Local clergy call for lower interest rates
A group of clergy members led a protest outside of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Bank of America's Boston headquarters this morning, calling for an end to the high cost of consumer borrowing.
The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, a 13-year-old community project, organized the local protest, which called for a 10 percent cap on credit card interest rates. About 40 people, 10 of them religious leaders, took part. Similar protests were held in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Durham, N.C., and London.
"Today we plant a stake and say usury is wrong, so put a cap on it," said Burns Stanfield of the Fourth Presbyterian Church in South Boston.
"With the economy turning down, financial institutions have been really exploiting the occasion, raising interest rates, effectively reducing people to debt slavery," said Bilal Kaleem, the executive director of the Muslim American Society’s local chapter.
Rev. Hurmon Hamilton of Roxbury Presbyterian Church, president of the organization, delivered letters to both Federal Reserve and Bank of America officials. Shortly after the protest, representatives of the Boston Fed called Hamilton to arrange a meeting with Eric S. Rosengren, its president.
"This is the first step towards a significant conversation about ending usury and certainly putting a cap on interest rates," said Hamilton. "And we're waiting to hear back from Bank of America."
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