W.E.B. and Shirley Graham Du Bois with the sisters Nelson, Davia and Jessie. Los Angeles

My grandfather banked at Broadway Federal Bank, and he read the L.A. Sentinel. Both are Black L.A. institutions. In the pre-1950 area and its subsequent reign of terror with which LAPD’s Chief Parker-designed “thin blue line” surrounded and attempted to choke it, Black L.A. was a vibrant place.

Back then, Black L.A. embraced culture, politics and commerce.

In its formative years, Broadway Federal Bank was led by L.A. Civil Rights icon Dr. Claude Hudson. By trade, Dr. Hudson was a dentist; he was also the first black person to receive a law degree from L.A.’s Loyola Law in 1923.

The founders of Black L.A. respected culture, commerce and education.

Many of the people who now own local media and area commerce have forgotten why black people moved to L.A.

“Los Angeles is wonderful. Nowhere in the U.S. is the Negro so well and beautifully housed...Out here in this matchless Southern California there would seem to be no limit to your opportunity, your possibilities.”  W.E.B. Dubois, Crisis Magazine, 1913.

I recently went into Broadway Federal Bank in Inglewood. I had a dream of writing checks for the Morningside Park Chronicle with Broadway Federal embossed in the corner. It would have been my hat tip back to the past with my present endeavors.

The bank was surrounded with people waiting to cash their government checks. Some of the people had bottles of cheap beer in their hands. I didn’t let this discourage me.

I went into the bank and it smelled like an SRO in downtown L.A. (I’ve had to go into a few to write stories way back when.)

I was the only person waiting to open an account.

The guard looking at my stressed face and tried to put me at ease. “Someone’s coming, Miss,” he assured me. He stood by me as if to guard me from the chaos of the lost black L.A. that surrounded me.

Finally a friendly young woman came out. I told her that I would like to open a business account for my newspaper. I gave her all the proper forms.

She stated I would need a business license.

I hesitated after the unusual request. “Newspapers don’t require a business license. In fact, this is not an option,” I politely replied. I asked her to ask the manager about it. She did and returned with an answer. “No, you can’t open up a business account for the Morningside Park Chronicle at the Broadway Federal Bank. So the Broadway Federal Bank of my grandfather’s contemporaries will refuse a newspaper publisher’s money—but they will let you put your 40-ounce glass bottle of beer on the sidewalk and
walk in and cash your government check.

Sadly, Broadway Federal Bank has fallen for the easy buck of being a glorified Nix Check Cashing location.

Is a government agreement behind this?

I strongly doubt this is what the founders had in mind for Broadway Federal Bank.