Archive for May 11th, 2009
Dirty Lender Charged Latinos More for Loans
1:06 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|California|Controversia|crime|Money|race · Comments Off
11 May 2009
With all of the corruption and dirtiness and in finance-related industries of late, it should perhaps come as no surprise that beyond just “legally” taking advantage of unsavvy consumers by lending them money they could never pay back, at least one of these institutions made it a policy to charge Latinos more for borrowed money. A federal investigation has been opened on California lender Golden Empire Mortgage, Inc., of Bakersfield, which allegedly cannot explain the drastic differences in prices between white customers and Latinos. ConsumerAffairs.com reports:
According to the FTC’s complaint, Golden Empire violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) in pricing mortgage loans. They allegedly gave loan officers and branch managers wide discretion to charge, in addition to the risk-based price, “overages” through higher interest rates and higher up-front charges. The defendants allegedly paid loan officers a percentage of the overages as a commission and failed to monitor whether Hispanic consumers were paying higher overages than non-Hispanic white borrowers.
The complaint alleged that the company’s policy and practice of allowing loan officers to charge discretionary overages resulted in Hispanics being charged higher prices because of their national origin – price disparities that are “substantial, statistically significant, and cannot be explained by factors related to underwriting risk or credit characteristics of the applicants.”
I don’t know why I am surprised by this. It seems that when it comes to the finance sector, the news just gets more and appalling as the days go by. Is it any wonder why we are in the situation we are in now, with so many dirty banks in control of our money and our homes?
Via / ConsumerAffairs
Wanda Sykes Offends Delicate D.C. Sensibility
12:36 pm By la Macha · Celebrities|Controversia|Entertainment|GLBT|The Obamas|Washington DC|Women · 23 Comments
11 May 2009I must say upfront that don’t find Wanda Sykes particularly funny. I think she’s a ground breaking comedienne, and I would never take away from her the work that she’s done breaking ground for black/lesbian women to declare themselves and be judged based on their skills rather than who they are. But I don’t find her that funny.
Having said that–I found very little in her skit at the White House Correspondents Dinner to be outraged at.
There was some very funny parts, there was mostly stuff that wasn’t that funny–but material that would cause outrage? Meh.
I personally would’ve been more offended at Stephen Colbert, who I think is a much more skillful comedian, and who, frankly, completely demasculated the entire Republican party and the president. But whatever. That’s just me.
What do you think? Do you think jokes about kidney failure and “pulling out” are worth the outrage? Do you think they’re too crass for the people of D.C. who have made and defended “jokes” about Barak the Magic Negro?
From Democracy Now! comes this amazing story about the Pullman’s Porters.
Saturday was National Train Day. This year, Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station hosted an event honoring the Pullman porters, the African-American men who worked long hours as attendants on the luxurious sleeper trains operated by the Pullman company from 1868 to 1969.
The first porters George Pullman hired after the Civil War were former slaves. In the 1920s, over 20,000 African-Americans worked for the Pullman company, making it one of the largest employers of African-American men.
Today, there are only about 40 surviving Pullman porters, four of whom were at the event in Philadelphia this Saturday.
The Pullman porters played an important but unsung role in the history of this country. In 1925 they formed the first Black labor union under the stewardship of A. Philip Randolph called the “brotherhood of sleeping car porters.” They helped pave the way for the Civil Rights movement and are also credited with building the Black middle class in this country.
Of course, things are not perfect for black workers–black lesbian women and black trans people in particular are chronically and systematically underpaid/underemployed/unemployed. But it’s always amazing to me to see how unions could actually improve things–actually made a difference.
I think it’s wonderful that the current white house supports and protects labor–but now labor needs to work on unionizing the people who need it most: women, youths, non-U.S. citizens.
Take Action for Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres
10:16 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|Puerto Rico · Comments Off
11 May 2009From my amigos at Pro-Libertad:
Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres is scheduled for a parole hearing in May.
He was initially scheduled for a January hearing, which he postponed after being falsely charged with a disciplinary violation the week before that hearing. The prison disciplinary committee proceeded to find him guilty of possession of knives hidden in a light fixture in the cell he shared with nine other prisoners, in spite of a sworn confession by the person responsible. Carlos’ administrative appeal is still pending.
The Parole Commission has not yet set a specific date, but it will likely be the week of May 25. There is still time to collect letters supporting his parole, and get them to the address below… deadline for receipt: May 15.
Jan Susler
People’s Law Office
1180 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60622
Visiting the Mami’Hood : Various Reflections on Mothering While Brown
7:14 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Blogs|children|Colombia|holidays|mexico|Women · 3 Comments
11 May 2009A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all who observed yesterday. The VL team has lots of mami power and yesterday as I spent the day cleaning, working, and yes visiting my own Mami and Titi, I was thinking about Latina mami’hood, the trabajo of raising our children and the lessons in love, struggle, and justice that we learn and impart on our young ones.
In Chile, for example, three Mexican mothers recently testified about the deaths of their daughters. These deaths represent just a tiny fraction of the hundreds of deaths and disappearances of mujeres in Ciudad Juarez.
Between 1993 and 2008 there were 447 registered cases of femicides in and around Juárez that are marked by signs of rape and extreme torture. Apart from the 447 registered cases, there are an estimated 70 young women still missing.
The State of México is accused for failing to confront the femicide phenomenon and in so doing, violating the right to life of its victims. Although only three mothers of the victims came to testify in Santiago, the court signaled that the three cases represent all of the femicides that have taken place in México to date.
The three mothers of the murdered women who testified were Irma Monreal, mother of Esmeralda Herrera, 14, Josefina González, mother of Claudia Ivette Conzález Banda, 20, and Benita Monárrez, mother of Laura Berenice Remos Monárrez, 17. On Tuesday, April 28, the mother’s gave their stories.
Their daughters were found dead in October 2001 along with the bodies of five other women and girls in a zone known as “Campo Algondonero” in Juarez.
The women had been tortured, raped and mutilated.
“I have faith and trust in the judges of this court,” said Monárrez. “I have faith that we will find justice.”
Instead of receiving flowers on Mother’s Day, these mothers are putting flowers on their daughter’s graves.
Speaking of flowers…….
Read more…
Hola!
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