MR. RO • • L • R AID that dis
cussion between Lee's company
and Curtis were amicable and that
he expects an agreement soon. The
only ticking point in the di cus
sions is the payment of royalties on
unlicensed merchandise already
old.
But big or small, not all busi
nesses have .followed the footsteps
. I I I'
., r 1
says, It inety-five percent of
African-American don't know
their original name and cultures.
Most people don't know this. X
remain unknown, even though it
stand for the unknown."
On each bag of the X-brand
potato chips, the "legend" of the X
is printed: "X stands for the un
known. Unknown language,
religion, ance tors, and cultures of
the African-American. X is a re
placement for the last name given to
the slaves by the slave master. We
dedicate this product to the concept
of X."
Akilah Ali, of Philadelphia, is
the owner and the creator of State
ments-Expressive Accessories,
Your faith and
40 Acres, are in no discussions with
Mr. Roesler, and sport the made in
Taiwan, Hong King, or Lebanon
, tag.
From the pillbox kente cloth hat
with a metallic 'X' on the front to
duffel bags and leather coats, the
question is are these products
geared towards spreading the mes
sage of Malcolm or the concept of
'X', or are they products of iconol
ogy getting out of hand?
Richard Hart, a lawyer for
Warner Brothers, agrees with
Curtis's position that "when the 'X'
clearly refers to the movie or Mal
colm",. it is a trademark. "A cap
with an ex' on it is associated with
Malcoll1l to 9. 1 of 10 �ople and
YOUR
PERSONAL
FINANCE
short or toy and dolls," Hart said
in a recent New York Times article.
But it is pos ible to find licensed
automobile air fresheners dis-
tributed by Ron Levy and the North
American Oil Company. They are
available in five scents and ell for
$1 to $2.
"This is the lowest-priced item
for Afro-Americans to show their
support," Mr. Levy said. "A lot of
Afro-Americans can't afford hats or
hirts. You can hang it from your
mirror, in your locker or whatever.
We will sell in the millons."
There is evidence that Malcolm
himself was aware of the danger of
iconolg� his name had to power to
produce. r Yts
Malcolm's pe na1 p otographer,
said Malcolm loathed the widely
reproduced photograph taken by a
II
.,
th movi
rel .. , the"" mad 10 0
mo y. " "merchaf}cf Ing
yi kJcd 1 milli n in
Even though their pI of origin
arc labeled Hong Kong and
Taiwan, "X" duffi ba ken
loths, and waist bags are allover
America's innerciti .
Shabazz and the Curts Group
have chartered 37 licerses any
may 'receive million in
royaltic from X-related mer-
handise, but unlicensed bootleg
rs have walked away with the
bulk of the money.
WIDL I non-Bla ks, includ
ing Dr. Shabazz' mana ment
firm, have taken most of the X-re
lated bucks, African-Americans
land to the ones mostatIected
by the ial and religi us ripples
from the movie.
CUrrent Nation of Islam leader
Louis Farrakhan believes that the
movie may be part of the
governmeru's work to destroy
him. He has said that the trategy
is to turn Black youth against the
Nation through the movie.
Fanakhan said, "that roovi
����E�r��mm��-Y-
warned Spike that this is a very
rious movie and that he would
have to do it right. I id to him,
brother, li ten to evcryooetben go
in a comer and pray. Cause you
are going to be the judge of his-
. tory."
Contemporary use Qf tbe "X"
had its txiginni� in the Black
ghetto of Detroit in the 1930;
wben W.O. Farad Muhammad
founded then Nation of Islam.
Farad Muhammad's protege,
Elijah Muhammad, made the
Black Meslirrs a household name
in the 196CB and set an example of
the type of economic, self -suf
ficiency that today's Black leaders
are still making noise about.
Telling Blacks who entered
that religious discipline to drop
their "slave" last name and assume
the I tter "X" as an expression of
'a lack of identity with the
American system, Elijah
Muhammad led the group to ul
timate uccess in the American
system of capitalism. '
BlACKS UNDER 30 don't
know the power of Elijah
Muhammad, that he drew from .
Marcus Garvey, and that Mal
colm X and Louis Farrakhandrew
from him.
It remains to be screened as to
whether Spike illustrates that a
major reason Malcolm Little
joined the Nation was because he
believed in the reasons that they
developed collective enterprises
such as department stores,
bakeries and restaurants.
Because of his pride in the Na
tion, Farrakhan has reason to
wonder if this money-making
movie will show today's Black
youth tlat a dedicated group of
theirownkindownedoverlO,(XXJ
acres on Nation-owned farms in
Michigan, Alabama and Georgia
As Lee depicts Malcolm, aoo
tbe Nation, will he show that trey
funded their own education sys
terns and owned planes and trucks
to transport to their members tom
of meat, eggs, milk, and grain sup- ,
plies that they produced each
week?
Economic power was one of
Malcolm's prime tenets in life.
Evidently, thi type of power is
also among Spike's primary con
cerns. Will Lee's "X" lead Blacks
toward the type of growth ex
pcrienccJ by the man who died as
EI Hajj Malik Shabazz? Or will
it, and the iated merchandis
ing. a ut little or nothing but
ymbo ?
your finances
Many churches are offering
members a variety of support
groups, programs and seminars to
help them cope in this complex
society. One topic that is becoming
popular in these recessionary times
is personal finance. Churches
around the country are teaching
biblically based principles of money
management.
The bible has hundreds of verses
that deal with handling money. Sub
jects. covered include debt, invest
ing, budgets, insurance, charitable
giving and teaching children wise
money management skills.
Many people are turning to the
scriptures out of frustration from
seeing their own finances impacted
during these troubled times. They
are looking for sound advice that is
divinely inspired.
, Dealing with Debt
Are there biblical guidelines for
people who are struggling with
debt? There are many warnings
.about the misuse of debt. The bible
never mentions that it i wrong or
sinful to use debt, but cautions that
debt is a kind of slavery and that if
you are overextended without a
means for repayment, this can mean
the loss of your possessions, and
more importantly, the loss of your
reputation. But one clear direction is
given: if you borrow money - 'it must
be repaid. The biblical financial ad
vice shared is that bankruptcy is not
an alternative to working out a plan
with your creditors.
Inve ting
Saving and investing is an area of
much concern for many people.
There is, of course, the biblical en
couragement to save money on a
regular basis, but there is also a
recommended amount we should
save - 20 percent! This is revealed
in the book of Genesis.
One basic advice from scripture
deals with diversification preading
your money among different types
of investments because you never
know which investment will prove
profitable. The bible also warns
again t Inve ting in speculative, get
rich-quick schemes and that it's
wiser to put your money in invest
ments you are familiar with.
Charitable giving
Giving to the poor - what does
the bible say? You probably remem
ber from Sunday School the verse,
"It is better to give than to receive."
In the biblical sense, giving i recog
nized as an admission that there is a
, higher authority that governs the
universe. Giving to support the
work of the church and those who
are less fortunate is an acknow
ledgement of that divine influence.
. In addition, when we give, we in
turn receive a blessing equal to or
greater than our gift. Stewardship
over our finances is a constant
theme in the Bible, and a closer ex
amination will unfold principles
that you can apply to your financial
life today,
In uranee
Is insurance bible-based? In
surance deals with restitution,
which literally means" to restore."
In the area of finances this normally
refers to replacing a material pos
session. In the books' of Exodus,
Leviticus and Deuteronomy there
are verses that deal with things as
diverse as payment for theft to your
responsibility for borrowed goods.
But there also is the subject of leav
ing an [nherltance for your
children. This is dealt with in the
book of Proverbs.
Not only does the bible advise
that we leave money to our
children, but it goes further to
imply that some of the inheritance
should be given while the parent is
still alive in order to teach the
children how to manage it.
Send questions to : YOUR PER·
SONAL�NANCE, P. O. BOX
370606, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
30037.
Charles Ross is the host of t�
nationally syndicated radio pro
gram "Your Personal Finance" and
author ofT� Best of Your Personal
Finance.
PGA tour seek
minority interns
MCLFAN, VA.-The PGA Tour is
currently seeking applicants for its
1993 Minority Internship Program.
A total of 18 paid intermhi� will
be available from June 7 through
Augllit 6, 1993, for qualified male
and female college students of
African-American, Asian American,
Native American and. Hispanic de
scent
Ten of the Imerrships will be
based in or around PGA Tour Head
quarters in Pointe Vedra, Fla. Two
internships have been established
with the Tour's Promonors area, and
will involve traveling the Tour week
to-week. The remainingsixpositiolB
are based in La; Angeles; San Fran-
sico; Chicago; Trumbull, Conn.;
Wmter Haven, Fla.; and Princeton,
NJ.
Internship positions are in areas
ranging from communications arx1
journalism, to data processing. course
design aOO tournament promotiom.
Qualifying criteria for � inter
rshlps vary, but in general the pro
gram is seeking college students with
an interest in golf and a elid
academic history.
, Parties interested in receiving an
application should write to the atten
tion of Caron Byrd at: Stringer
Marketing Group, 8251 Greensboro
Drive, Suite 1150, McI...ean, Va.
22102.
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