The Barber of Little Rock

Arlo Washington is one of those inspirational men who believes that the best way for a community to help itself is, well, for it to help itself. To that end he initially set up a hairdressing college offering training before he realised there was potential to set up a community banking operation tha ... t could lend to local people to help them get their business off the ground - without making through-the-nose interest payments. It's a serious enterprise, they don't just give money away - those applying need to have a proper business plan and a strategy for repaying those loans so they can be reinvested elsewhere. He also attempts to identify the causes of what he causes "economic segregation" and that's painted with interviews from local people who want to create a legacy for themselves and for their descendants. In light of the recent sub-prime banking collapse, it does come across as just a little naive when it comes to the evaluation of why some people don't get the money they ask more traditional banks for, and it also makes some fairly stereotypical assumptions about lending strategies - but it's still quite an interesting look at just how people can work together to help themselves. read more