2 - African American Shopper’s Guide - To Advertise Call (513) 820-2431
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4 - African American Shopper’s Guide - To Advertise Call (513) 820-2431
From the publisher minimum coverage. Ms. Smith says it may not be enough. Read it and find out why.
Kirk J. Lynch
In our Black History Month article, you’ll read about the current controversy about the relevancy of Black History Month in the 21st Century. Some black intellectuals say setting aside just 28 days a year to celebrate our contributions and history is patronizing and “ghettoizing.” Hear what a cross section of Black Cincinnatians have to say about the subject. You’ll be edified.
Many of us will be receiving a tax refund this year but before you go out spending your tax elcome to the February/March 2010 issue of the Greater Cincinnati African refund, read Monica Black’s column “Don’t spend all of your Tax Refund”, Monica suggests American Shopper’s Guide. It’s our that before you go on a “buying spree”, think African American History issue, and we’re very about paying yourself first. She provides advice proud of it. and insight on how to grow your money. In this issue you’ll be informed and enlightened. The cover story features Thaddaus E. Dawson Sr., owner Interested in finding out how to cut down on paying Uncle Sam. Read the article “Money of Dawson Heating & Air Conditioning and that Works for You”. Contributor, Tony Jones is community leader. Mr. Dawson grew his business providing a free seminar to show you how to from a one-man operation 30 years ago to a fullkeep your hard earned income in your pockets. service HVAC company with four installer/ technicians. But Mr. Dawson’s first love is As we celebrate another Black History Month mentoring young men who need a helping hand – this February, observing the lives, contributions hiring them as apprentices, and teaching them the value of hard, honest work and a strong faith in God. and blood, sweat and tears of Black Americans, don’t forget to be grateful. Show that gratitude Don’t miss this inspiring feature. by stopping to think about the people who died to give you the freedoms and opportunities you “Legally Speaking,” written by Attorney Gloria enjoy. Smith, is a column you never want to miss. This issue’s story is especially informative. Learn why Demonstrate that gratitude by giving back to you should have insurance coverage for underyour community: mentor a child; tutor a young insured drivers, at above the state minimum person; donate time at a community service requirement. organization. Each of us should assist others as Don’t be fooled by the “cute” ads about state we climb to reach our goals.
W
I N D E X
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From the Publisher Kirk Lynch..............................4
Publisher Kirk J. Lynch
Money That Works For You...................................6
Managing Editor Victoria Starkey
Don’t Spend All of Your Tax Refund....................8 Cover Yourself Against Under-Insured Drivers.........10 Feature Story Thaddaus Dawson Businessman Philanthropist Gives Back to Community...14 Is Black History Month Still Relevent........................17
To Advertise Call (513) 544-1992
Layout/Design LSA Graphics Advertising Sales Cathy Walker Staff Writer Linda Wright Contributors Monica V. Black, CPA Gloria Smith, Esq. Tony Jones, MSW Distribution Distributech
The African American Shopper’s Guide is published by Lynch Starkey & Associates, Advertisers assume liability for content including text, representations, and illustrations of advertisements printed and also assume responsibility for any claims arising made against the publisher. Lynch Starkey & Associates cannot be responsible for any errors in the advertisements beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Credit claims must be made no later than 10 days prior to the publication release date. All advertisements produced by Lynch Starkey & Associates are considered exclusive property and any unauthorized duplications or reproductions used in printed material for profit is prohibited. If you would like more information on the publication, please feel free to write Lynch Starkey & Associates 7672 Montgomery Road, Suite 142, Cincinnati, OH 45236 or call (513) 544-1992
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Money that Works for You!
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as the Economic Recession affected you and your family? Have you been laid off from your job? Have you been affected negatively by this economy where you find yourself surviving from day to day? Clippo-Programme One presents the Debt Reduction/Income Empowerment Conference. We encourage you to attend so that you can learn how to survive this down-turned economy. The conference will be held on March 27th and April 24th, 2010 (14pm) at the Tri-State Theatre, 636 Northland Blvd., Cincinnati, Ohio 45240 (Forest Park). FREE TO THE PUBLIC.
worker. Mr. Jones states solving mental health problems every day are similar to solving pertinent problems people face every day. Many people today face financial difficulties, and so Mr. Jones has developed a financial program to assist the average person in utilizing his or her taxes as a financial vehicle to develop incomes . The Clippo-Programme One system has been in existence for approximately 9 years, and in this time it has aided many individuals in receiving a 2530% increase in their tax returns every year. The program has also aided many individuals in obtaining extra part-time incomes by just sharing this information with other individuals.
The conference is sponsored by Clippo-Programme One Mr. Jones works diligently with and it’s presented by Tony a prominent CPA in Cincinnati Jones. This conference will to help the individuals, who help the average citizen to are a part of the Clippolearn how to make the money Programme One Network “work for them instead of obtain professional tax advice them always working for the pertaining to their money” In this Economic Tony Jones MSW, LSW individualized tax affairs. Mr. Recession individuals need a Jones is committed to educating financial education that will allow them to survive. The Debt individuals about their taxes, and how it could help them Reduction/Income Empowerment Conference seeks to educate financially. He also feels this information is very important people in regards to their finances. for every individual to know so that they will be able to maximize their incomes in this down-turned economy. Clippo-Programme One is an organization that seeks to assist people on how to utilize their taxes as a way to stabilize their The Debt Reduction/Income Empowerment income. The program seeks to give the average person a Conference will be held on March 27th & April 24th, financial education on how to save, earn, and invest money. 2010 (1-4pm). The individuals who will attend the CLIPPO is an acronym for the Civil Legal Insurance Protection conference will be eligible to receive a Free Vacation to Program Organization. This program seeks to help people to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Hawaii, and other vacation utilize the financial principle of “tax leveraging”. Tax resorts in the United States. Seating is limited so please Leveraging is the financial term that means the use of purchases RSVP as soon as possible at (513) 591-0923 or (513) 520as tax deductions or tax credits. Clippo-Programme One was 9783. founded by Tony Jones MSW LSW, a mental health social
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8 - African American Shopper’s Guide - To Advertise Call (513) 820-2431
Don’t Spend all of Your Tax Refund
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t has been my experience that many people get excited about tax refund time. Why? Because this is the time in which people get a check with a comma (that is a check that is over $1,000). Please make sure that you wisely use your funds so that all of your money will not be gone in a week! Below are some recommendations for you to utilize your funds. 1.
Pay Yourself First
You need an emergency fund. Put at least one third of your money in a money market fund. Situations always come up. You do not want to find yourself going to a check cashing place or borrowing from family members in case you need tires, get downsized, etc. 2.
Roth IRA
Set aside at least $500 for retirement, even if you are making monthly contributions already. Most people retire at or below poverty. Social Security will not be available. You need to take matters in your own hand because you are responsible for your retirement and not the government. 3.
Pay Down Debt
Monica V. Black, CPA
Make sure you do #1 and #2 first. Do not pay off all of your debt and then have no money saved. Pay down the lowest balance first so that you can see the debt actually being eliminated. Now here are the things that you should not do: 1. 2. 3.
Go on a shopping a spree. Go on a shopping spree. Go on a shopping spree.
It is always important to make sure you are making wise choices with your money. 2010 is a new year and a time to start new habits. I believe that 2010 is YOUR year! If you want a financial coach, and you are serious about planning for your future, please give me a call at (513) 236-1701. Continued Blessings,
Monica V. Black, CPA
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Jordan Crossing OVER 22 SPECIALTY STORES AND RESTAURANTS, PROFESSIONAL AND SPIRITUAL SERVICES TO CHOOSE
Family Printing - (513) 731-7313 Aisha’s Hair & Nail Gallery - (513) 731-2878 Deveroes - (513) 731-0294 Essense Hair Products - (513) 351-2100 Speedy Tax Refund - (513) 631-4829 New Concept Janitorial (513) 841-2424 Image Makers Barber Shop (513) 731-0700 Ro-Sho Awards & Graphics (513) 731-8111 Council of Christian Communions (513) 351-6789 Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop E. Lynn Brown (513) 772-8622 Allen Temple Senior Center (513) 731-0100 Moore Universite (513) 531-3100 Deborah K. Brown Gaines (Attorney at Law) 924-9800 Kingdom of God Church Dwight L. Moody Insurance Agency (513) 772-6061 Derrick Allen Salon (513) 631-8300 Step & Style (513) 731-7837 Bi-Okoto Drum & Dance Theatre (513) 221-6112
SPACE AVAILABLE CALL (513) 531-8970 (Mention Ad Get 1st Month Free) (Sec. Deposit Waived w/ Long Term lease)
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Sunday 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Visit Allen Temple Svc’s Commercial Space 8 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Available All Are Welcome for Lease/Rent website: www.allentemple.org E-mail: allenfoundation1@aol.com
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COVER YOURSELF AGAINST UNDER-INSURED DRIVERS Gloria Smith
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f you are injured in an automobile, car insurance is important. Ohio is an at fault state when it comes to automobile accidents, which means that the person who caused the accident is responsible for paying all of the costs associated with the accident. Hopefully, that person has insurance. Many times, however, that person only has the state minimum requirements, which Gloria Smith, Esq. only pays $12,500.00 per person per accident, and only up to 25,000.00. These limits may not be enough.
$12,500.00, which is all that you have. Your underinsured policy coverage will not pay more than $12,500.00. So if her policy has paid out at $12,500.00, your policy is not going to pay anything at all. You already got everything you were entitled to get. Insurance companies have this down to a science, they work together, and you are not going to get more than what you paid for. If you want more than minimum coverage, you have to pay for more than minimum coverage. If your under-insured policy pays $50,000.00 for each accident, then under our example, after her insurance policy paid $12,500.00, your policy would pay up to $38,500.00. As you can see, minimum insurance coverage is not the best, it’s only the cheapest.
You get what you pay for applies everywhere. This article is not meant to provide legal advice, but to provide helpful and useful information. Call me at We see the cute ads for minimum coverage all over 338-1940 for any legal questions. television and billboards. But if you are seriously “To God Be The Glory” injured in an automobile accident, minimum coverage is not so cute. But even if you are hit by a vehicle that either has minimum coverage, all may Attorney Gloria L. Smith The Gloria L. Smith Law Office LLC not be lost. You see, you have the ability to cover yourself with your own insurance policy. Make sure you have under-insured motorists coverage, and above the state minimum policy limits. For example, if you have under-insured motorists coverage for the minimum coverage, $12,500.00, you have nothing. That’s because your under-insured motorists coverage does not kick in until the at fault driver’s policy has been used up. Her policy is used up at
810 Sycamore St., 1st Floor Cincinnati, OH 45202 Office: (513) 338-1940 Fax: (513) 338-1920
The Rev. Gloria L. Smith, Esq. Whitman Chapel AME Church 410 Florence Street Belpre, Ohio 45714 Cell: (513) 602-5268 Church: (740) 423-8996
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Feature Story THADDAUS E. DAWSON SR., OWNER OF DAWSON HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING Philanthropist Runs a Successful Business While Serving the Community
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haddaus E. Dawson Sr., owner of Dawson Heating & Air Conditioning, has a head for business and a heart for youth in the community. Dawson started Dawson Heating and Air Conditioning more than 30 years ago. Begun as a one-man operation, he has built it into a fullservice HVAC company with four installer/technicians. Dawson’s provides installation, service, maintenance and cleaning for heating and air conditioning units, along with installing heat pumps, boilers and water heaters. Dawson’s also provides fast 24 hour emergency service, 365 days a year.
Mentoring Youth Is His First Love But Dawson’s first love is mentoring young men who need a helping hand – hiring them as apprentices, and teaching them the value of hard, honest work and a strong faith in God. “I get more excited about young people growing up, becoming successful and going on with their lives, than I do about making money,” Dawson said. “I want to leave a legacy other than money.”
Coach Dickie, Robert Jackson, & Thaddaus Dawson, Sr.
He is a successful entrepreneur, who owned a bustling dry cleaning business in Avondale prior to starting Dawson Heating and Air Conditioning. Dawson is licensed by the State of Ohio as an HVAC Technician; has a Universal EPA certification; and he is a graduate of the Turner School of Construction Management. He is also a real estate investor, who has bought, rehabilitated and resold more than 60 houses.
His legacy continues to grow as he helps more and more teenagers get on the right track to becoming productive, responsible adults. Last summer he employed two teens as apprentices through the JCG Youth Employment Opportunity program. Teaching young people the heating and air conditioning business is something he’s been doing for more than 20 years.
“First I started with my sons – giving them jobs during the summer,” Dawson said. “Then I started giving boys in Avondale a chance to work for me and learn the HVAC business.” Robert Jackson, now 21, has been working with Dawson on and off since he was 12. He said each teen who works with Dawson starts out driving (if he’s old enough), then sweeping, then carrying tools and then finally learning how to install furnaces, water heaters and other appliances.
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“He taught me everything I know – from sweeping to driving,” Jackson explained. “He’s like my dad. I saved my first $500 and I got my first car working for Dawson. You can tell – he loves the community.” Another Dawson employee, Don Dugan, was also an apprentice. Now 32 years old, Mr. Dugan has worked for Dawson since he was 18.“I started in 1996 as a chauffeur for Mr. Dawson,” Mr. Dugan said. “Then I moved up to the broom, then picking up materials and watching workmen who were doing work for Dawson Heating and Air Conditioning. About five years ago, Dawson sent me to HVAC training at Diamond Oaks.”
BEFORE
Dawson’s mentoring extends far beyond his HVAC business. Each year, Dawson sends a group of children to summer camp. Last year he sponsored 20 children, but some years he has sponsored as many as 50. He also sponsors two youth sports teams in Avondale, the neighborhood he grew up in. He has supported the Indians baseball team and the Indians basketball team for more than a decade. Why He Serves The Community His business success and his generosity are all due to his deep faith in God. He’s always taken the boys he mentors to church with him at New Jerusalem Baptist Church, where he and his wife Jo Alice are very active and where he serves on the usher board. But a few months ago, he was moved to do more. Now he gets up early, attends New Jerusalem’s 8 o’clock service, and then after church is out at 10 a.m., he takes a group of 12 to 15 kids to church in their neighborhood. They all live on Hutchins Ave. in Avondale, the street on which he grew up and street where he owns several rental homes. “As a child growing up in Avondale, I wasn’t expected to do anything, to be anybody,” Dawson explained. “I love
working with young people in similar circumstances, to let them know that things can be better for them when they grow up – if they really want it and they’ll work for it.” The Power of Black Owned Businesses Dawson said many people underestimate the power of African American owned businesses to help transform our communities. The reason he can do what he does – train young people for good jobs; support youth activities and mentor young people – is because of the strength of his business.
BEFORE “There’s a ripple effect with small Black owned businesses like ours,” Dawson said. “African American families hire us to install and fix furnaces, so we grow and hire Black people to work as technicians. Those technicians are able to establish themselves, raise a family, maybe buy a house and support other Black owned businesses in their community. Their children grow up in a stable family with a good education and some of them start their own companies, and so on.” He said Black owned businesses don’t have the advantages white owned firms do. They don’t have associations – the connections in the “good ol’ boy network” — to get the big contracts. “That’s why we have to support our own,” he concluded. “When the community supports minority businesses, we can employ our youth and give them the training they need to make a good living. That in turn, impacts the stability and safety of our communities.” For more information on Dawson Heating and Air Conditioning, at 7747 Stillwell Rd. in Roselawn call (513) 281-3311 or fax at (513) 281-2393.
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Jesse Smith
(513) 825-3800 11340 Kenn Road Cincinnati, Ohio a0890441@allstate.com
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Black History Month 2010 Cross Section of African Americans Say Observance Still Needed, Still Relevant
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lack History Month began as Negro History Week, established in 1926 by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the child of former slaves. In 1976, the observance was extended to become Black History Month. Woodson, who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, founded the observance to present the true history of Blacks globally – history so often ignored or misrepresented. “Besides building self-esteem among blacks, (Negro History Week) would help eliminate prejudice among whites,” Woodson said.
Do We Still Need Black History Month? But, nearly a century since its inception, Black History Month has become controversial in some circles. Some African American intellectuals consider setting aside just 28 days to celebrate our history and contributions patronizing and “ghettoizing.” Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman is quoted as saying “You’re going to relegate my history to a month? What month is White History Month? I don’t want Black History Month. Black history is American history.” In the 21st Century, with an African American president and Blacks having made major strides in nearly every field of endeavor, do we still need Black History Month? Is it still culturally relevant?
Five Black Cincinnatians Speak Out We asked five Black Cincinnatians — a cross section of ages,
professions and genders, public figures and private citizens – what they thought. They cited different reasons, but each was emphatic — Black History Month is still apropos in 2010. Jim Clingman, University of Cincinnati adjunct professor, Cincinnati NAACP Economic Development Chair, and syndicated newspaper columnist, said people are becoming tired of Black History Month because the same people and events are emphasized over and over. “There’s more to Black history than who invented what, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks – not to take anything away from what they did,” Clingman said. “But, you don’t hear about people like Charles Patterson, who manufactured cars in 1915 in Greenfield, Ohio, northeast of Columbus. “People talk about Madame C. J. Walker, but there’s also Annie Turnbo Malone, who was also in the hair care business,” Clingman said. “She bought a whole city block in Chicago in 1933, and later moved to St. Louis. Economics is the new civil rights battle. We’ve had Black entrepreneurs in this nation since the 1600s.” Sean Rugless, president and CEO of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, said Black History Month should also look to the future. “Yes, we have a Black president, but the same disparities between African Americans and other populations still exist as before,” Rugless said. “Black History Month Con’t on page 20
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Accepting children Ages infants thru School Age
www.newhorizons-learning.com
Licensed by: City of Cincinnati
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Con’t from page 17 should also be about looking forward, he said. “History “At a time when our young people need to doesn’t change but how we interpret and apply history understand their heritage and develop a strong can change every single day. `Fool me once, shame on identity, we cannot stop infusing them with the truth you. Fool me twice and it’s my fault.’ We have to re- of their heritage,” Peele said. “African Americans have been successful business and science pioneers apply the lessons of history to fulfill our potential.” down through history. There is nothing worse than Brooke Cooley, a freshman majoring in Liberal Arts at having the potential for greatness and not being aware of it!” Chatfield College, said Black History Month is essential. “Many people still aren’t aware that Black people invented the street light and developed open heart surgery,” Cooley said. “I only heard about these things during Black History Month. It wasn’t a part of my regular American History class in school. Without it, there would be no time set aside to celebrate our greatness. We would have nothing.” Stephen Peele Sr., founding partner of ArchPoint Consulting and pastor of Living Word Fellowship Church in Loveland, said Black History Month still plays an essential role.
Gayle Wynn, UC graduate student and Early Childhood Development Specialist at Arlitt Child Development Center, said Black History Month is about “Keeping the Dream Alive” for the younger generations. “Young African American boys and girls need to be reminded that we didn’t just wake up one morning with these rights and accomplishments,” Wynn said. “It’s also a time for non-Blacks to learn about the great things we’ve done and what we are doing now. “Not to be trite, but the saying is really true: `If you don’t know where you came from, you won’t know where you’re going,” Wynn concluded.
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