Growing Up Around Economic Empowerment

The 100 Black Men of America, Inc. promotes and fosters the ability of its mentees and members to be self-determined in creating dreams, pursuing them, and ultimately perpetuating those dreams and aspirations by establishing the mechanisms to sustain generational wealth. Through comprehensive curricula and training opportunities, our organization works diligently to promote economic selfsufficiency and break the cycle of generational debt. The goal of the 100 is to leave a legacy of wealth- building, which leads to debt-free living for the youth and communities we serve. Our economic empowerment programs and initiatives foster financial literacy, career development, financial planning, investment management, and fiscal responsibility at an early age. Exposing our youth and collegiate students to the skills, strategies, and mindset of entrepreneurship also provides beneficial, transferable knowledge that will help establish a firm foundation they can later build upon for business development and wealth creation. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. resonate as profoundly today as they did in 1967 when he declared, “The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands; when he has the means to seek self-improvement.”

While growing up in the Lee Harvard area, I had the advantage of meeting a lot of Black entrepreneurs in Ohio through the work my father did. Since in this issue, we are talking about Economic Empowerment; I wanted to show it from a view I grew up seeing from my vantage point. I was so into all the material things I witnessed my father with that I wanted to be like him. He drove Cadillacs, had a phone in the car, and wore suits every day, laughing at one time I thought my family was wealthy. I had yet to become familiar with Shaker Heights; Lee Harvard was lovely and peaceful during that time. Empowerment means people having power and control over their own lives. People get the support they need that is right for them. Empowerment means that people are equal citizens. They are respected and confident in their communities.

My father had two fantastic jobs: at Central National Bank (Now KeyBank) and The Greater Cleveland Growth Association (NOW Greater Cleveland Partnership). In the later part of the ‘70s, the Growth Assn. had 6,400 members with 96 employees and a $7 million budget, which included $5 million in federal funds for job training and minority business assistance. Among its new programs in the 1980s were the Cleveland Area Development Corp., the Council of Smaller Enterprises, and the Metropolitan Cleveland Jobs Council. In 1990 it moved from the Huntington Bldg. to Tower City Center in the Terminal Tower. In Aug. 1994, Carole F. Hoover became president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Growth Assn. Under her leadership, a study of the economic conditions in Greater Cleveland was conducted. The Growth Assn. began a Jobs and Workforce Initiative with its community partners in 1995. This initiative included the participation of local employers and training organizations to design and implement a workforce readiness strategy. As of June 1995, the Greater Cleveland Growth Assn. had 15,910 members, making it the largest Chamber of Commerce worldwide.

Over the years, watching him work with the Minority Purchasing Council, He worked to get many Black Businesses certified; I thought he did a lot for the Black community, which he did. I was proud of my father watching him and hanging with him at all his events; I started meeting the powerhouse Black entrepreneurs at a young age. The first that I remember was Narlie Roberts, a prominent businessman who purchased the first black-owned McDonald’s franchise in Cleveland and eventually operated seven McDonald’s restaurants through his Royal Ridge Management Co., which grossed over $10 million annually.

I often wondered why he never decided to open a business. I went through the phase of wanting him to open a video store (laughing) glad he didn’t. Being an entrepreneur is hard work; he would share with me when I questioned various businesses. An

Read more on next page entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The process of setting up a business is known as entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures.

I met one of the influential women in Ohio by the name of Alexandria Boone, who was CEO of GAP Productions (NOW GAP Communications), which facilitates Women of Color that’s been a great success over the years. I could name many, like Bill White of

Kings Men Shop in the Lee Harvard plaza, Don Weston, who owned The Fly Shop, and the $12.00 Pants Company. My father helping Don start his business allowed me to work there while I was in High School. I was around these successful people; it was never seen like they had one problem. Don had a nice corvette and lived in a lovely house. I met the late Arnold Pinkney and Charles Perry, who were owners of Pinkney & Perry Insurance company which developed a long-time friendship until their passing.

I know we have a lot more Black owners of businesses now, but it is just like Blacks were thriving in business in that era. I remember listening to the radio every Saturday when a Black Record Store owner named Palmer would be on the air pushing LPs, as they were called. His famous phrase was, “I got The Isley Brothers for $3.99, lookers and waiters, please stay outside,”. Nowadays, everything is downloaded or streamed, but during this era in the ‘70s, you had plenty of Black-owned Record stores, Deans, Sound Center, Palmers, and Filmore East, to name a few.

During the 70s, it was seven young men who were called The Fly Brothers who all ended up doing well in life. Fuddruckers Restaurant came out of 2 of the seven, Howard Drake and Brian Hall, another one of the seven is Bilal Akram, who has a thriving CODE M business; I never owned anything but my shoes, but I have had a good life. My childhood friend and classmate Rodney Reynolds have been at it a long time with his American Legacy Network Corp., a multimedia company consisting of the American Legacy Network streaming service; ALXMOBILE, an experiential mobile marketing business; and ALN Productions, a film and television programming producer. And though American Legacy Magazine ceased production in 2012 when the print publishing industry upended, its DNA and mission to celebrate and advance Black history and culture continue through content produced through Reynolds’ venture.

Entrepreneurship is the driving force of wealth and the fabric of the American economy; however, only 10% of businesses in the United States are owned by African Americans. This creates a large gap of underrepresentation of successful business owners as examples for our youth. Entrepreneurship programs are poised to change this trend by training Women and educating black young men on the value of being an entrepreneur and growing a business, as well as the importance of having excellent money management skills through our financial literacy program. Economic Empowerment is necessary to create a just society, for without empowerment there is no self-sufficiency.

This year the 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland Inc. Economic Empowerment initiatives will foster financial literacy, career development, financial planning, investment management, and fiscal responsibility at an early age. Exposing our youth and collegiate students to the skills, strategies, and mindset of entrepreneurship also provides beneficial, transferable knowledge and establishes a firm foundation they can later build upon for business development and wealth creation. There can be no self-sufficiency without empowerment. This program focuses on three primary areas: Financial Literacy, Family Wealth Building, and Entrepreneurship. Through comprehensive curriculums and training classes, these programs work to promote economic self-sufficiency.