Take on Wall Street regularly convenes policy experts and state, local, and federal activists to discuss how we build a financial system

that works for white, Black, and Brown working people, not just the big Wall Street banks.

Watch previous events here, and sign up to our mailing list to hear about future events.

The Reality of Crypto

In our July 1, 2022 event, expert panelists Dr. Darrick Hamilton, Nadine Chabrier, David Golumbia, Mark Hays, and Michele Gilliam discussed the false case for crypto vs. the reality of this risky, scam-driven unregulated speculative asset class, the ideological context for why cryptocurrencies can threaten progressive values and priorities, and real solutions for financial inclusion.

Watch it here:

The Hidden Racism of the Tax Code: a fireside chat with Dr. Dorothy A. Brown & Dr. Darrick Hamilton

On December 9, 2021, the Take on Wall Street campaign of Americans for Financial Reform hosted a virtual fireside chat with Dr. Dorothy A. Brown, Professor of Law at Emory University and author of The Whiteness of Wealth and Dr. Darrick Hamilton, director of the Institute for the Study of Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School, to discuss the white supremacy inherent in our tax code and how American tax policies impoverish Black Americans while enriching white Americans, and how we can restructure our system to focus on justice and equity. The event featured our advocacy manager Mandla Deskins hosting their chat.

Here are quick highlights from the event:

The Coroneconomy: who wins, and who loses

On April 16, 2020, Take on Wall Street convened experts Tia Oso of the Action Center on Race and the Economy, Ann Marie Reinhart of United For Respect, Ericka Taylor of Take on Wall Street, Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies, Erica Payne of the Patriotic Millionaires, and Alexis Goldstein of Americans for Financial Reform to discuss how Wall Street was instrumentalizing COVID-19 to get richer. During the last recession, we bailed out Wall Street. This time, we need to rebuild an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy elite. Panelists discussed what went wrong during the Great Recession, what Wall Street is trying to get away with now, and how we can fight back.

Watch it here.

Public Options for Banking: A Symposium

On January 24, 2020, Take on Wall Street held a symposium at the Eaton Hotel to discuss public options for banking.There are public options all around us, from swimming pools to public libraries to public defenders. Public options provide services that communities need, and they also provide a check on monopoly power. Perhaps no sector is more ripe for public options than banking. The 2008 financial crisis revealed in painful relief the big risks the big banks take with our money. Since then, predatory fees have proliferated and bank branches have closed across the country, creating rural and urban “banking deserts” and ATM fees as high as $7.50 in some places.

Just as the financial industry targeted Black, Indigenous, people of color and women for their predatory products, it has deprived those same communities of access to traditional banking options. Overall, there are currently 32 million households in the U.S. that are unbanked or underbanked. And private banks are simply not making the investments we need to close the racial wealth gap and create inclusive growth.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Public alternatives to Wall Street can ensure that everyone has access to basic banking, and that our money is used for investments that benefit all of us.

Hear from policy experts and activists about some truly exciting public options being pioneered (and in some cases restored) in the banking sector.

Watch it here.