African American Market Proves Its Clout Again!

Many new movies were released this weekend.  Michael Clayton starring George Clooney didn't have the expected turn out.  Neither did Cate Blanchett's "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."    We have informed businesses for years about the power of the African American market.  The have not listened.  This weekend Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married" with an ensemble cast that includes Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Jill Scott and writer-director Perry, debuted as the No. 1 weekend movie with $21.5 million, according to studio estimates.

Sadly, rather than recognize the buying power of the African American dollar, they decided to attribute this tremendous success by saying:  “Tyler Perry is a mogul,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “There is a built-in audience base for Tyler Perry’s movies, no matter what time of year, no matter what the subject matter.”

Michael Clayton the movie came in 3rd with only $11 million and Elizibeth: The Golden Years came in 6th with only $6 Million a far cry from what the critics expected. 

Imagine that!  Was it only last week that Halle Berry told an interviewer how difficult is for Black actresses to get scripts and good movie parts?  Wake up Hollywood, check out the numbers and start courting ths intapped market.

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Wage Wars - An Update from Philadelphia

I continue to monitor the news for anything related to workers and overtime pay and just yesterday in USA Today I found another article regarding it.

The article title is Wal-Mart workers win pay ruling - Walmart workers in Pennysylvania who previously won a $78.5 million class-action award for working off the clock will share an additional $62.3 million in damages a judge ruled on Wednesday, October 3rd.   About 125,000 people will receive payment under a state law.

Stay tuned, and stand up for your rights.

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Does Your Boss Owe You Overtime? - Here's How to Get Paid

As I mentioned in my post on Labor Day, there seems to be more and more people working longer hours and not being paid overtime.   In my opinion, this is an unfair business practice.  So imagine my pleasant surprize while walking through the airport recently upon spotting the October 1st issue of Business Week with the feature story Wage Wars - Billions are at stake as companies are forced to pay up.

I purchased my copy immediately and plunged into the article.  The story on page 50 talks about the many white collar workers who are mounting lawsuits against big business and demanding their overtime pay.   If you are one of those who have not been paid for overtime read on.

more...

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