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Today in Atlanta, Operation Hope kicks off their 2016 HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting that brings together 3,000 individuals from over thirty different countries to deal with issues that relate to African-Americans and people of color all across the world.

Operation Hope’s Global Forums primarily focus on the issue of economics in communities of color. According to Roland Martin, host of NewsOne Now, seven out of the top ten growing economies are in Africa. In America, Blacks wield more than $1 trillion dollars in spending power.

This leads us to the question: how can people of color begin to grow and create wealth on a global scale?

John Hope Bryant, CEO and Chairman of Operation Hope, joined Martin on NewsOne Now to talk about the start of Operation Hope’s 2016 HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting and how people of color around the globe can begin to achieve economic freedom.

From OperationHope.org:

This three-day Forum promises to transform and elevate underserved communities across the world. Participants and attendees will engage in an authentic dialogue with like-minded leaders who believe in the power of ideas to change the world. The HOPE Global Forums is an unmatched opportunity to connect with global leaders from across disciplines and to network with industry peers. 

When talking about the connection between true freedom and economic freedom, Bryant told Martin, “Nothing changes your life more than God or love than moving your credit score 120 points.”

“700 credit score communities don’t riot. There’s never been a middle-class riot in American history,” said Bryant.

He added the direct legacy of Freedmen’s Bank failing in 1874 is a jobless Ferguson, Baltimore, and South Central L.A., all of which he called “500 credit score” neighborhoods.

Bryant continued “predators” like check cashers, payday loan lenders, title lenders, and liquor stores “are robbing us in plain sight — it’s modern slavery and they are preying, targeting that 500 credit score customer.”

Bryant went on to explain, “This is not actually racism, because there are more poor Whites in America than poor anybody else and if you’re rural White, you’re dealing with the same drama we’re talking about. Whether you are White rural, Black and Brown, urban or outside the military base — it’s the same issue.”

“The 500 credit score community is being targeted by predators,” Bryant said. Interestingly enough, he said the so-called predators are “moving up market to middle-class folks because they think we are stupid.”

Bryant added, “We’re going to rob them of their customers in broad daylight by raising credit scores in upwards of 120 points.”

Watch Roland Martin, John Hope Bryant, and the NewsOne Now panel discuss Operation Hope’s 2016 HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting in the video clip above.

To follow this year’s conference, visit www.HopeGlobalForums.org, follow on Twitter and on Facebook.

TV One’s NewsOne Now has moved to 7 A.M. ET, be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

Subscribe to the “NewsOne Now” Audio Podcast on iTunes.

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