6A
The economic
philosophy of
Malcolm-X
CHARLES ROSS
Your
Personal
Finance
The release of the movie
Malcolm X a few years ago
has created a renewed and
continuing interest in the
charismatic leader. After
Malcolm X split with the
Nation of Islam, he began for
mulating a philosophy that
embraced black nationalism.
This ideology translated
means self-respect or personal
pride.
A major part of his black
nationalism was economics.
Pure and simple, Malcolm X
felt that blacks should control
the economy of their commu
nities. Blacks should own the
banks, stores and homes.
His economic philosophy
embraced a re-education pro
gram in the black community.
A program that would teach
that as long as blacks spend
money outside the communi
ties they live in, the communi
ty where you spend the money
will get richer and richer and
your community will get poor
er and poorer.
Self-reliance
The economic philosophy of
Malcolm X was a simple one.
He felt that blacks should
take care of their own. By
owning and operating busi
nesses in their communities
blacks would create job oppor
tunities and would not have to
boycott, picket nor beg for
jobs.
In addition, he thought
every church, civic organiza
tion and fraternal order
should help by teaching and
encouraging entrepreneur-
ship. Malcolm even went so
far as to say that if blacks
weren’r going to be allowed
out of the ghettos, they ought
to run them.
Malcolm X's message about
self-reliance and entrepre
neurship is as relevant today
as it was almost 30 years ago.
People gain freedom by con
trolling their destinies, and in
order to control their des
tinies, they must control their
community. In order to con
trol, you need power, and in
America, money is power.
Malcolm X was a man of
vision and of courage.
• • •
Getting the lowest hotel
rate
If you're planning to travel
domestically or overseas, it's a
good idea to make inquiries
about hotel rates directly to
the hotel. Many hotel chains
offer toll free numbers where
you can check rates and room
availability for any of their
locations. But if you call a
hotel chain's 1-800 number
you often don't get informa
tion on the sales or special
rates being offered by the
chain's hotel in specific cities.
As it is with air fare rates,
timing is an important factor
in getting the lowest hotel
rate. A survey by the
Consumer Reports Travel
See HOTEL page 7A
Cliarlotte ^osit
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1996
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Selling The Dream
Martin Luther
King family to
license civil rights
leader's image
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A tlanta - After
zealously guard
ing Martin
Luther King Jr.'s
name and image
for years, the
slain civil rights
leader's family says it will
approve the licensing of mer
chandise bearing King's words
and image.
The change stems from an
explosion of King merchandise
sold without the family's
approval, said King's youngest
son, Dexter Scott King.
“We have a legal right to
protect what is ours, but
whether it's morally right,
some people would question,"
King said. “I think it's both."
King is chief executive of
the Estate of Martin Luther
King Jr., a corporation estab
lished by King's heirs in 1993.
He also serves as president,
chairman and chief executive
officer of the Martin Luther
King Jr. Center for Nonviolent
Social Change.
“All of this was born out of
reaction," King said.
The Rev. C.T. 'Vivian, who
was an adviser to the civil
rights leader, supports the
family's change of heart.
“If there is money to be
APAVIDE WORLD PHOTOS
Images of Martin Luther King Jr., seen here shortiy before he was assassinated on Aprii 4,1968, wiil soon be iicensed, according to
famiiy members.
made, some of it should go to
his family," 'Vivian said.
“Martin could have quit and
made millions in corporate
America or he could have
traveled, giving speeches. But
he gave his life to the move
ment."
“There are millions of people
- black and white - reaping
the rewards of Martin's work,"
he said. “There is no reason
why his family shouldn't live
comfortably."
The estate has already
authorized a line of figurines
depicting King's life, a limited
edition statuette and a line of
personal checks.
Other products being devel
oped include Olympic pins and
CDs that, for the first time,
will feature many of King's
speeches. A motion picture on
King's life and an annual tele
vision awards program are in
the works.
Phillip Jones, president and
CEO of Intellectual Properties
Management, which oversees
the King Estate, said more
than a thousand inquiries
pour in each month for King-
related products.
“You go into a bookstore and
you have a hard time finding
speeches, books, sermons writ
ten by Dr. ICing," Jones said.
“What we're doing is packag
ing all of this. We want to
make sure that his legacy is
available to the public."
King, the Baptist minister
who helped lead the fight for
civil rights in the 1960s, was
assassinated on April 4, 1968,
in Memphis, Tenn.
Charles E. Jones, chairman
of the African American
Studies Department at
Georgia State University,
questioned the marketing of a
civil rights icon.
“You run the risk of turning
King into a commodity," he
said. “You run the risk of the
message being lost to the
product. King was not the
only leader in the civil rights
movement, but he symbolized
that movement. The mass
selling of King would cheapen
what he stood for."
Black ad firm tries to expand beyond niche
By Herbert G. McCann
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — The theme is
familiar: “Have you had your
break today?" But the voice
repeating the refrain has a
Caribbean lilt, and as it
speaks the camera pans an
African art scene.
The television advertisement
for fast-food giant McDonald's
Corp. is known in the business
as a “specialty ad," targeting
the $300 billion African
American consumer market.
It's been a lucrative niche for
the ad's creator, Thomas
Burrell, and his Burrell
Communications Group,
which has grown in 25 years
from a 100-square-foot office
to a 110-person advertising
agency with 1995 ^billings of
$90 million and a client list
that includes Coca-Cola, Kraft
Foods Inc., Proctor & Gamble
and Quaker Oats.
Now, Burrell is trying to
move beyond that niche and
create advertising campaigns
for the general market. That
move reflects a question fac
ing Burrell and other ad agen
cies like his: Does advertising
targeted to minorities still
make business sense?
Some experts say companies
are beginning to turn away
from specialty advertising.
“They have found that the
business (justification) is not
compelling," said Bobby
Calder, a professor of market
ing at the Kellogg School of
Management at Northwestern
University.
That is a view disputed by
Rosalind Arnstein of
Advertising Research
Foundation in New York. “A
lot of the larger ad agencies
are forming separate, smaller
agencies for the ethnic market
- Asian, Hispanic as well as
black," she said.
Burrell's effort to scale the
walls of the advertising indus
try - a largely white profes
sion - has its roots in the civil
rights movement. With voting
rights and equal opportunity
came the awareness that
blacks brushed their teeth,
had underarm odor and at
times needed an antacid after
a meal.
Census figures indicate
blacks represent a $300 billion
consumer market, leading
companies such as Revlon to l
market a line of cosmetics and i
Sara Lee's L'eggs division to
promote panty hose for
women of color. And it led to i
companies like Ford and
General Motors, Proctor &
Gamble and Lever Brothers,
Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola to
gear their advertising to
blacks by using black pitch
men.
And to make sure they got it
See ADVERTISING page 7A
Group trying to make on-line credit card purchases
HiTEW YORK --
led by Visa International and
MasterCard International are
teaming up to find a way to
make Internet credit card pur
chases safe from cybor-
thieves, according to pub
lished reports.
The new technology, called
Secure Electronic
Transactions, was unveiled
last week and should be
available by year's end, The
New York Times and Wall
Street Journal reported.
A call for comment from
MasterCard waanto; returned.
OtTwial.-. at Visa could not be
reached for comment after
business hours.
According to the newspa
pers, the system wotild allow a
user to send credit card
account numbers to a mer
chant in a scrambled form
that would be indecipherable
to electronic thieves.
A .special code would allow a
merchant to check electroni
cally with the bank issuing
the card to make sure it is
valid and the ciiatomer i.s the
authorized user.
Demand to buy on the
Internet has been growing as
more people become accus
tomed to the global computer
network.
But few people think it's safe
to put credit card numbers on
the Internet, mostly out of
fear that a third party wiil
intercept them.
Visa and MasterCard
announced last June they
would work together to devel
op one anti-theft system for
credit-card companies to i
Communications Corp. have
worked on such a system.
Now those companies, along
with IBM, GTE Corp. and oth
ers will pool thoir research
together to develop one stan
dard, the Times and Journal
said.
Visa has been aligned with
Microsoft Corp. in tackling
Internet security, while
MasterCard and Netscape
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
CRAIG MICHAEL SIPLIN
Multimedia Specialist
Keep The Faith
Matthew 7:7
Cl
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ecause you can not physically reach all of the people
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