Dick Stone introduced our keynote speaker, Don Hayner. Don spent thirty years with the Chicago Sun-Times starting off as a general assignment reporter, moving onto a neighborhood beat, a Sunday feature writer and business reporter. He served as city editor, metro editor and managing editor during which time the Sun-Times won multiple general news and investigative reporting awards. In 2004, the paper was awarded the George Polk Award for local reporting for the article "Clout on Wheels" a series on the city's corruption. In 2009, he was named Editor-in-Chief. Two years later the Sun-Times was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for the series of articles spotlighting the "no snitch" street code that stymied investigators and their resolutions. As Editor-in-Chief of a major metropolitan newspaper he was responsible for the general news operation, both print and online, the paper's budget and personnel. He retired in 2012.  He has written several books about Chicago including: "The Chicago Almanac" and "The Metro Chicago Almanac", and "Streetwise Chicago: A History of Chicago".

 

His latest book, "Binga: The Rise and Fall of Chicago's First Black Banker" tells the story of Jesse Binga, and his amazing rise to power, fall and then triumphant rise again.  This story is also about Binga Bank – what he built, the power of its name, logo (a swirling letter B) and how just the sound of Binga Bank felt like the sound of a cash register dinging. 

 

Binga was a public man with a private life.  He and his family kept to themselves. They were not the wealthiest but represented an agent of change in the community and what could be for those striving to make a living.  This attention and what he represented also made him and his family a target.  His properties, home, offices were bombed and targeted more times than anyone could count, over 58 times.  No one was targeted more than him.  And yet today he is largely forgotten

 

Binga was the youngest of 10 kids. His parents raised him to be ambitious.  His mother was a superb teacher. She rented rooms in her home and she made every space work for them.  In 1892 he arrived in Chicago at age 27 with nothing and worked selling fruit and shining shoes. He focused on customer service and as he made money he bought a cart, painted his logo on it and began to build a name for himself.    In 1893 there was a start of a serious economic depression and he lost all his money. It keep him down.

 

As Binga watched the community around him, he saw opportunities in real estate.  He was skilled enough to be able to fix up properties, renovate them into better, bigger spaces and then rent them out.  White people began to ask him to manage their properties.  He was an unapologetic capitalist an in essence became a street banker. He was lending to many local blacks in the neighborhood who may not have been able to get a loan otherwise.  Jesse had a great reputation and was known as a man of his word.  But again, there was tension as he was seen as a threat and taking money from the whites.  He also rented to mainly blacks who moved into communities  which led to whites moving out.  It was a time of transition and he was targeted as an agent of change, some saw as good, some saw as bad. 

 

Don certainly picked an interesting and admirable story to tell.