Newspaper Page Text
2A
January 12, 2006
\ational World
King Center sold to the Federal Government?
ByDAVID STOKES
Special to the NNPA
ATLANTA (NNPA)
-As the nation prepares
to celebrate the birthday
of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. this week, new
leadership and a more
prominent role by a fed
eral agency has taken
place toward “the living
institution and memorial
to promote (King’s)
ideals of nonviolence.”
In late Seprember,
King's nephew, lsaac N.
Farris, assumed leader
ship ot The King Center
as president and chief
exccutive officer follow
ing a board of directors
election. Farris succeed
ed Martin Luther King
'
Police: MLK nephew
set fie to own apartment
. t S ]
in apparent suicide
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)
Authorities say a nephew ot
slain civil righes leader Mar
tin Luther King Jr. set fire to
his own apartment in an
apparent suicide attempt.
Derek King, 46, sought
mental health counseling
atter Tuesdav’s blaze, said
Bob Bowser, deputy chiet of
the Lawrence Police
Department.
Bowser said Derek King
endangered the lives of him
selt and others when he
allegedly set the fire in his
apartment, and then refused
to leave when rescuers
arrived.
“It could have been a
tragedy,” Bowser said.
Arson investigators deter
mined that the fire was
intentionally set, and Bows
er said King could face
charges.
King, associate pastor at
Ebenezer Missionary Bap
tist Church, declined com
ment to The Indianapolis
Star when reached Friday.
There is no published tele
phone listing for him in the
Indianapolis area.
Rev. Thomas L. Brown,
pastor at Ebenezer Mission
ary, said he believed the fire
was an accident and the
alleged suicide attempt a
misunderstanding.
“l say it's totaliy acciden
tal,” Brown said.
Super Bowl Blackout
By BANKOLE THOMPSOM
Special to the NNPA
DETROIT (NNPA) -
Detroit will host the 2006
Super Bowl in February, draw
ing thousands of visitors and
criébritim will be in town.
A profit-making event, the
Super Bowl, organized by the
National Football League
(NFL) awards millions (fiol—
lars in contracts to render serv
ices during the week of the
football event. But many black
business owners in Detroit say
the Super Bowl host commit
tee, which is the offidal liaison
between the NFL and metro
Detroit, has yet to give African
American businesses significant
contracts.
The committee launched the
Emerging Business program as
part of its overall contract with
the NFL to teach new entrepre
neurs how to get contracts.
On its website, the Super Bowl
host committee described the
3rd, the eldest son of the
civil rights leader and
Coretta Scorr King.
Additionally, according
to sources familiar with
the scenario, King Cen
ter directors moved to
choose the ftederal gov
ernment to take over the
property and general
maintenance and upkeep
of the 449 Auburn
Avenue location, to take
effect early next year,
atter revelations were
discovered last year of
ongoing financial strug
gles endured to sustain
the 30-year-old edifice
with regular city and
state code regulations.
“We've been talking
about it for a long time,”
Black Enterprise founder Earl Graves passes mantle to Son
By MEMA AYI
Special to the NNPA
CHICAGO (NNPA)
Black FEnterprise tounder Ead
G. Graves QI; who has always
used the pages of his magazine
to prt;icil sound succession
plans tor black-owned compa
nies, followed his own advice
recendy when he named one
ot his sons CEO of the media
company.
Ead G. "Butch” Graves Jr.,
who was previoudy president
ot the nanons premiere black
business magazine, assumes the
position immediately.
Graves St, 70, will remain
chairman and publisher of Ead
G. Graves Lid., the media
company that publishes the
magazine.
’Jfiie elder Graves said that it
was Butchs leadership and ini
uative that led the company’s
revenues to triple since he
joined the company in 1988 to
a projeaed S})() million this
year. 'i(imr is largely due to a
dramatic increase in circulation
from 200,000 to 500,000, in
vart to an intense editoral
iocus on wealth building and
homeownership.
Graves Sr. also aredits his son
with expanding the company
beyond its beginnings as a sin
gle-tide publishing company,
which now indud}evs radio and
TV programs; a website; a pni
vate equity firm, Black Enter
prisel Greenwich Street Corpo
rate Growth Partners, which
primarily invests in established,
minority-owned businesses.
But Butch Graves said his rise
to the top was not a given.
“My father was not going to
business program as “a business
rrocummem process benefiting
ocal emerging businesses
including minority and
women-owned businesses in
the State of Michigan.”
Some local black businesses
daim it is a charade.
“They tlk a good game. |
dont see how any oquus are
making money,” said Valena
Cade, owner of Big Fellows
restaurant. Cade said she bid
on four different catering con
tracts for the Super Bowl but
did not win one.
“The only one that | received
for a possible confirmation was
for ag))ut $4,000,” Cade said.
“When | dio‘:fit;about it, that
is No money I have to pay
my staff. | called them badk and
toi;i them | was not interested.”
She said it was an “insult,” for
her to be given a Super Bowl
cntraa with such IIE;:N mar
gins. According to Cade, she
would make an§ 1,000 profit.
Cade said she is competent
indicated former U.N.
Ambassador Andrew
Young, a King Center
director who labored
with Dr. King during the
1960 s civil rights move
ment.
“While the Nartional
Park Service will take
care of maintenance
costs and the property,
the board and the family
will continue to control
the center’'s programs
and missions.” He said
the deal is comparable to
the government main
taining Adlanta’'s Carter
Center and the John E
Kennedy Presidential
Library in Boston.
Young, now 73 and
chairman ot Goodworks
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b
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Vs
Earl G. Graves Sr.
let me take over the business
just because T was his son,” said
the younger Graves, who also
works alongside siblings John
and Michael. .
When Graves Sr. launched
Black Enterprise in 1970, it was
on the li(rl{?ot’(ix- Civil Rights
Movement, and the tormer
aide to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy
was convinced that there was a
need among black business
professionals and entrepreneurs
to have access to stories about
black economics.
“I could see things were start
ing to happen. Opportunities
were rampant,” Graves Sr. said.
The opportunities are still alive
today, and the need for a mag
azine to chronide the achieve
ments of Black Entrepreneurs is
sull evident. With that in mind,
Graves Sr. was adamant about
the magazine survive beyond
him, .mii not be sold or \plil up
among family members.
“Then 20 years of hard work
goes down the drain in a couple
contractor. In the past, she pro
vided similar food service for
events such as the Tastefest, Jazz
festival and other Detroit sum
mer activities. “I'm capable of
doing large contracts,” Cade
said. “I an feed thousands of
heople.
: \}i:i:bly upset, Cade said, “I
dont need any part of the Super
IBowlf She .saiéi she invested a
ot of time and energy prepar
ing RFPs [chllcstef%i l[’r'(fgos—
alf\o bid for contracts that she
did not get.
“You spend hours making
these proposals and dont see
the money,” Cade said.
Like Cade, Carolyn Hopkins
owner of a therapeutic massage
center, Be Spamgitc. also said
she submitted her credentials
for contracts but to no avail.
Hopkins was later informed
that NFL [L)lg:'\ would be fly
ing in wi if OWN Massage
therapists instead of using local
businesses to perform spa serv-
Sec Blackout, page 9A
AUGUSTA FOCUS
International, was an
executive director of the
Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
(SCLC) during King's
reign as founding presi
dent. SCLC was founded
by King, Rev. Ralph
David Abernathy, Rev.
Joseph E. Lowery and
other clergy in 1957,
Local National Park Ser
vice (NPS) or Depart
ment of Interior officials
were not immediately
available for comment.
The agreement, never
theless, will have The
King Center’s property
deeded to the U.S. gov
= ‘Su' Kil"lg, page 8A
of months,” Graves Sr. said.
Butch Graves, named CEO on
his 44th birthday last Thursday,
said the next generaton of
Graves at the company will
mean continuing to develop
innovative ways to keep the
content relevant to users of its
media holdings.
“People have less and less
tume to digest media in the
- way,” said Butch, a
graduate of Yale University,
who played briefly for the
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Established In 1968 by Coretta Scott Martin Luther King, The Mar
tin Luther King Center is the officlal, living memorial dedicated to
the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther Martin Luther
King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for
Justice, equality and peace.
Cleveland Cavaliers after being
drafted in the third round by
the Philadelphia 76'ers in
1984. He later earned his MBA
trom Harvard Business School.
“The biggest challenge for
me as we go into the next gen
eration is figuring out how peo
ple are going 1o digest media
and deciding what type of
media company we're going to
become.”
Graves St. said his sons great
ot challenge as he takes the
reins at the company will be
to combat racism that’s in a
different form then when
he started.
“Racism is greater today
than in 1970 in (my
fathers) view,” explained
Butch. “Racism today is
much more insidious and
institutionalized. When it’s
subliminal, its hard to fig
ure out who's your friend
and who's your foe.”