On September 17, 2020, the St. John’s Law community and lawyers, scholars, and others from across the country and around the world joined Professor Cheryl L. Wade and University of British Columbia Law Professor Janis Sarra to celebrate the publication of their book, Predatory Lending and the Destruction of the African-American Dream (Cambridge University Press).

The book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how systemic anti-Black racism has caused and continues to widen the racial wealth gap between black and white Americans. It provides cogent insight in the aftermath of the ongoing global protests against institutional racism and is a crucial contribution to the discourse about why black (economic) lives matter.

With a distinguished panel, the authors led a lively conversation about 21st century economic exploitation through predatory lending practices that intentionally target African Americans.

The panelists were:

• Taunya Lovell Banks, Jacob A. France Professor of Equality and Jurisprudence, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
• Alice A. Nicholson, New York State Foreclosure Defense Bar
• Janis Sarra, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of Law 
• Kellye Y. Testy, CEO, Law School Admission Council; Affiliated Professor and Dean Emerita, University of Washington School of Law
• Cheryl L. Wade, Dean Harold F. McNiece Professor of Law, St. John’s University School of Law

Individually and collectively they contributed to the vital, ongoing dialogue about the roots and realities of anti-Black economic racism and injustice and shared perspectives on the way forward.