About
Rodney A. Brooks
Rodney A. Brooks is author of the book “Fixing the Racial Wealth Gap: Racism and Discrimination Put Us Here, But This Is How We Can Save Future Generations.” The book was a winner of the National Association of Black Journalists’ (NABJ) Outstanding Book Award in 2022 and made the shortlist for the Society for the Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) Third Annual Best in Business Book Awards.
Brooks writes on retirement, personal finance and racial wealth and health disparities. He is a contributor to National Geographic and his written for The Washington Post, USA TODAY, AARP, Forbes and The History Channel.
He was a winner of the 2022 SABEW Best in Business Awards for his story in on the widening racial wealth and was a finalist for 2021 Dateline Awards competition by the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
He was elected to the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2021. He was named a Senior Fellow at Prosperity Now in 2022.
Born in Baltimore and raised in New Jersey, Brooks received a B.S. degree from Cornell University and an executive certificate in financial planning from Georgetown University.
Featured Work
The Rise and Fall of the Freedman's Savings Bank and It's Losing Socio-Economic Impact on Black America
The author tells the history of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, how it grew much too quickly, why it failed and the impact on Black America. The end of slavery in the United States left thousands of enslaved people with the need to survive the transition to freedom, including food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. They would also need education, money and financial services. In 1865 Congress passed legislation to create the Freedman’s Bureau to provide those services. It also created the Freedman’s Savings Bank. Large numbers of the formerly enslaved people had been paid for service in the Union Army – the first time many had cash. And they had no safe depository. The Freedman’s Bank offered that, expanding quickly and gained millions in deposits – mostly ranging from $5 to $50. But inexperience and corruption doomed it to failure, costing many of the small depositors their savings. Some of the biggest issues facing Black consumers today may be able to trace their roots back to this debacle, from the historical distrust in banks to the racial wealth gap.
