Posted March 20, 2006 to Consumer Ed | Section Home | Print

2006 Hip-Hop Summit Action Network ‘Get Your Money Right’ Financial Empowerment Tour Launches March 25

Tour to raise consciousness of youth on importance of financial literacy in response to growing debt in America

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According to research conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, debt in U.S. households has risen nearly 36 percent over the last four years. As a result of bad credit, spiraling debt and financial mismanagement in our communities, The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is continuing its national financial empowerment tour for a second year. The 2006 tour will feature a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President and CEO of HSAN which will include Russell Simmons, Chairman of HSAN, hip-hop artists and financial specialists as well as review the “Get Your Money Right” workbook, being distributed in both English and Spanish. This year, the tour will touch down on college campuses across the country, an ideal audience for its message on improving financial literacy.

The “Get Your Money Right” tour will include stops in five additional cities, including April 22 in New York, May 20 in Miami, September 16 in Atlanta, September 30 in Los Angeles and October 14 in Dallas. The agenda includes a focus on financial literacy, basics of banking, repairing and understanding credit scores, asset and wealth management, vehicle financing and home ownership.

“Poverty and basic lack of knowledge must be challenged,” emphasized Russell Simmons, Chairman of HSAN. “’Get Your Money Right’ is more than a theme. It is an achievable goal when you have the right information. We have high aspirations, but we know to fulfill the aspirations of the hip-hop generation, we have to take the subjects of financial literacy and empowerment seriously and talk with youth in a manner appealing to them.”

“HSAN understands attainment of financial literacy is a life long process and with their support we have found a way to provide the basics of money management with the ultimate goal of raising the awareness and importance of sound financial habits in summit participants,” said William F. Jones Jr., Vice President – Chrysler Financial. “Artists sharing their personal stories have been an effective teaching method.”

“The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network consistently taps into the consciousness of our youth, providing them with not only knowledge, but tools that will help them prepare for a future in which the decisions they make today will determine the opportunities they have tomorrow,” declared Johnny Furr, Vice President, Urban Marketing and Community Affairs, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “Anheuser-Busch is proud to continue our partnership with, and support of, the Summits and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, which make a real and lasting difference in the lives of young people in communities across the nation.”

“We have found there is an urgent hunger among 18-35 year olds for vital financial empowerment facts, programs and activities that are participatory,” concluded Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President/CEO of HSAN. “Young people want to participate in their own empowerment, and our Hip-Hop Summits this year and our Web site – http://www.hsan.org - are designed to raise consciousness for millions of people about this important subject.”

For more information on the 2006 “Get Your Money Right” national tour, go to http://www.hsan.org.