New York, NY – On January 19, just days before President Obama’s State of the Union address, a coalition of advocacy and public interest organizations including ColorOfChange.org, MoveOn, CREDO Action, Progressives United and New Bottom Line will deliver more than 360,000 petition signatures to the Obama Administration. The petition calls for a full federal investigation of Wall Street banks and their role in the housing crisis.

“Our members understand that an investigation is essential for real accountability and preventing future reckless behavior from the banking and mortgage industries,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. “The Obama administration has a critical choice to make. The President can either cut a deal that lets Wall Street off the hook, or he can commit to a full investigation into the banks and the damage they’ve caused.”

Earlier this month, ColorOfChange.org launched a campaign calling on the Obama administration to hold Wall Street banks accountable for their role in creating and profiting from the country’s housing crisis, which has displaced an estimated 7 million families from their homes. Since then, more than 26,000 ColorOfChange.org members have urged the Administration to commit to a full investigation.

This week, hundreds of events are being planned around the country to call on the administration to investigate the banks’ activities. Many of these events are planned in neighborhoods that have been hit hardest by the housing crisis and subsequent economic downturn.

“The housing crisis and the economic downturn it triggered has hit Black people and people of color particularly hard,” Robinson continued. “The mortgage industry targeted prospective home buyers with toxic loans and ballooning interest rates, and engaged in systemic predatory lending and mortgage fraud. We cannot remain silent and we cannot accept a settlement that lets the banks responsible for this crisis off the hook.”

The campaign can be viewed here: https://colorofchange.org/campaign/banks-accountable/

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With more than 800,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest African-American online political organization.