{"product_id":"binga-the-rise-and-fall-of-chicagos-first-black-banker","title":"Binga: The Rise and Fall of Chicago's First Black Banker","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBinga\u003c\/i\u003e is the definitive full-length biography of Jesse Binga, the first black banker in Chicago. Born into a large family in Detroit, Binga arrived in Chicago in 1892 in his late twenties with virtually nothing. Through his wits and resourcefulness, he rose to wealth and influence as a real estate broker, and in 1908 he founded the Binga Bank, the first black-owned bank in the city. But his achievements were followed by an equally notable downfall. \u003ci\u003eBinga \u003c\/i\u003erecounts this gripping story about race, history, politics, and finance. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The Black Belt, where Binga's bank was located, was a segregated neighborhood on Chicago's South Side--a burgeoning city within a city--and its growth can be traced through the arc of Binga's career. He preached and embodied an American gospel of self-help and accrued wealth while expanding housing options and business opportunities for blacks. Devout Roman Catholics, he and his wife Eudora supported church activities and various cultural and artistic organizations; their annual Christmas party was the Black Belt's social event of the year. But Binga's success came at the price of a vicious backlash. After he moved his family into a white neighborhood in 1917, their house was bombed multiple times, his offices were attacked twice, and he became a lightning rod for the worst race riots in Chicago history, which took place in 1919. Binga persevered, but, starting with the stock market crash of October 1929, a string of reversals cost him his bank, his property, and his fortune. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A quintessentially Chicago story, \u003ci\u003eBinga \u003c\/i\u003etells the history of racial change in one of the most segregated cities in America and how an extraordinary man stood as a symbol of hope in a community isolated by racial animosity.","brand":"Northwestern University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39325940908132,"sku":"9780810140905","price":21.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/suomalainen-test.myshopify.com\/products\/binga-the-rise-and-fall-of-chicagos-first-black-banker","provider":"Suomalainen Test","version":"1.0","type":"link"}