What the Barber of Little Rock documentary didn't reveal and Arlo Washington doesn't want you to know
The Barber of Little Rock is a short film on YouTube by the New Yorker magazine that has been nominated for an Academy Award.
Contrary to what many local media outlets have claimed it is not an Arkansas documentary nor were the filmmakers from Arkansas.
It has been reported that filmmakers spent a year in the safe city of Little Rock and shot over 400 hours of video but the finished product runs about 34 minutes.
Additionally it is often reported that he has a bank. He actually has a credit union which is an entirely different, and he cannot use "bank" in signage and advertisements in regard to his credit union.
Perhaps some of the footage that ended up on the cutting room floor was Washington getting served notice that his home had been deeded to the state for non payment of taxes.
Washington also failed to pay property owners association fees when due and got a lien filed against that same home the state took for non payment of taxes.
Records
on file at the Pulaski County Courthouse reveal that Washington has
been foreclosed on at least two times. He lost one and was able to sell the other.
These two lawsuits were settled and how Washington was able to come up with funds to even pay a portion of the claims is a mystery.
Paying state income taxes when do have also been an issue for Washington.
Prior to opening his credit union, Washington acted as a middleman for government programs that provided financial assistance to low income individuals using a couple of entities.
Washington obtained a $60k grant for the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in 2019.
He also received $125k for the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.
He also received a COVID-19 Community Investment Grant in the amount of $10k.
News reports concerning the administration of those grant funds were unflattering.
Washington made sure he and his employees got well paid for there efforts in providing financial support and literacy to the under served even though he was in no position to be an instruction or example. 60% of your income going to salaries is incredible.
Washington also received a little grant from Google.
Sources have also reported to use that individuals fired from the Pulaski County House agency and have been accused of fraudulent activity in federal housing programs have been hired by Washington at his credit union.
Our investigative reporting resulted to the forced resignation of that agency's director and a county attorney.
Hiring workers fired for fraud is questionable for any financial institution.
Washington is an extremely poor role model for financial literacy.
