Killer Mike of Run the Jewels proposed a new method of protest following the high profile deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile: if the system doesn't respect black lives then it shouldn't get black money. Mike encouraged people to pull their money out of accounts run by multinational corporations and into black owned banks, and estimates suggest that Killer Mikes "Bank Black" idea has already moved a lot of money.
Citizens Trust, the black owned, Atlanta-based bank mentioned specifically by Killer Mike when he first proposed the "Bank Black" initiative, says they've received 8,000 new accounts in the last five days. Since new accounts require an initial deposit of at least $100, that means that at least $800,000 has been moved away from other banks and has been deposited with Citizens Trust.
“What we’re going to do is to start to divert money from the system. And this works," Killer Mike said in an interview on Atlanta Hot 107 last week. "Apartheid ended in South Africa because students in America said ‘We not flying Delta anymore. We’re not drinking Coca-Cola anymore. We’re not supporting any corporation that supports that Apartheid and enslavement of people who look like us.’”
Killer Mike hopes a financial boycott will have more immediate effects than a march or a hashtag. "I ain't saying, 'march, hold hands, speak.' I'm saying 'Take your money out of this dog's hands, out of their paws! Take your money!"
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com
