Pag 2- Mr.PrysFrePesJne91,20 New Career Guide "More Than Entertainers" Aims to Inspire Black Youth With the US Department of La- bor forecasting future labor short- ages in high-wage jobs in the mil- lions, author Charles B. Schooler wants black youth to understand that pursuing education/highly spe- cialized skills can lead them to prosperity. "For our own economic survival, Blacks must now make the same great migration to the classroom that we once made from Southern crops to Northern factories. Today, too many Blacks place all their energies into pursuing long-shot dreams of being entertainment su- perstars, and when those dreams don't materialize they have nothing to fall back on," explains the au- thor. Importantly, the author believes black youth must first be sold on the value of education. According to Schooler, "simply pointing fin- gers and shouting 'get an education' won't work." More Than Entertainers exposes black youth to a variety of career opportunities by featuring 35 black 1- Ii male and female professionals from across the country, who share their personal insight and offer words of encouragement. (The vast majority of the participants are black males under the age of 35 years old). Educational requirements, potential employers, and expected pay are detailed for each career path. Entre- preneurial avenues are also high- lighted, and professional career organizations' web sites are listed V--r What we need is to get private enterprise into the ghetto, and put the people of the ghetto into private enterprise -- not only as workers, but as managers and owners. Then they will have the freedom of choice they do not have today; then the economic iron curtain which sur- rounds the black ghettoes of the country will finally be breached. What most of the militants are ask- ing is to have a share of the wealth and a piece of the action. Richard M. Nixon, April 25, 1968. The unmasking of former FBI official W. Mark Felt as "Deep Throat" has given African Ameri- cans an example of what a con- cerned president and public policy can do to change lives and destines. Although swayed by Establishment media and pundits, many among today's blacks middle-class view Richard"N i\on as "a "iook" instead of being the reason of their exis- tence. The man "Deep Throat" outed. Most blacks who've reached middle-class positions and incomes, over the past 40 years hardly realize Richard Nixon as "the Father of Black Capitalism and Affirmative Action" or his effect on the post- civil rights years and development of the black middle-class. Nixon's legacy remains the rea- son for the African American mid- dle class. Because of Nixon's ac- tions it is larger than ever and the fastest growing segment among blacks the black middle class quadrupled in size since 1965. Since 1967 median household in- come for blacks increased by nearly 47 percent; seven percent of black households have incomes of $75,000 to $99,999, increasing four- fold between 1967 and 2003; and today's core of black women consti- tute ten percent of all female profes- sionals, technical workers, and man- agers compared to nearly zero 40 years ago. History shows that with Nixon's exit from the political stage, the chapter. closed on using public pol- icy to help the economic status of blacks. Now, instead of pursuing our interests through changes in public policy, African Americans have fell prey to partisan politics. Richard Nixon received 32 percent of the black vote in 1960 and no Republican presidential candidate has gotten above 20 percent since. Unlike today's Republican, or De- mocrat office-holders, Nixon used public policy to break down the barriers of racism and economic injustice and proved to be key to black-owned businesses and profes- sional class growth. Nixon's execu- tive order was the first presidential articulation that the economic main- stream should not be the exclusive province of white men. Nixon illustrates a political exam- ple African American voters should keep in mind: when there is a strong presidential commitment and lead- ership, blacks can make gains. Be- tween 1969 and 1974, President Nixon extended Black Americans more of a helping hand than any president. He laid the foundation for a black middle-class by unprece- dented actions such as: raising civil rights enforcement budgets; dou- bling budgets for black colleges; appointing more blacks to high fed- eral positions than any president before him; initiating the first af- firmative action programs of ap- prenticeships in union jobs in the Philadelphia Plan mandating quotas, and for black scholars in colleges and universities; inventing "Black Capitalism" through formation of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise (OMBE) and raising U.S. purchases from black businesses (from $9 million to $153 million) and increasing small business loans to minorities 1,000 percent and in- creasing U.S. deposits in minority- owned banks 4,000 percent. Nixon's actions bred thousands of successful black entrepreneurs and hundreds of thousands of black pro- fessionals. An economic survey in 1981 showed: 45 of the top 100 Latino businesses were formed be- tween 1969 and 1976; and 56 of the top 100 black firms of the period. In 1985, one thousand black busi- nessmen entrepreneurs, such as Earl Graves of Black Enterprise maga- magazine, gave a testimonial dinner to honor Nixon for estab- lishing the OMBE (now the Mi- nority Business Development America is in the third- generation of a black middle-class because President Nixon defended the use of numerical goals in de- segregating 1960s and 70s build- ing trades and industry. "Crook," or not, Nixon should be remem- bered for supporting civil rights for blacks and equal rights for women. to foster mentoring. Simply, More Than Entertainers intends to open the possibilities for black youth. "As Americans, black youth can be whatever they what to be, but they first need to see people like themselves in diverse roles," says the author. The book also makes an appeal to Black adults to stack the odds of success in Black youths favor through the 'Clear the Path to Suc- cess Manifesto.' The manifesto is an analysis of the preventable and removable roadblocks, which pre- vent many Black youth from be- coming successful. Solutions are also discussed in great detail.. More Than Entertainers is also positioned to be a fundraising prod- uct for local churches and profes- sional/community-based organiza- tions. The website, blackcareerbook.com, serves as the primary distribution point for the book and provides useful information for Black adults wanting to ensure their children become successful. Q: We currently have ap- proximately $30,000 of out- standing credit card debt on seven cards. We have not made payments and all these and they are currently in col- lections. This has occurred as a result of a career change that was unforeseen three years ago. We currently could afford in our budget approxi- mately $400 per month al- though this does not cover near what the collection agen- cies desire. Are we ready for It's been almost three years now since Clyde Beasley was released from prison. He had just served 11 years for dealing drugs in LA. How- ever, his release doesn't seem that long ago to him because he's been very busy turning his life around and building his empire that he calls Beasley Creations. Beasley Creations is a billiard de- sign firm based in Los Angeles that produces innovative game tables. Their games tables allow players to combine the experience of pocket billiards with the all new sport of table golf. Not only are they the in- ventors of table golf, but they own all the patents for it. The June 2005 issue of Black En- terprise Magazine (page 68) recently recognized Clyde Beasley and his company for their ability to combine such fun with innovation. They were also commended for obtaining the appropriate patent protection to safe- guard their million dollar idea. One of their game tables, The Original Tee & Cue, was a finalist bankruptcy/ It is my desire to pay although at this time in my life path, I honestly do not have it. A: Let's be perfectly detached and frank, your creditors don't care about you or your life. All they care about is that agreement that you signed that said you would pay X dollars per month on the money they lent you. Your creditors could care less if you file or not. Threaten- ing them with bankruptcy does nothing. You are only a number on their screen. All creditors have a process in this year for the SGMA 2005 Sports Product of the Year Award. The game table also received exclu- sive recognition at the PGA Expo in Orlando, and at the Billiard Congress of America Expo in Las Ve- gas. In addition, the game table is regularly featured as a bidding prize on the hit TV game show "The Price Is Right". To move things along even more, Beasley Crea- tions recently tapped 23 year-old entrepreneur L Dante Lee, who is now an investor and partner in the company, to help the company to formulate corporate relationships with interested major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and Dick's Sporting Goods. "If all goes well," comments Beasley. "We should have our prod- ucts in these major stores by Christ- mas." % hat'l our klorida Ilomr \ %rth' \ccuralrlI Prkiing our I'rtpj-rlt J4 "Copyrighted Material Syndicated Content Available from Commercial News Providers" Small business is BIG at the Chamber. The Chamber's Small Business Center (SBC) provides comprehen- sive support, training and assistance to Jacksonville's small business com- munity including: Business Workshops Core City Business Recruitment Doing Business with the Government Business Research Facilities Access to Capital Benefiting thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners each year, the SBC boasts a notable track record. This year the SBC helped: 3,377 individuals attend counseling sessions 2,694 individuals attend workshops create 161 jobs 70 business gain certification assist with $1 I million in government contracts assist with $5 million in access to capital To learn more about the Small Business Center or to schedule an appointment, call (904) 924-1100. Chamber of Commerce Ducote Federal Credit Union Jacksonvlle's Oldest African-American Credit niona, Carteread1938 Current and Retired i I Duval County School -' Employees, and Family Members .- Are Eligible to Join 9"l jt" i I New & Used Auto Loans Personal Loans Consolidation Loans Draft/Checking Savings Payroll Deduction Direct Deposit I 2212 N. Myrtle Avenue Jacksonville, FL 32209 Phone 19041354-0874 Black Enterprise Recognizes Former Inmate Now Entrepreneur What Did Richard Nixon Have To Do With Today's Black Middle Class Page: 2 Mrs. Perry's Free Press June 9-15, 2005 Clyde Beasley As mentioned in the BE article, Beasley Creations only generated about $75,000 in revenue in 2004. However, significantly higher reve- nue is expected by the end of 2005. For more information about Beasley Creations, interested ones should call (866) GAME-TABLES or visit www.tablegolf.com. place to deal with non-payers. It starts with gentle collections, harder collections, possibly outside collec- tions, threats of legal action, possi- ble lawsuit and then once the debt charges off it will most likely be sold and the collection process may begin again. There is nothing that says you have to file. You can absolutely attempt to repay them what you can with what you've got. If you do this just realize that you are doing this to honor your original promise, not to protect your credit report.