BERNARD GARRETT & JOE MORRIS — THE BANKERS BEHIND THE SCENES
Another story I want to share with you is that of Bernard Garrett and Joe Morris, the men behind the scenes in the film The Banker, starring Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson.
In the 1950s, Bernard Garrett had a vision. He wanted to enter real estate and banking, industries that were closed to Black men. He and his partner, Joe Morris, began buying properties and banks using people of other ethnicities as front men for their businesses, while managing the operations behind the scenes.
They bought the tallest building in Los Angeles, managed dozens of apartment buildings, and eventually purchased banks in Texas, giving Black families access to personal loans, business loans, and home mortgages, and financial freedom for the first time.
But when their success attracted the attention of powerful bankers and politicians, they were brought before Congress and tried in court, and they had to serve prison sentences. Still, this story remains one of the most brilliant acts of financial-education strategy in Black American history.
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