On a recent episode of the UNINTERRUPTED series, LaKeith Stanfield joined Chris Paul, Killer Mike,Ty Lue, Paul Rivera and Maverick Carter to discuss mentorship in the community.
Chris Paul started the conversation of mentorship regarding a discussion around Ja Morant. Maverick Carter posed the question, “whose job is it to help him (Morant)?” Responding to Lue, Killer Mike suggested that a person in need of should also want help. “I think you are supposed to should seek mentorship and I think older Black men should offer mentorship.”
Killer Mike’s response prompted Stanfield to share a story of a man seeking his mentorship.
“Financial literacy is so important for our youth and young Black men to know. I was walking out of the mall one time and this dude came up to me. I think was 20-something. “
Stanfield thought it was strange that a grown man wanted LaKeith to be his mentor. “He’s like ‘Hey man, I appreciate your work. I’m an actor and I want you to be my mentor.’ I thought it was weird. I never had that happened to me before and I didn’t know what a mentor was.”
He added, “After ruminating on it, I was like ‘damn I could be a mentor.’ Its an exchange of information and us helping each other.”
Spending his entire first check on a car
Stanfield segued the financial literacy conversation to recount a story of when he received his first hefty paycheck as an actor.
“I remember I got my first check. I hadn’t seen that kinda money before. It was like $130,000 and it was just crazy.” He shared, “There was this car that I really wanted. That was the only thing on my mind. I didn’t have credit or anything.”
“I walked into the dealership with a duffle bag full of money and just sat it on the counter.”
“Then I drove off the lot and I was broke.” He concluded, “I of course learned the value in how to spend your money. Because then I’m struggling for my rent the next week.”
“If I had a mentor to say ‘hey, thats not how you spend your money.’ That would’ve been very, very helpful.”