sixth region of the African Union and in the United Nations and other international organizations such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The FAU is targeting Philadelphia as a pilot project for a national model, see DRAFT enclosure, and is working with BMCCP to identify qualified organizations and projects that can meet our criteria. The concept, history, process and resources are indicated in the documents accompanying this letter.

My team and I look forward to meeting with you on Thursday 12/19/19 at 11:00 am; the meeting is being hosted by BMCCP at a location of their choosing.

Sincerely

Hershel Daniels Junior

Chairman of Friends of the African Union

Phone: 01.513.858.5275

fauchairman@friendsoftheafricanunion.com

AfDiDi General Assembly Agenda January 18th 2020

ManagingDirector

Join Hangouts Meet

meet.google.com/cew-ifgm-pyb 

Join by phone ‪+1 443-461-5489‬ PIN: ‪438 468‬# 

More phone numbers

Agenda Items – Noon to 6pm EST

  • Background & Introduction to the African Diaspora Directorate
  • Co-Founder of AfDiDi is Sons and Daughters of Africa (SADA)
  • Co-Founder of AfDiDi is Friends of the African Union (FAU)
  • Co-Founder of AfDiDi is Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA/ACL)
  • Co-Founder of AfDiDi is the Black Wall Street Co-Operative (SADA)
  • Co-Founder of AfDiDi is African American (SADA)
  • The African Diaspora Directorate Operations
  • African Diaspora Directorate and the 2016 #BlackFolksPlan
  • African Diaspora Directorate and a #BlackFolksPlanforAfrica
  • Reparations for American African Slavery
  • Followup to the establishment of operations in Pennsylvania
  • African Diaspora Directorate and American Reparations as implemented in Pennsylvania.
  • The African Diaspora Directorate now takes up implementation of this action as a updated #BlackFolksPlanforPhiladelphia
  • The African Diaspora Directorate now takes up implementation of a action plan for Women and Girls as a updated #BlackFolksPlan
  • The African Diaspora Directorate now takes up implementation of a AfDiDi model for the creation of a brand new United Nations Chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America with the Friends of the African Union in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Agenda Background & Introduction to the African Diaspora Directorate

On behalf of the African Diaspora Directorate (“Directorate”), I, Dr. Kofi Agyapong have the honor to present you some background first, Brotherhood and Sisterhood International Inc., a 30 year old (1989) American Non Profit Organization, EIN 52-1569388 with a 501c3 Ruling in 1989, in order to form a more perfect union between the people of the African Union and the United States of America, establish justice and the rule of law equally applied to all people, ensure global tranquility, provide for the common defense of the people of the African Diaspora, promote the general welfare for the people of the African Diaspora, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, did ordain as a American Civil Society Organization ran by citizens of the African Union and those of the African Diaspora living in the United States of America did this past Juneteenth (June 19th 2019) did join with other organizations in the creation of the African Diaspora Directorate as our global civil society organization for people of the African Diaspora.

The African Diaspora Directorate is a new Civil Society Organization designed to serve as a catalyst to facilitate the involvement of African Diasporan peoples and organizations around the world in the affairs of the Africa Union and to develop solutions for them in the countries in which they live.

The AfDiDi Logo

In a world characterized by increasing mobility and interconnections, the People of the African diasporas have assumed a new importance in the African Union, the United Nations and in the United States of America, as of January 8th 2018, an official history from 1619. The African Diaspora may be divided into two categories:

(i) people of African heritage who “involuntarily” were migrated to North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Brazil, Latin America, Arab Lands, Oceania, etc.; and,

(ii) persons who recently, from 1919, left the African continent “voluntarily”.

We accept and operate in the African Continent under the recognition of the African Diaspora globally and legally by the 55 African member states of African continental organization the African Union (AU) which is based on the AU Executive Council meeting in its 7th Ordinary Session in Sirte in June/July 2005, by Decision EX.CL/Dec.221(VII),  which adopted the following definition of the Diaspora: “The African Diaspora consists of peoples of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union“.

This 2020 action is based on The 400 Years of African-American History Commission Act (1619-2019). A law signed into law January 8, 2018, by President Trump, which established a commission to coordinate the 400th anniversary year of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies. This law was based on for the first time the US federal government recognizing by law that on August 25th, 1619, 20 Africans were brought to Point Comfort in the English colony of Virginia, which later became one of the founding states of the USA. We do not know if they were enslaved or indentured. We do know that now after 400 years we are organizing to take control of our future from a headquarters in Washington DC..

The African Diaspora Directorate Operations

The African Diaspora Directorate (Directorate) is an economic, social, humanitarian, charitable, educational, membership, and advocacy global civil-society organization of a American Non Profit 501C3 (1989) Brotherhood and Sisterhood (BSI) Inc. founded to work for the benefit of the People the African Diaspora and their host countries. 

As of November 28th 2019 the African Diaspora Directorate has seven divisions: 

(1) a General Assembly with three operational chambers: a People’s Congress, a Civil Society Organizational Congress and an Assembly of State Leaders;

(2) a Secretariat is to be established in the USA by August 25th, 2019 under management by Friends of the African Union through 2024; 

(3) The African Diaspora Royal Society which is governed by the The African Diaspora Directorate Royal Council. The Society is a membership of those of African Tribal Royalty in the global African Diaspora, the tribe in Ghana created for those in the global African Diaspora without a tribe, African Tribal Royalty that welcome members of the African Diaspora in them and or tribes recognized by them for the members of the African Diaspora;

(4) a Civil Society Division will work with the African Union’s (AU) Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (AU/CIDO) to implement the AU’s engagement process with non-state actors through the involvement of the African Diaspora’s Civil Society through AU/CIDO;

(5) a Diaspora Division will organize at national in the African Diaspora, regional and or state geographic and Tribal level the people of African Descent in the global African Diaspora which is composed of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in line with AU’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council, the United Nations, the European Union, Organization of American States along with other international and or multinational organizations; 

(6) a Operations Division who will create and operate the partnerships and businesses called for by the organs of the African Diaspora Directorate Secretariat; and,

(7) The Business Operations Division shall create business corporations organized for profit with a corporate purpose of creating general public benefit for the People of the African Diaspora (PAD). These benefit corporations offer PAD entrepreneurs and investors the option to build, and invest in, businesses that operate in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

African Diaspora Directorate and a #BlackFolksPlanforAfrica

Our ideology is that of “a Global Plan of Action made Local” which rejects a fundamental adherence to left- or right-wing politics or policies, instead requiring the adoption of such policies as correspond to the problems faced by the nation at any given moment through the lens of the history and needs of the 47m People of African Descent in the global African Diaspora living in the USA. Thus both right- and left-wing policies may be considered equally carefully in formulation of the policy of the African Diaspora Directorate in the creation of its Community Benefit Agreement for people of African Descent in the #BlackFolksPlanforAfrica.

The #BlackFolksPlanforAfrica is to be a solution based on our work presented by one of our co-founders Friends of the African Union (FAU) to the Addis Agenda which provided a new global framework for financing sustainable development, which supports implementation of the 2030 Agenda, including the SDGs.

The African Diaspora Directorate Operational Bureaus

ManagingDirector
1.On behalf of the African Diaspora Directorate (“Directorate”), I, Dr. Kofi Agyapong, Chairman of the Directorate, have the honor to present you some background first, Brotherhood and Sisterhood (BSI) International (Blacks and Whites Uniting Communities) a 30 year old (1989) American Non-Profit Organization, EIN 52-1569388 with a 501c3 Ruling in 1989, in order to form a more perfect union between the people of the African Union and the United States of America, establish justice and the rule of law equally applied to all people, ensure global tranquility, provide for the common defense of the people of the African Diaspora, promote the general welfare for the people of the African Diaspora, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, did ordain as an American Civil Society Organization ran by citizens of the African Union and those of the African Diaspora living in the United States of America did this past Juneteenth (June 19th 2019) did join with Friends of the African Union in the creation of the African Diaspora Directorate as a global civil society organization for people of the African Diaspora. By our estimate they number of 300M worldwide, 47M in the USA.
Definition of the African Diaspora
2.In a world characterized by increasing mobility and interconnectedness, the People of the African diasporas have assumed a new importance in the African Union, the United Nations and in the United States of America, as of January 8th 2018, an official history from 1619. The African Diaspora may be divided into two categories:
3.(i) people of African heritage who “involuntarily” were migrated to North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Brazil, Latin America, Arab Lands, Oceania, etc.; and,
4.(ii) persons who recently, from 1919, left the African continent “voluntarily”.
5.We accept and operate in the African Continent under the recognition of the African Diaspora globally and legally by the 55 African member states of African continental organization the African Union (AU) which is based on the AU Executive Council meeting in its 7th Ordinary Session in Sirte in June/July 2005, by Decision EX.CL/Dec.221(VII),  which adopted the following definition of the Diaspora: “The African Diaspora consists of peoples of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union”.
Background
6.This 2019 action is based on the 400 Years of African-American History Commission Act. A law signed into law January 8, 2018, by President Trump, which established a commission to coordinate the 400th anniversary year of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies. This law was based on for the first time the US federal government recognizing by law that on August 25th,1619, 20 Africans were brought to Point Comfort in the English colony of Virginia, which later became one of the founding states of the USA. We do not know if they were enslaved or indentured. We do know that now after 400 years we are organizing to take control of our future from a headquarters in Washington DC..
7.The founders of the.African Diaspora Directorate recognizes that becoming Americans did not create economic opportunity, rather the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this year in the practice of institutionalized racism on Americans of African Descent. We now have not only the tools to change the narrative but the collective experience and expertise to do so. Working with Washington DC we can set an example for the nation.
The African Diaspora Directorate Operations
8.As of December 30th 2019 the African Diaspora Directorate has seven divisions:
9.(1) a General Assembly with three operational chambers: a People’s Congress, a Civil Society Organizational Congress and an Assembly of State Leaders;
10.(2) a Secretariat is to be established in the USA by August 25th, 2019 under management by Friends of the African Union through 2024;
11.(3) The African Diaspora Royal Society which is governed by the The African Diaspora Directorate Royal Council. The Society is a membership of those of African Tribal Royalty in the global African Diaspora, the tribe in Ghana created for those in the global African Diaspora without a tribe, African Tribal Royalty that welcome members of the African Diaspora in them and or tribes recognized by them for the members of the African Diaspora;
12.(4) a Civil Society Division will work with the African Union’s (AU) Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (AU/CIDO) to implement the AU’s engagement process with non-state actors through the involvement of the African Diaspora’s Civil Society through AU/CIDO;
13.(5) a Diaspora Bureau will organize at national in the African Diaspora, regional and or state geographic and Tribal level the people of African Descent in the global African Diaspora which is composed of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in line with AU’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council, the United Nations, the European Union, Organization of American States along with other international and or multinational organizations;
14.(6) a Operations Bureau who will create and operate the partnerships and businesses called for by the organs of the African Diaspora Directorate Secretariat; and,
15.(7) The Business Operations Bureau shall create business corporations organized for profit with a corporate purpose of creating general public benefit for the People of the African Diaspora (PAD). These benefit corporations offer PAD entrepreneurs and investors the option to build, and invest in, businesses that operate in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. 

A Secretariat was to be established in the USA by August 25th, 2019 under management by Friends of the African Union through 2024. These are the African Diaspora Directorate Secretariat’s working committees:

  1. The African Diaspora Directorate Strategy Council
  2. The African Diaspora Directorate Council of Leaders
  3. The African Diaspora Directorate Community Council
  4. The African Diaspora Directorate Permanent CSO Representatives
  5. The African Diaspora Economic Council
  6. The African Diaspora Directorate Business Council
  7. The African Diaspora Forum on Indigenous Issues
  8. The African Diaspora Directorate Justice Council
  9. The African Diaspora Directorate Royal Council
  10. The African Diaspora Directorate Municipal Council
  11. The African Diaspora Human Rights Council
  12. The African Diaspora Cultural Council
  13. The African Diaspora Gender Issues Council
  14. The African Diaspora Peace Council
  15. The African Diaspora Security Council
  16. The African Diaspora Directorate Council of Elders
  17. The African Diaspora Directorate Veterans Council
  18. The African Diaspora Food and Agriculture Council
  19. The African Diaspora STEM and Environmental Council
  20. The African Diaspora Rural Economy and Infrastructure Council
  21. The African Diaspora Urban Council
  22. The African Diaspora Public Safety Council
  23. The African Diaspora Poverty Council
  24. The African Diaspora Health Council
  25. The African Diaspora Sustainable Cities and Communities Council
  26. The African Diaspora Migration Council
  27. The African Diaspora Energy Council
  28. The African Diaspora Status of Women Council
  29. The African Diaspora Children’s Council
  30. The African Diaspora Social Affairs and Family Issues Council
  31. The African Diaspora Labour Council
  32. The African Diaspora Housing Council
  33. The African Diaspora People with Disabilities Council
  34. The African Diaspora Human Resources
  35. The African Diaspora Re-Entry Issues Council
  36. The African Diaspora Educational Council
  37. The African Diaspora African Economic Affairs Council
  38. The African Diaspora Infrastructure Council
  39. The African Diaspora Environmental Council
  40. The African Diaspora Maritime Council
  41. The African Diaspora Life Below Water Council
  42. The African Diaspora Land Council
  43. The African Diaspora Sustainable Development Council
  44. The African Diaspora Intellectual Property Council
  45. The African Diaspora Library and Information Services Council
  46. The African Diaspora Social Media and Communications Council
  47. The African Diaspora Trade and Industry Council
  48. The African Diaspora Transportation Council
  49. The African Diaspora Global Tourism Council
  50. The African Diaspora Global Sports Council
  51. The African Diaspora Global Recreation Council
  52. The African Diaspora Global Entertainment Council
  53. The African Diaspora Aerospace and Airline Council
  54. The African Diaspora Space Agency
  55. The African Dollar Foundation 
  56. Partnerships for the African Diaspora
  57. The African Diaspora Development Cooperation Council
  58. The African Diaspora Community Reinvestment Council (ADCRC)
  59. The African Diaspora Development Fund
  60. The African Diaspora Finance Corporation 
  61. The African Diaspora Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
  62. The African Diaspora Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
  63. The African Diaspora Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  64. The African Diaspora Cross-Cutting Programmes and Task Forces Management Agency
  65. The African Diaspora Directorate African Union Commission Civil Society Council
  66. The African Diaspora Economic Community of West African States Civil Society Forum (ECOWAS-ADCSF)
  67. The African Diaspora Southern African Development Community Civil Society Forum (SADC-ADCSF)
  68. The African Diaspora East African Community Civil Society Forum (EAC-ADCSF) 
  69. The African Diaspora Arab Maghreb Union Civil Society Forum (UMA-ADCSF)
  70. The African Diaspora Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Civil Society Forum (COMESA-ADCSF)
  71. The African Diaspora Community of Sahel-Saharan States Civil Society Forum (CEN-SAD-ADCSF)
  72. The African Diaspora Economic Community of Central African States Civil Society Forum (ECCAS-ADCSF)
  73. The African Diaspora Directorate Community  
  74. The African Diaspora Directorate United Nations Civil Society Council

HDj Updated It: 1/16/2020

The African Diaspora Directorate is a new Civil Society Organization designed to serve as a catalyst to facilitate the involvement of African Diasporan peoples and organizations around the world in the affairs of the Africa Union and to develop solutions for them in the countries in which they live through these seven Divisions with members being able to serve on one of the African Diaspora Directorate Secretariat’s working councils and or committees.

All Friends of the African Union Members are able to do this as part of their membership.