EACH EVENI G during
Kwanzaa. one of ven candles in
the "kinara" or caodleholder is lit
and the pincipl for th day is dis­
cussed. Many fanilies also ex­
change homemeoe gifts. Near the
end of the festival. family and
friends gather for a pecial meal
called "karmnu." This usually fea-
DO KING. A.G. Gaston.
'John H.Johnson. Barry Gordy.Joe
Dudley and Barry Gordy are Bl ck
men who too off in a different
direction of thinking and cting.
As young boys and young adult
men. these Black success mod 1
were poor and raggedy as any
ghetto child. Each of th men
" ch uccess and all have now
• . accumulated wealth and ts
• • exceeding $100 million.
In spite of. and in the face of.
• . racism each of th men became
: ,. multi -millonari 'after they leamed
� to use their heads for something
• � other than h hanging. With a "y
I cen" attitude. these productive
and independent Black men learned
: that nothing beats failure but a try.
: King had numerous failures in
. : thefightgam. did.lohnsonwho
. : published two magazines that failed
• 'before he pawned his mother's fur-
niture and hit pay dirt with a Life
Magazin look-alike called Ebony
Magazine. Dudley had many lumps
in his hair care manufacture and
distrubution before he climbed to
the big time. Gordy faced segrega­
tim and a "QaD! to BI�" distri­
bution system before h could get
Motown's records sold in stores and
played on mainstream stations.
, And Ben Yahweh often ran into
bride walls before be' and his people
nailed their way into a quarter of a
billion dollars' worth of collective
ownership of hotels. resorts and
real estate properties.
mOMPSON IS in business to
make mooey but he said. "There is
more to it than mooey."
He has strong religious beliefs
and he believes the recording stu­
dio is II a blessing. A chosen ca-
ALL 'nIESE men changed
their habits. actions and procedures
regarding adivities that weren't pr0-
ductive in order to grasp the rich
of success and accomplishment.
For a guide on how to fashion
perspective on wealth and achieve­
ment, -Black America can tum to
Dennis Kimbro's new version of
Napoleon Hill's successful book.
, Think and Grow Rich.
Sensitive to the plight of Amer­
ica' Blacks. Kimbro's book ad­
dreBes the needs of African-Ameri­
c� with targeted emphasis on the
special econorruc and spiritual
needs of Blacks.
To grow rich via collective
wealth and acquisitions of hotels
and real estate stock. people should
read the From Poverty to Riches
boo or seminar seri from the
Nation of Yahweh. This program
offers 1> ic intelligence data. in­
spirational m isag and implem­
entation steps that can belp Blacks
own facilities such as the 11-story
Atlanta-based Barclay Hotel.
For information on obtaining
Think and Grown Rich. From Pov­
erty To Riches or hotel chain ex­
. • pamioo oppOrtuniti • call or write:
: - Who's Who in Blae Corporat
, America. Suite 1050, 1101 14th
Street, Northw t, Washington.
D.C. 20005. (202) 371-1313.
BUSINESS FINANCE
The
Greater Detroit
BIDCO, Inc.
lIA Minority
Busines and Industrial
Development Corporation II
1101 Wa hingt�n Boulevard
Suite 600
Detroit, Michigan 48226
313/926-4326
Contact:
Catherine D. Lockhart
Lock ley A. Smith
Barbara Richard on
the appreciation.
Consider now the price. There
are several ways you can compare the
value of one house against another. A
simple method is to compete the pice­
per-square foot.
Let's sume that you have looked
at two similar houses. The location
and the condition of each property
are comparable. Property A is selling
for $87.500 and has 1,500 square
feet. Property B is $88.700. It. coo­
tains 1.450 square feet.
Now take the sales price of Prop­
erty A and divide the price by the total
square feet in that property . Your
results show that Property A is selling
fex $58.33 per square foot. Property
B is $61.17. All other things being
equal. Property A is a better value.
Consider now the location, Is the
house located in an area that will
SlWXl your lifestyles? Are the neigh­
bors' homes at1ractive and cared fex?
Are the yards well-groomed? Is there
heavy traffic on the street?
.
.
equipm nt one De to record.
Rounding out t small but
,t fully decorated udio, is a
ve ibule, or relaxing room. that
invit COQ¥ tion. .
'Thompson. in ddition to his
enforcement c r and record­
ing studio. is the choir director,
composer and music teacher at
Monumental Ev gelistic Baptist
Olurcb in Highland P and Let
Them Come B ptist Church in
Detroit.
A musician. drums and key- reer."
board. Thompson sings and plays Consequently. he said. "I work
with the Detroit go pel group, the with groups. The (initial) interview
Southern Four.' will determine the price."
T.S.T .. thus far. has been re- However, he does have a fact
cordinggospelmusic-alburnsand sheet which list the rate as "$15 per
45 demos-but Thompson plans to hour for 16 track recording."
ventually record other type music .
and to eventually rele on the
label he already has.
TIle motivating factor to open
the studio w the Southern Four.
'Thompson said. "1 wanted to see us
out there."
Being a local artist and playing
for the home folks is all right but if
you want to "branch out. you have
to put something on wax." Th­
ompson said.
Cards for Kwanzaa benefit scholarships
Sparkling candles, traditional
foods. family and friends are part
of Kwanzaa. and African-Ameri­
can celebration held during the
Christmas season. beginning Dec.
26.
To commemorate the 25th an­
niversary of Kwanzaa this year,
Miller Brewing Company will of-
fer a specially designed Kwanzaa
card as part of a set of eight holiday
cards. Sales of the cards will bene­
fit the Thurgood Marshall Scholar­
ship Fund. which provides schol­
arships to exceptiooal students at­
tending the nation's 36 historically
Black public colleges and univer­
sities.
Kwanzaa. literally "first fruits"
in Swahili, is.an African-American
holiday based on the harvest of the .
first crops. It w created in 1966
in the United States by Maulana
Ron Karenga, a professor of Pan­
African studies.
=-
During the seven day festival.
participants reflect on seven prin-
cipl of African-American culture:
unity. self -determination. collec-
tive work and responsibility, coop­
erative economics, purpose, crea­
tivity and faith.
ONE STEP CLOSER-TS.T. �ms (Thorn n
owner, Rodney Thompson, hu retary/ neee Th r
had just heard him y:" I feel every day e re growi
the knot." (Photo by • Scott)
SOME OF THE feature that
T.S.T. Systems advertises are: engi­
neer and programer, 32 channels 64
input mixing console. vocal room
and quality microphooes. high end
out board gear, computers. digital
drums machines. accoutics.drums.
keyboard synthesizers and raanodu­
als and digital recording on comput­
ers sequencer.
And. according to secretary/fi­
ance Miller. who said Thommpson
"has a genuine love for music." the
Doby sound.
In additioo to the "genuine love
for music." Miller also recalled some­
thing that led Thompson to believe
what he is doing is a "God calling."
While putting together the sys­
tem he has no • Miller said. he got
a "track machin "from minister
who "prayed" someone would get
it to exemplify the Lord's work.
Thompson dded. "The minis­
ter used it {the trac m chine) �
one project d put it up for sale.
I've used it on I don't know ho
many (projects)."
Thompson. with Miller leaning
forward in her ch ir, would not'
. give a date for their up coming
wedding but did y. "I feel every'
day we are growing closer to tying
the knot." which seemed to have
pleased Miller, who has a musical
background and sings.
TIley are native Detroiters�and
he graduated from Highland ark
High School and she Northw st­
ern.
CONSIDER NOW the coodition.
Be OIl the lookout foe water damage.
peeling paint. rusting gutters. weak
flooring, cracks around the founda­
tion, termite damage, wood rot and
decay. Remember, costs for either
repairing or replacing these defects
can be quite costly.
If you do not feel competent to
...
FOR ADDITIONAL informa­
tion please call (313)891-4508. The
pager number is 829-7490.
rating by a professional maintenance
company.
Consider now the appreciation.
Appreciation refers to a percenta,e
rate that the property increases m
value during a certain period of time.
In some areas of your city, the a�­
ciatioo rate will be minimal. In other
areas. it will be quite high.
No doubt you will find that the
more affluent communities have a
higher appreciation rate than those
that ar� in less affluent areas.
FOR EXAMPLE. in the areas Of
your city in which are located smaller, ,
less expensive, tract homes, the r e
of appreciation may be bout a feW
hundred dollars a ye .' But in" a
nearby suburban community, where
there are larger homes owned by
fanilies with a higher socio-econanac
status, the rate may be in thousands
of dollars.
"Appreciation" supports the n0-
tion that a prudent buyer �uld buy
the most expensive bome for whiCh
they qualify since the more that ybu
pay, the greater the increase of your
investment dollars. :
In the next issue, we will prep�e
the important offer to purchase. .
Send your questions concemisg
real estate to Howard G. Ball; Really
Services, Inc., 240 Western Hills
Drive, Madison, AL 35758. �
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tures traditiooal African food. cere­
mooies honoring ancestral heritage.
commitments fex the new year, mu­
sic dancing.
'The Kwanzaa card depicts two
traditiooally dr d African Ameri­
ems aing a meal, amd is framed by
seven candles, harvest wheat and
com. Other holidays cards feature
traditiooal d secular selections for
Christm . The cards ere designed
by L'Image Graphics of Culver
City. Calif.. irl coojooctioo with
Miller. 'The cards are available
ooly by mail ex phone order. They
can be ordered in am assortment
pack of 16 cM'ds for $t'2 or single­
style pack for $1 0 from TMS Prod­
ucts. Box 318, Northbrook. Ill .•
60653-3108. For telephone charge
orders, the toll-free number is (800)
832-GIVE.