African-American actors and students vie for financial empowerment
Two weeks ago, New York City got a chance to celebrate the launch of Like Us Entertainment and enjoy exclusive audio trailers of the new college radio soap opera, The Like Us Show, at Stir Lounge, in mid town Manhattan.
Targeting young adults, Like Us Entertainment has created a radio soap opera dealing with current issues college students face. The Like Us radio show, which started airing February 1, 2010 at college radio stations across the nation, addresses topics such as Abusive relationships, Eating disorders, Finances, Peer pressure, Substance abuse, and, of course money. The episodic radio drama revolves around three college girls, attending the fictional ‘historical black university’ Atlanta University, whose social and personal lives drastically change after an unthinkable tragedy. This is the first coming of age radio drama featuring an all African-American cast.
Like Us Entertainment, a production company specializing in TV, film, and radio, was founded by CEO Shirley Vernae Williams in an effort to fill a void in the African-American and ethnic entertainment industry. She wanted to offer a solution to the lack of minorities in programming and management. Targeting young adults, Like Us Entertainment has teamed up with Kristen V. Carter, former writer of MTV’s “America’s Next Best Dance Crew” and BET’s “The Black Carpet”, to present “Like Us”. Like Us Entertainment is working to accomplish its main mission of addressing the cultural and social issues affecting today’s youth, and maximizing African-American presence in images, roles, and entertainment.
My company, Plastyc, chose to sponsor the launch of the Like Us Show, because money matters are one of the main struggles for African-American students. Even more so now that the Credit CARD Act of 2009 is taking effect, and will restrict access to credit cards to anyone under the age of 21.
Russell Simmons’ Rush Card prepaid Visa card has been pretty much the only offering so far, targeted at African-Americans.
It turns out that the Rush Card is in fact one of the most expensive ways to manage money. It comes loaded with fees, either for each payment transaction or for monthly maintenance, at rates that are astoundingly high.
Check my previous post entitled “Not Quite Robin Hood…” to know more about which services have which fees
