Author, music executive and entrepreneur Steve Stoute.

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Renita D. Young speaks with music executive, entrepreneur, brand expert and author Steve Stoute, CEO and Founder of Translation, a full service, transcultural advertising agency. Stoute has been recognized by Black Enterprise as one of the Top Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Stoute is also the author of The Tanning of America: How Hip Hop Created A Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy (Gotham).

Stoute, a New York City native, has long enjoyed success as music industry executive and tastemaker, beginning his career with Sony Music Entertainment, where he served as president of urban music. His work ethic drove him up the ranks to become executive vice president of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, where he guided the careers of such top hip-hop artists as Nas and Eminem.

Today, Stoute leads Translation, serving a client roster that includes such major brands as McDonald’s, State Farm, Target, Estee Lauder and even Lady Gaga. He also serves a chairman and lead investor of the Carol’s Daughter, the popular natural beauty line founded by Lisa Price. Stoute has been recognized with numerous awards, including AdColor’s Innovator of the Year and induction into the Advertising Hall of Achievement by the American Advertising Foundation. He joins the Roundtable to share the motivators that pushed him to a career of achievement and innovation.

Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with international educator, speaker and entrepreneur Liz Ngonzi, the founder of Amazing Taste, LLC, a consulting firm that connects non-profit organizations with corporations and foundations. Among the clients served by Amazing Taste are The Boys and Girls Clubs of New Jersey and Susan G. Komen for The Cure. Ngonzi joins the Roundtable to share tips on how to make your nonprofit venture a profitable operation in order to successfully serve its mission.

In addition, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I talk about a great new resource for entrepreneurs and executives who want to learn from the best examples when it comes to developing and effectively using an influential brand: the new Decoded section at BlackEnterprise.com. Decoded takes iconic brands, ranging from Bill Cosby and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to LL Cool J and the Super Bowl, and breaks down their impact on both the economy and the society as a whole. This section is a must for those business owners looking to inject some innovation and influence in to both their personal and company branding efforts.

And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

Urban Lending Solutions CEO Charles Sanders (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Renita D. Young speaks with Charles S. Sanders, the founder and CEO of Urban Lending Solutions, about the keys to building a successful business. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, banking industry business services company earned revenues of $127 million in 2010 to land at No. 28 on the Black Enterprise 100s list of the nation’s largest Black-owned industrial/service companies.

Sanders went from being a running back with his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers to starting his own company when he founded Urban Settlement Services in 1999. Today, the company, now known as Urban Lending Solutions (ULS), is one the most highly-rated privately held vendor management companies and a certified minority business enterprise providing real estate information products to the mortgage industry.

Under Sanders’ leadership, during the past decade, ULS has seen exceptional growth, becoming a Tier 1 vendor for the nation’s top lenders and earning recognition as a Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council. Sanders joins the Roundtable to share the challenges and triumphs of building a successful business.

Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with Kevin Grimes, CEO of CFO Leasing, an Atlanta-based consulting firm that specializes in federal contracting. CFO Leasing has helped companies secure more than $500 million in contracts. Grimes, takes a seat at the Roundtable to offer tips on how entrepreneurs can actively and successfully pursue federal contracts.

In addition, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I talk about the four key areas that every entrepreneur must focus on when it comes to their company’s technology, according to Black Enterprise Multimedia Content Producer Marcia Wade Talbert: social media, security, storage and mobility. Talbert, in her role as editor of the Tech section of Black Enterprise magazine, covers these issues monthly. In addition, a great new resource is the new Technology section at BlackEnterprise.com, that provides entrepreneurs with the tips, tools and strategies they’ll need to use technology to drive revenues, serve customers and grow their businesses.

And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

Hightowers Petroleum Co. CEO Stephen L. Hightower (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Renita D. Young speaks with Stephen L. Hightower, the founder and CEO of Hightowers Petroleum Co. Based in Franklin, Ohio, the petroleum products distribution company earned revenues of $157 million in 2010 to land at No. 25 on the Black Enterprise 100s list of the nation’s largest Black-owned industrial/service companies.

Hightowers Petroleum, the second largest minority-owned company in the Cincinnati area, is a full-service, licensed motor fuel dealer which transports fuel, gasoline and other petroleum-related products to clients, including General Motors and Delta Airlines, nationwide. The company has been recognized as a 2010 Regional Minority Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council. Hightower joins the Roundtable to share how he launched his company and the growth strategies he used to build it into a regional powerhouse.

Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with Diversity City Media CEO Dante Lee, author of Black Business Secrets: 500 Tips, Strategies and Resources for the African American Entrepreneur (SmileyBooks). Diversity City Media’s clients include Nationwide Insurance, McDonalds, BET and NASCAR. Lee, a 2006 Black Enterprise Small Business Awards finalist, takes a seat at the Roundtable to deliver hard truth about the entrepreneurial path for African Americans, along with growth strategies to ensure a successful journey.

Diversity Media CEO Dante Lee (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

In addition, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I ask a key question of entrepreneurs who intend to grow their businesses in 2012: How healthy are you? Are you thriving, or just surviving from day to day?  Let’s face it: You’re business won’t be healthy enough to grow if your own health and fitness is at risk. For more tough questions for entrepreneurs, check out “5 Questions to Ask Yourself as You Grow Your Business in 2012″ by Felicia Joy.

And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

R&B singer Karyn White, CEO of Karyn White Enterprises (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, the focus is on inspiration and information from notable women entrepreneurs. First, UBR Contributor Renita D. Young speaks with Grammy Award nominated entertainer and entrepreneur Karyn White. A native of Los Angeles, White establish herself as an R&B music star in the late 1980s and early ’90s, with a string of hits including “Secret Rendezvous,” “The Way You Love Me,” and her unforgettable “Superwoman.” She later ventured into entrepreneurship, creating a real estate and interior design company, Karyn White Designs, in Sacramento, California. Today, White is also founder and CEO of Karyn White Enterprises, a multi-media lifestyle company focused on music, television, publishing and design.

Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with Sylvia Wynn, co-founder and president of market research consulting company SJW Enterprises, about the importance of choosing a name for your business that will last and embody the values and distinguishing characteristics of your brand. Prior to launching her own company, Wynn established herself as brand maven as vice president of marketing and sales for Johnson Products Co., in addition stints at Gillette, Lever Brothers and Avon. In addition, Wynn has served as an adviser to Chicago’s Women’s Business Development Center.

Sylvia Wynn of SJW Enterprises (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

In addition, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I share some important tips for entrepreneurs who want to get a leg up on the competition when participating in elevator pitch contests, such as the Black Enterprise Elevator Pitch Competition, the finals of which will be held at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference in Chicago this May. First, you need to be able to deliver your explain your business model in less than 60 seconds. That means clearly explaining what product or service you’re bringing to market, who you’re selling it to, at what price and profit margin. If you get that right, you’ll buy time to share more. If you don’t, you may not get a second chance. Second, practice your live pitch so that you can deliver it based on what you know, not what you can memorize. Get friends or colleagues to drill you about your business until you can answer their questions in a relaxed and confident fashion without getting flustered. When pitching your idea, stage fright is not an option.

And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

The production featured a literal who’s who of great American actors, including a now legendary cast of African Americans such as Louis Gossett Jr., John Amos, Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson and Leslie Uggams, not to mention the unforgettable debut of Burton as Kunte Kinte, captured in Gambia and sold into the American slave trade in 1765 at the age of 15. With a score composed by Quincy Jones and Gerald Fried, Roots captured America’s undivided attention in a way few television shows have done before or since, garnering 36 Emmy Award nominations (winning nine), as well as Golden Globe and Peabody Awards. The finale of the Roots miniseries remains the third highest-rated U.S. television program ever. A sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, was broadcast in 1979, and a second sequel, Roots: The Gift, was produced as a Christmas movie which starred Burton and Gossett.

Fittingly, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, Oprah Winfrey will host a reunion of the cast members who played some of the most unforgettable roles in the Roots miniseries on the Oprah Winfrey Network, Monday, January 16, at 8pm EST. While the miniseries’ place in American television history is firmly established, the story of Kunte Kinte and his descendants had a far deeper and lasting significance for me, helping to determine my outlook on life, choices and values as an African American.

I was 16 years old when my mother informed me and my three younger siblings (ages 15, 13 and 9), that for the first time in our lives, not only would we be allowed to stay up past our bed time for the week (including school nights!), but that we were required to. As a young, divorced single mother struggling on public assistance to help make a dollar out of 15 cents while raising us on her own, she’d long established her word as law, to be violated at risk of our lives. (You know the type: “I brought you into this world, and I’ll… “) Mommy said we had to watch Roots. Over the ensuing eight nights, I would be mesmerized by what I saw on our television screen.

The author, at 16, a year older than Levar Burton's Kunte Kinte (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

First of all, I don’t recall ever seeing more black people on television at one time (excluding news coverage of events such as civil rights marches and racial unrest after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.) before the eight nights that Roots aired. At that point, the main way to see black people on television was by watching sitcoms such as Good Times and Sanford and Son. I still remember it being a big deal when a black person (nearly always an entertainer or athlete) was set to appear on a TV show; my mother would call all of her black friends and neighbors, who would call all of their black friends and neighbors, to ensure that the entire black community tuned in. (Back in those days, black guests performed on late night talk shows, but were almost never invited to the couch to be interviewed by the host.) Seeing all of the great actors and actresses we loved, admired and crushed on was an astonishing source of pride to black people. It’s worth noting that many of the black cast of the Roots miniseries, including Academy Award winner Gossett (Best Supporting Actor, An Officer and A Gentleman) and Academy Award nominee Tyson (Best Actress, Sounder), have gone on to establish themselves among some of the world’s greatest actors.

But the real impact of the Roots miniseries is that it sparked a hunger in me to discover who I really was as a Black American. Before Roots, I thought the African American story began at slavery. Period. In fact, my total knowledge of what it meant to be Black prior to watching Roots consisted of the following: My ancestors were slaves. President Lincoln set us free. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., with an assist from Rosa Parks, convinced white people of good will to end racial discrimination (at least against “responsible Negroes”). Dr. King was good. Malcolm X–the absolute furthest thing from a responsible Negro–was bad–very bad. And I could grow up to be anything that I wanted to be, even President of the United States of America. Except I could always tell that the people saying this to me, whether black or white, didn’t really believe it themselves. (Interestingly, my mother, who has never expressed anything but unshakeable, matter-of-fact faith in my abilities, never told me I could be the President or anything else she didn’t truly believe herself.)

So having Kunte Kinte and millions like him presented to me as evidence that the story of my ancestry and identity began long before American slavery was a powerful, even shocking, revelation to me. I immediately saw myself differently when I looked into the mirror each day. And it wasn’t just me; when I went to my high school classes each day, I could immediately tell which of my white high school classmates and teachers had also been watching Roots by the way they looked at me. It was as if they were thinking: “Now, Alfred knows. And now, I know. And he knows that I know.” I don’t recall any negativity coming out of it. (My hometown of Long Branch, N.J., had only one high school, so my public school education was very much integrated, though racial conflict was not uncommon.) But everything was unmistakably, irreversibly different. Roots provided the first opportunity for me and my black friends to take cultural pride in who we were, and for some of my white friends to have a deeper appreciation for who I was and how I felt as a black person, even if they couldn’t personally understand or identify with it. I learned that being honest about America’s painful racial history did not have to divide people against each other; in at least a few cases, it helped to increase the respect and deepen the friendships of my white peers.

The bottom line: Roots breathed credibility into the idea that I could, indeed, do and be anything I wanted to. The belief that I was inferior to absolutely no one, white or otherwise, in the eyes of God was seared into my soul by one pivotal scene, where the adult Kunte Kinte (played by Amos) raises his infant daughter Kizzy to the star-spangled heavens and loudly declares: “Behold, the only thing greater than yourself!”

Eighteen months after the Roots miniseries aired, I went away from my hometown for the first time in my life when I started college at Rutgers University, a couple of hours away in New Brunswick, N.J. The appetite for understanding and appreciating black culture and history sparked by Roots became ravenous after my discovery of the great Paul Robeson (widely considered to be Rutgers greatest alumni ever) during my freshman year. I ended up becoming a leader in the Black student movement at Rutgers and the editor-in-chief of the Black Voice/Carta Boricua, a university-wide publication of Black and Latino students. And so began my calling to a career in media as a means of championing the truth, power, beauty and potential of who we are and can choose to be as African Americans. I fell in love with the power of story telling to open eyes and change lives. And to think I owe it all to Roots. Our Roots.

If you want a suggestion from me of how you should spend the Martin Luther King Holiday, or what you should do during Black History Month, how about buying the Roots miniseries on DVD and insisting that the children in your family, church and community sit down to watch and discuss it with you. Even if they have to stay up late on a school night.

Happy 35th Anniversary to Roots. And thank you to each and every person who played a role in bringing the story of Kunte Kinte to life.

Legendary songwriter and producer Leon Huff (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Renita D. Young kicks off the first new show of 2012 with producer and record industry entrepreneur Leon Huff who, along with partner Kenneth Gamble, make up the prolific Gamble and Huff songwriting duo. Gamble and Huff pioneered the Philadelphia Sound when they formed Philadelphia International Records, leaving a lasting impression on the music industry. At it’s peak, their company rivaled Berry Gordy‘s Motown Records in the size of their company and the popularity of their music. Both were once among the nation’s largest black-owned companies.

Gamble and Huff have written over 3,000 songs, including numerous top R&B and pop hits, working with renowned artists such as Patti LaBelle, the late Teddy Pendergrass and The O’Jays, just to name a few. The duo has earned more than 300 gold and platinum records, BMI Songwriters Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, among other honors. Huff joins Young to share his insights on the music industry and how his passion for music paved the way to entrepreneurial success.

Film exec and entrepreneur Arthur Wylie (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with Hollywood executive and serial entrepreneur Arthur Wylie, author of Only The Crazy and Fearless Win Big!: The Surprising Secrets Success in Business and In Life (BenBella Books). An executive at Global Entertainment Holding’s Film Fund, Wylie also oversees his own wealth management group, specializing in helping companies through business planning.

In addition, in my first “Alfred’s Notepad” segment of the new year, I share some advice for those first-time entrepreneurs starting new businesses in 2012: Don’t become isolated. I share why it’s critical to actively network with other entrepreneurs in your city and industry by joining local business organizations, networking via social media and attending events such as the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, which will be in Chicago, May 23-26, 2012.

And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

Singer Rihanna versus Dutch publication, Jackie magazine

It all started when Jackie, a small (at least by American standards, with about 60,000 readers) Dutch fashion magazine decided to refer to Bajan singer Rihanna as a “niggabitch” in the headline of an article aimed at instructing young Dutch women on how to dress like her. The reference lit a fuse that, thanks to the magic and reach of social media, ignited a firestorm of outrage during the past week, eventually setting off the powder keg of Rihanna herself, whose angry response via Twitter concluded with an F-bomb dropped directly on the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Eva Hoeke. After initially releasing a weak non-apology—swearing no racist or malicious intent on the part of she and the writer of the article, describing it as a “joke” and asserting that the offending term is an acceptable use of American slang—Hoeke was forced to resign, ending her eight-year tenure at Jackie. Which is totally fine by me, and most sensible people in Holland, America and most of the world.

I’m only bothering to make note of this to make two points: One, the reason Hoeke deserved to lose her job is not racism, whether conscious or latent, but incompetence. Two, Jackie‘s use of a racist slur against Rihanna, a globally popular singer and performer, is just the latest evidence of the fact that racism remains one of America’s biggest exports—if only because, like an infestation of insects in a shipment of fruit, it’s part of what you get when you import American pop culture, which remains in high demand in Holland and around the world.

If Hoeke and her editorial team had just checked, using basic journalism fundamentals, she would have found that in no way would public use of the term “niggabitch” be received as a joke by Rihanna or any other Black person (or most people of any race). Nor would they have found evidence (outside of the music lyrics they apparently used for their “research” of Black American culture) that the term is acceptable slang that is widely used in a non-derogatory manner. This kind of sloppy journalism is not limited to Dutch fashion magazines. There are countless examples, though relatively few as inflammatory as Jackie‘s, of White-run media outlets lowering journalistic standards when it comes to reporting on Black people and culture. Even in 2011, too often, attempts at gaining an accurate understanding of Black people, communities and culture stops at a White editor or writer asking the one or two Black acquaintances they may have—or worse, going by images and stereotypes promoted as factual by popular culture, including in articles published by other White-run media outlets with only a passing familiarity with Black people and culture. For a recent example, you only have to go back to last week’s outrage in response to Forbes Contributor Gene Marks’ “If I Were A Poor Black Child.”

My second point is one that most purveyors of American popular culture, which in many parts of the world is nearly synonymous with Black American culture, are fully aware of but rarely interested in addressing or being held accountable for: Many if not most people in countries outside of the United States form their perception of Black Americans based on what they see and hear in music, videos and other expressions of popular culture, which has been defined primarily by hip-hop and urban culture for the better part of three decades. Don’t believe it? Ask the African Americans who are confronted with these expectations when they travel abroad. Then know all about Russians who think nothing of calling a Black tourist “nigga” because they’ve learned that’s what Black Americans call each other; the inebriated Greek dude who doesn’t understand why it’s not okay to grab the rear end of a Black woman he doesn’t know—or the Dutch fashion magazine editor who thinks it cool and funny to describe the fashion choices of a popular, young Black female singer as “niggabitch”—although Rihanna’s wardrobe is no more risque than that of Lady Gaga‘s or, for that matter, Madonna‘s at the peak of her popularity as an international recording star and performer.

The editor-in-chief of Jackie got exactly what she deserved for her gross lapse in editorial judgement. (Never mind that, to my knowledge, she never really apologized to Rihanna.) But what about the Black artists who routinely use the terms “nigga” and “bitch” (okay, not usually combined, though unfortunately, that may change) in not just their art, but in their day-to-day conversation via both traditional and social media, the primary means of the worldwide circulation of all culture?

As a journalist, I abhor censorship. And as a lover of the creative arts (and the father of a rap artist whose lyrics aren’t always for the faint of heart), I believe in the freedom of artistic expression. And I must note that, from what I could gather from responses on blogs and in social media to Jackie‘s racist slur against Rihanna, the overwhelming majority of Dutch people thought that the magazine’s use of the term was both obviously offensive and inexcusable. In fact, most Black travelers report that overtly racist behavior against Black Americans is the exception, not the rule, in most of the countries they visit. All I’m saying is that as African Americans, and particularly as artists, performers and media influencers, we need to be more conscious of the images and values we are using to define and represent our culture and people—and our women in particular, in the case of Rihanna. Otherwise, it may be increasingly difficult for our outrage to be taken as anything other than hypocritical when the N-word comes home to roost in the future.

Manna Inc. CEO Ulysses Bridgeman Jr. (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Renita D. Young speaks with Ulysses Bridgeman Jr., the founder and CEO of Manna Inc. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, the quick-service restaurants holding company earned revenues of $511 million in 2010 to land at No. 7 on the Black Enterprise 100s list of the nation’s largest Black-owned industrial/service companies.

Prior to starting his career as a food franchise industry CEO, Bridgeman, a native of East Chicago, Indiana, played professional basketball with the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers, for 12 years. Concurrently with his time in the NBA, he worked as a sales and public relations representative for Howard Johnson. After his playing career, Bridgeman entered the food franchise industry. Today, he is the president and owner of Bridgeman Foods Inc. and Manna Inc., which operates 160 Wendy’s Restaurants in five states and 103 Chili’s Restaurants in seven states. In addition to multiple hall of fame honors as a basketball standout, including induction into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Bridgeman has earned numerous awards as a business leader, including Wendy’s Founder’s Award and induction into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame. The quick-service restaurant mogul joins the roundtable to share his journey to success with Young.

Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with speaker and financial journalist Kelvin Boston, author of Who’s Afraid to Be A Millionaire: Mastering Financial and Emotional Success (Wiley) and the host of Moneywise with Kelvin Boston, which airs on PBS stations and is distributed to more than 83 million households nationwide. Bostons sits down with Pass to share how to overcome fears while managing financial success.

Financial journalist, author and television host Kelvin Boston (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

In addition, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I share some important last minute tax tips for the more than 15 million Americans who are self-employed. For more great tax strategies for entrepreneurs, check out Money section of the December 2011 issue of Black Enterprise magazine for the article, “Year-End Tax Tips for the Self-Employed.”

And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

My school portrait as a 3rd grader, when I was a poor black kid. (Image: Courtesy of Virginia Edmond)

I’m one of the many people whose heads went numb while reading “If I Were A Poor Black Kid,” written by Gene Marks, a white male entrepreneur, author and self-described “mediocre certified public accountant” who writes about business and technology for Forbes. You can read it for yourself, but it boils down to this: All a poor black kid has to do to succeed is to avail himself of a few web sites (including Wikipedia), apps, web tools, online calculators, and some free books from Project Gutenberg (he even provides the links!), put together a study group of other motivated poor black kids on Skype, and then get into a magnet or charter school—or better yet, a private school. After that, find a high school guidance counselor, who will help them find the money to go to college, as well as after-school and summer jobs (not just any job, but one at “a law firm or business owned by the 1 percent”). From there, poor black kid, just learn software and how to write code, do some independent study and polish up your writing skills, and head off to college, after which, upon graduation, Marks and business owners like him will be waiting with open arms to hire you.

What planet does Marks live on? Hell if I know. He may be an expert on business and technology, but he clearly has no idea of what it means to be a poor black kid, nor of what it takes for such children to achieve success. Worse, he puts the responsibility for success entirely on the child, with no mention of schools, teachers, parents and the community in which the kid lives, all of which routinely represent obstacles instead of stepping stones to success. The fact is that America’s education system is in crisis, and black kids, who are the majority of the attendees of poorly-resourced, low-performing schools, are the primary casualties. The idea that a little initiative and a few websites are all a poor black child needs to navigate the devastation is just ludicrous. Marks wants to believe that you can fix the kid—or worse, that the kid can fix him or herself—without fixing the system.

I had the pleasure of meeting Marks, president of The Marks Group, a Philadephia-based sales and customer relationship management software firm, last year (we appeared together as guest experts on MSNBC’s Your Business), and I choose to believe he is well-intentioned. However, good intent is not a substitute for actually knowing what you are talking about. I kept waiting to read something in his article that would qualify him as a person deeply involved and/or intimately connected with black communities, poor or otherwise, much less black children. And I mean more than having black friends and acquaintances. (Assuming he does, and that he bothered to check with them. This might be a “get some black friends” issue.)

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It takes more than being a concerned, outside observer to have the expertise to offer solutions; it takes ongoing, direct engagement with those living the experience. And lest you think this response is just a knee-jerk reverse-racist reaction, being white does not necessarily disqualify you as an expert on the life and challenges of poor black children. There are white people who’ve spent extended time (as in years and decades, not hours and days) in black communities, talking and working with the parents, teachers, schools administrators and others who order the steps and shape the lives of poor black kids. They live and/or work in black communities, serving and mentoring such kids and getting to know their families and circumstances. Apparently, Marks is not one of them. As I read his post, I kept waiting for Marks to share evidence of expertise on urban education, or public education in general. To share the experiences that make it even remotely credible that he has the slightest idea of what it means to be a poor black child. To talk about the actual work he’s personally done to put the “solutions” he offers in his post to the test.

I have an opinion of what I think a child of a wealthy white family needs in order to become a well-rounded, productive, exceptional citizen. But I suspect that my experiences and knowledge (as a former poor black kid with an absent father, raised on public assistance by an under-educated, young, single mother of four) no more qualifies me to provide expert advice on that topic than Mark’s knowledge and experiences have prepared him to weigh in on this one.

On the other hand, I know about being a poor black kid, because I used to be one, raised on the Jersey shore not far from the West Philadelphia neighborhoods that are home to the black kids Marks purports to advise. As a father of three children educated at public schools in Brooklyn, I am intimately familiar with the obstacles facing resource-starved black kids. If Marks wanted an idea of what poor black kids need to succeed, he could have asked me. Better yet, he could have talked to Harlem Children’s Zone’s CEO Geoffrey Canada, Eagle Academy Foundation CEO David Banks or Capital Preparatory Magnet School Principal Steve Perry and other people who’ve made it their mission to help poor black kids succeed academically and beyond.

Which brings up another question: What was Marks really trying to accomplish with his article? Who is he really talking to? If Marks really intended to provide helpful advice to poor black kids—and the parents who want the best for them as passionately as he does for his kids—is Forbes really the right media platform to reach them, or to reach the people who live and work where they live? Poor black kids aren’t helped by web links and advice in blogs on media platforms they and their parents would never read (as if Forbes had the slightest interest in black communities and the people who live in them, rich, poor or otherwise). They need live, demonstrated, engagement and personal involvement from the people offering the solutions. Absent that, this post reminds me of the words of the great philosopher James Brown: “Like a dull knife, just ain’t cuttin.’ Just talkin’ aloud, and saying nothin’.”