NBA star, financial experts, and I inspire high school students

Wednesday afternoon, I spoke at the Carver School of the Arts, one of the most successful high schools in the Atlanta Public Schools system.  A good friend of mine, Samuel T. Jackson, CEO of the Economic Empowerment Initiative Inc., hosted a summit for high school students on the importance of financial literacy. 

I was on a panel with Amar’e Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns, Andrew McClain from Ameriprise Financial, Pamela Cross from Wachovia Banks, a Wells Fargo Company, Corey Sutton from H&R Block, and Dana Lee Jones from State Farm. 

College speaking engagement gets pretty heated

This morning, I had the wonderful opportunity of speaking to a group of college students, young adults, financial advisers, and business owners about credit and the current credit crisis. There were students from Agnes Scott College, Spelman College, Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University, and other institutions.  The event was hosted at Spelman College by the Economic Empowerment Initiative, a nonprofit that strives to educate high school and college students about finances, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation.  The much-needed organization, which provides education on everything from insurance to credit to intellectual property, was founded by C.E.O. Samuel T. Jackson. 

The audience really enjoyed my interactive presentation, which lasted almost two hours.  It normally isn’t that long, but they couldn’t get enough of the new credit rules and fresh information I shared.  I ended up staying well beyond the allotted time, but the audience, especially the students, didn’t mind staying longer to discuss credit, the current credit crisis, and fiscal policy.  When I was finished, I received a thunderous and exuberant applause.  Moreover, I received a few invitations to speak elsewhere. 

Video of Maryland bill hearing against “blacklisting”

As I have mentioned a few times before, Maryland State Representative Saqib Ali introduced promising and unprecedented legislation on Feb. 13 in the Maryland General Assembly to prevent blacklisting, a form of discrimination akin to credit card redlining.  The bill hearing took place last week on Mar. 11 in the afternoon.  There is no opposition panel because the banks did not show up.  I did find out, however, that American Express will have a private meeting with Chairman, Dereck Davis, on Monday, Mar. 16.   

Order of speakers and start time:

00:00 – Dereck Davis, Chairman of the Maryland House of Representatives Economic Matters Committee, Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
from the 25th District

00:50 – Saqib Ali, Member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the 39th District

14:35 – Kevin D. Johnson, Consumer Advocate, Creator of NewCreditRules.com, President of Johnson Media Inc.

20:49 – Steven M. Sakamoto-Wengel, Consumer Protection Counsel for Regulation, Legislation & Policy, Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland

22:10 – Dr. Charles Shafer, Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, Professor of Law University of Baltimore

24:04 – Tom Saquella, Maryland Retailers Association

26:15 – Question and Answer Session

29:32 – End

Speaking engagement brings a pleasant surprise

Yesterday evening I addressed a trade group of executives in the hospitality and travel industry.  The founder of the organization invited me to talk to its members about some of the latest developments in the credit card industry and to offer practical steps that its members can take to improve or maintain their credit in this difficult economy. 

I thought my presentation was boring; I basically talked for forty-five minutes straight.  Everyone was focused on me as if in a trance.  I later found out that audience members were shocked by the information I shared. Every now and then, I saw a face twist, an eyebrow raise, or a head shake from side to side. After my lecture, several people approached me with questions. I stayed for almost two hours answering questions from concerned consumers. Some invited me to come speak at their organizations.  I misinterpreted the audience’s attentiveness for boredom.