The Kentucky Fried Chicken wasn't exactly someplace we went to a lot. Instead I was cool with the Arab's that I used to talk politics with that owned the pizza shop on the OPPOSITE CORNER from that Kentucky Fried Chicken. So Noni and I went into there and rarely if ever payed full-price and often times got extra food simply because of the fact that the Arab Family that owned what is now Pizza Boli's, which, by the way. Closes at 1am EST. They weren't a Pizza Boli then. And for the life of me I cannot remember the father and two brothers names, but I will point out that the wife and sister were not allowed to interfere when it came to the pizza shop. That much stands out to me right as I type this and Noni used to debate back-n-forth with them and they would smile at her and always say "See? You're too Americanized. You are arguing because we're strict on the business side, but!? Women when given too much forget their place and start to think they can boss a man around when they're not married."
You know!?
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!
I have had an INTERESTING LIFE! For a man who has willingly turned down travelling to other countries. Noni and the Father and brothers used to go AT IT, NICELY. They would HONESTLY DEBATE. Where they said one time "Shawn gives you too much and now you look at us and think we are wrong for what we do but this is what WE DO. We not telling, we're not saying Our Way is best or right, this is just what we've decided to do. But because you so Americanized, because you are looking at things from White perspectives you now think that because Our Way is NOT Your Way, now!? You want to tell us, Ohhhhhhhhhhh, you're bad men. Look at how you oppress the women, look!? Look at my wife, look at my daughters!? They look like they're starving? They look like they're going hungry, doing bad, no! NO! And look at Your Man, notice he doesn't react the same way as you do. We may be different races but he understands as a man that if I DON'T TAKE CARE OF MY WOMAN AND CHILDREN!? Then I am NOT A MAN."
Noni always felt like they were keeping the wife and daughter from opportunities to be more involved with the business, me? I always looked at is as THEIR INTERNAL ISSUE. I'm NOT an Arab. So however THAT FAMILY OF ARABS WANTS TO GET DOWN!? That is their business! Not mine. So when the Kentucky Fried Chicken shut down!? We all knew it was because the Local Food Places were GREAT! Including this ARABIC PIZZA SHOP! ^_^!!!!! But when that Checkers went up after they knocked down that Kentucky Fried Chicken and the inside, the little walk-in so you can place orders, because it is mostly drive-thru with a few small benches outside. When it showed that the Checkers was OWNED BY A BLACKMAN!?
The Arabic Father?
This is why I type what I type here because NON-BLACKS KNOW.
They make A LOT OF MONEY OFF OF US and for as long as there are NO BLACK OWNED WHATEVERS AROUND THEM, then!? They're GOOD!
I remember when I came in to pick up a pizza...?
HE WAS HAPPY AS SHIT TO SEE ME!
"That Checkers is killing me brother!"
And I just SMILED, and he already KNEW what I was gonna say and he said it himself WHERE!?
I HONESTLY DON'T. THINK! ENOUGH OF US AS BLACK PEOPLE!? Know that we DO HAVE NON-BLACKS OUT HERE WHO WANT TO AND DO GIVE US RESPECT!
Because he was fiddling around and then he said "I can't be angry, though." and he honestly said "Black People in this neighborhood have been great to me and my family. But I know they've always been trying to get something of their own, OWNED, by them. And they're supporting. It's BAD FOR MY BUSINESS. But!? Is GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY! It's GOOD FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD!"
I keep trying to TELL YOU, if you DO NOT INTERACT WITH MEMBERS OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, YOUR COMMUNITY! All these REWRITES about what a COMMUNITY IS and BLAH BLAH BLAH, STOP IT! Your COMMUNITY REVOLVES AROUND PEOPLE! If the PEOPLE IN ANY PLACE DO NOT INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER, then!?
Expect BAD THINGS.
To ALWAYS HAPPEN.
La-Van Hawkins PICTURE. Was in that Checkers. And lemme tell you something that PLAQUE MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE WAS IN CHARGE! HE RULED AND RAN, HE WASN'T BEING RUN! And he made it clear in that plaque that he came FROM NOTHING! The Black People were ALL FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD! They were PROFESSIONAL. COURTEOUS! AND THEY WERE HONESTLY PROUD TO WORK FOR A FAST FOOD PLACE OWNED BY SOMEONE WHO CAME FROM NOTHING!
(Tea is done. Rice is done. Lemme take a quick commercial break! To get this food in order at 3am EST!)
Lemme go on ahead and post this first article and yes, even the bumpers have a point and a purpose to them. Even the FACT that I decided to use Optimus Prime in the bumper above and then Starscream in the bumper below IS THOUGHT OUT AND ON PURPOSE WITH THIS POST. You will SEE in the following article that Hawkins did the one thing that Whites and White-Jews in POWER, BITTERLY HATE! He began DECONSTRUCTING THEIR STEREOTYPES ABOUT US, and that!? Is what would lead to his downfall. Everyone is COMFORTABLE with pathetic, begging, pathetic-violent, BUT ALWAYS BROKE BLACK PEOPLE. PEOPLE, START TO GET NERVOUS. When they have to deal with PARTICULARLY a Blackman who has his pride INTACT AND DOESN'T BULLSHIT HIS OWN PEOPLE NOR GROVEL TO NON-BLACKS.
PAY ATTENTION to the words used, the language! In the following NON-PUBLISHED WIKI on La-Van Hawkins. I had to look around right quick again to DOUBLE-CHECK some information and you can, if you pay attention to the words, see! How convoluted. And bullshit! The Nazi-American business system is, based on the sometimes conflicting and double-talk, EVEN IN WORDS FOR THIS WIKI. Where I've said it before and I'll remind you again! What were YOU TAUGHT by Whites in high school about them by them. Then DO YOUR DECODING AND REFRESH YOUR OWN MIND ON WHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON DURING THE TIMES WE WERE TOLD ABOUT!
Always remember that White Customs and Culture is a TOP-DOWN SYSTEM OF POWER AND RULERSHIP! The Pyramid of Power HISTORICALLY FOR THEM is set with the HAVES at the VERY TOP! And then a ridiculous LAUNDRY LIST of middle-managing TRASH! Designed to keep the VERY BOTTOM! From INTERFERING AND INTERACTING with the VERY TOP! Things then TRICKLE DOWN to the White masses AT THE BASE! While we all know that WITHOUT THE BASE, THEN HOW THE FUCK DO THE IDIOTS AND ASSHOLES AT THE TOP EXIST!? In THEIR GROWTH as a Race/People, THEY HAVE ALLOWED THEMSELVES TO BE BRAINWASHED INTO THINKING THIS IS ACCEPTABLE!
This is why the White Masses are given the blood profits of whomever the White 1%'s SICK THEM ON! But even those blood profits don't change the fact that the White 1%'s end up RETAINING THEIR POWER and should NO TARGET OF EXPLOITATION APPEAR, they will then GO BACK TO OPPRESSING THE WHITE MASSES!
We're NOT SUPPOSED TO BE INTEGRATING WITH ANYONE ANYWHERE WHO HAS A HISTORY OF THIS KIND OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RULER AND THE PEOPLE.
Because it is NOT what We HAD. And We see everyday among our own regardless of how much brainwashing, bullshit or go along to get along we get bombarded with! We see that FOR US, all it does is remind US OF WHITE OPPRESSION. Especially when it is another Black Person IMITATING THIS SYSTEM OF "I am in charge, DO WHAT THE FUCK I SAY OR ELSE YOU'RE FUCKED!"
-_-
Meanwhile the asshole in charge is LIMITED IN NUMBERS.
While the people they act like assholes TOWARDS ARE DAMN NEAR 5 - TO - 10X'S IN SIZE! Just, THINK ABOUT THAT FACT FOR A MOMENT. Who in their right fuckin mind is going to BELIEVE that being a HANDFUL OF ANYTHING! You can then TALK TO A MASS OF ANYONE AND THEY'RE JUST SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE "OKAY SIR, THANKS!"
>_<
Whut!?
WHO DOES THAT!?
And if you DO NOT GET what I have typed, I WILL NOT EXPLAIN FURTHER!
Because YOU ARE BEYOND HELP!
When you're growing up and there is that ONE ASSHOLE always saying PICK ME FIRST OR I'M TAKING MY BALL AND GOING HOME! He or she DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THEY FUCKIN SUCK! That is why NOBODY FUCKIN PICKS THEM FIRST! But in this persons mind it is "It's MY BALL. And since I OWN IT, THEN!?"
NEWSFLASH FUCK-UP!
THE GROUP CAN PULL TOGETHER TO GET ANOTHER BALL! THAT WON'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU FUCKIN SUCK!
White society DOES NOT TEACH THIS FACT! ANYONE CAN FUCKIN OWN A BALL! ANYONE! But how YOU USE THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE A BALL IS IMPORTANT! Never mind it is also CRITICAL that like I said if you FUCKIN SUCK AT THE GAME, you can't fuckin get PISSED! Cuz nobody wants to fuckin PICK YOU! And this is something that many Whites in many places, constantly looks at in regards to Us as Black People and We have had Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis, Assata Shakur, Huey P. Newton, PLENTY OF BLACK PEOPLE SHOW US AND TELL US! DO SHIT FOR OURSELVES AND THEN WE'LL BE ALL RIGHT! And in that list of people always remember who was CONSTANTLY TRYING TO AND DID, MURDER THEM! OPPOSE THEM! DISRUPT THEM AND DESTROY THEM! AND IT IS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY FEAR AND KNOW THAT;
La-Van Hawkins Biography - Rose from the Projects, Promoted Minority Employment, Bucked Burger King Tradition, Building a New Restaurant Empire
1960—
Businessman, restaurateur
Few people have risen so far—or fallen so fast—as businessman and restaurant owner La-Van Hawkins. In 2003, Hawkins was on top of the world: born in the ghettos of Chicago, he had become the owner of more than 100 Pizza Hut franchises in Michigan and the owner-operator of one of Detroit's swankiest new eateries, Sweet Georgia Brown, and the sales of his company made his the twelfth largest black-owned business in the United States; he owned several homes, including a lavish mansion outside Atlanta, and was recognized throughout Detroit when he drove around in his convertible Bentley; and he was courted by local and national politicians. In an adoring profile published in Ebony magazine in April of 2003, Hawkins crowed about his success, proclaiming "I'm proof that you can do anything. I've succeeded against all odds because I refused to be denied."
Barely one year later, Hawkins (along with ten others) was announced as the target of a federal investigation into charges of corruption in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hawkins was charged with funneling bribes to the city treasurer in exchange for supporting Hawkins' business ventures in that city, and with lying to the federal grand jury investigating the case. In May of 2005, Hawkins was convicted on two of the less serious charges, and in October of the same year he was sentenced to serve 33 months in prison and to pay a $25,000 fine. The ongoing case against Hawkins damaged his business interests and revealed that the fast-food mogul had earned many enemies over the years. Former business associates and creditors piled on, suing Hawkins for past damages and overdue payments. His flamboyant lifestyle had apparently been built on credit, and now his creditors wanted their money. According a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Hawkins planned to appeal his sentence and to recover from his setbacks, saying "At the end of the day, we will be victorious."
Rose from the Projects
La-Van Hawkins was born in 1960 and raised in Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project, known for its poverty, crime, and drug problems. His childhood consisted, among other things, in running with a gang and suffering through a $2000-a-day drug addiction. He told Ebonythat his father was a failure at providing for his family, but that he had "street smarts and a street knowledge" that his son inherited. When Hawkins was in the tenth grade, his father died and he was forced to drop out of the private high school he attended to care for his sickly mother. It was at this time that he began working full-time at one of the two McDonalds that his uncle owned. He started out scrubbing toilets, but within a very short amount of time he had become general manager of the busy Water Tower unit in downtown Chicago. By the time Hawkins left McDonalds, he had risen to the position of director of operations. Hawkins left McDonalds in the late 1970s to join the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) chain where he worked for eight years, first as an area manager and then as a district manager. In 1981 Hawkins began his real ascent in the fast-food business when he led the KFC chain on a special project marketing to inner-city patrons.
In 1986 Hawkins left KFC as a regional vice president to become a partner in an investment group with Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens and several others. They worked to acquire the rights to construct Bojangles units in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., resulting in 15 new stores. After the stores were completed, the group sold them to the company, yielding profits that Hawkins invested in Checkers franchise units. Top-notch customer service practices, including serving orders within 30 seconds and personal service by Hawkins himself at certain locations, assured the phenomenal success of Hawkins-run Checkers sites, which became instrumental in cleaning up surrounding neighborhoods. Featuring menu items such as honey chicken, chili dogs, Cajun burgers, and fish sandwiches, Hawkins opened one of his first Checkers franchises in 1990 in Evergreen Park near Chicago, the first franchise unit to be certified as an official training store for Checkers employees. By 1995, five years into his Checkers venture, Hawkins, as owner of Inner City Foods Corporation, was running the most successful African-American franchise restaurant company in the United States. He owned 47 Checkers restaurants that brought in close to $65 million a year.
Inner City Foods Corporation, under Hawkins' direction, concentrated Checkers franchises in urban minority neighborhoods, including sites in Harlem and Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant. Hawkins conducted his business with civic-minded aspirations to employ young minority workers, providing them with opportunities for financial independence through increased management and ownership opportunities. "I'm in the unique position to take people off welfare, give them job training, and educate and motivate them," Hawkins said, according toNation's Restaurant News. "And I'm going to show that all the stereotypes about the inner city have been a farce." Specifically, Hawkins boasted that Checkers employees making $25,000 to $35,000 per year had earned less than $5 per hour a few years prior. Hawkins maintained a focus on economic empowerment in communities where he established franchises. Hawkins added, "My No. 1 goal is to use Checkers brand to provide economic empowerment in the black community and to make as many black millionaires, regional vice presidents, and managers as I can."
Promoted Minority Employment
Providing employees with accelerated opportunities to rise through franchise ranks, Hawkins permitted the attainment of financial rewards sooner than in other fast-food chains. For example, two directors of Hawkins-owned Checkers, who began as assistant managers, were earning $75,000 per year each within two years. Hawkins also provided salary increases of two to three dollars per hour for minimum wage earners 90 days into employment, marking the first of five job promotions toward general management positions.
Hawkins fulfilled his objective at Checkers to facilitate economic development and empowerment in black communities through his motto of "teach, reach, and motivate." Hawkins encouraged black Americans to buy from black business owners, duplicating similar efforts by former black activists. These activists successfully established opportunities for African Americans while simultaneously boycotting businesses that engaged in unfair employment practices toward blacks. (His detractors groused that Hawkins followed his own policies only when they insured that he made a profit.) Despite the success of his Checkers restaurants, and the fact that he was the largest franchise owner in the Checkers chain, Hawkins soon decided, according to Restaurant Business magazine, that he "wanted something bigger."
At a Glance …
Born in 1960 in Chicago, Illinois; married Wendy, 1994 (divorced 2004). Education: Attended private high school in Chicago (dropped out in tenth grade).
Career:
Worked at McDonald's franchise, South Chicago, c. 1971-c. 1979; Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), marketing, 1981-86; Checkers and Bojangles restaurants, franchise operator, 1986-95; Inner City Foods Corporation, founder and owner, 1995-98; Urban City Foods, owner and chief executive, 1995-98; Hawkins Food Group L.L.C., Detroit, owner and chief executive, 1998–; Lineage Group Inc. (Sweet Georgia Brown), owner, 2002–.
Addresses:
Office—Hawkins Food Group, 607 Shelby St., Ste. 200 and 300, Detroit MI 48226.
Bucked Burger King Tradition
In 1995 Hawkins found what he wanted when Burger King approached him and asked him to front their newly planned program to set up franchises in urban inner cities. Representatives of Burger King and Hawkins' newest entity, Baltimore-based Urban City Foods, soon announced plans to open 125 fast food Burger King Express Ways in nine American cities by the year 2000. (Burger King Express Ways are particularly suited to the inner city environment, and rely heavily on drive-thru traffic.) The partnership, the largest of its kind in the fast food industry, benefited from the creation of Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Such areas became part of a major federal initiative in 1995 to boost urban economies, giving tax breaks as an encouragement for business growth. As chairman and CEO of Urban City Foods (UCF), Hawkins spearheaded the development and operation of unique Burger King Express Way franchises to provide job opportunities for minorities in these federally funded areas.
The first group of the proposed 125 Burger King sites included 25 restaurants specifically designed for their appeal to urban African Americans. These sites were constructed between March of 1996 and September of 1997 in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Detroit. Most construction was concentrated in Chicago's inner city, at a cost of $175 million. The Chicago locations had African-American owners and employed approximately 2,500 people from surrounding neighborhoods. Similar plans were made for sites in Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, Detroit, and Prince George's County, Maryland. Despite initial skepticism from the corporate office, from 1996-1997 Hawkins boasted average sales of $1.9 million per unit, almost twice that of traditional Burger King outlets.
By 2001, however, Hawkins' relationship with Burger King began to sour. He personally owned 28 franchises, but he charged that Burger King was jealous of his success and trying to keep him from owning and operating more restaurants. After hiring noted attorney Johnnie Cochran, Hawkins sued Burger King Corporation for $1.9 billion. After months of legal haggling, the litigants settled out of court. Reports had Hawkins walking away from the dispute with anywhere from $30 to $100 million, in addition to the income earned from selling all his Burger King stores. Hawkins had enjoyed generally positive press coverage prior to the lawsuit, but the publicity attendant on the suit brought out allegations from those within the industry who claimed that he was self-motivated and unwilling to acknowledge efforts by other franchisees. Hawkins' supporters—and they were numerous—pointed out his half-million dollar donations to local churches and school programs in neighborhoods boasting his Burger Kings.
Building a New Restaurant Empire
Following his break with Burger King, Hawkins invested heavily in Pizza Hut franchises in Detroit and surrounding areas. Eventually, he owned nearly 100 such franchises. As with his Burger Kings, Hawkins invested heavily in promoting his Pizza Hut restaurants in urban areas. He placed large posters of himself in restaurants, and customers and employees came to know his striking physical presence. The 6-foot, 2-inch, 285 pound Hawkins visited his stores frequently. Pulling up in his beige Bentley and dressed impeccably, Hawkins motivated his employees and encouraged his customers to feel at home. By the early 2000s, his company, Hawkins Food Group L.L.C., had recorded sales topping $200 million and was earning national attention.
Hawkins sensed that it was time to open his own, high-end restaurant, and he hired some top restaurant personnel to help him create Sweet Georgia Brown, a southern-themed restaurant that opened in Detroit's revitalized downtown. The restaurant opened in 2002 and did $8.5 million in business in its first year. Hawkins announced plans to franchise the concept, further expanding his empire. The opening of Sweet Georgia Brown was part of Hawkins' larger plan to take his image upscale, away from the fast-food business that had made him wealthy. Hawkins' personal wealth had become apparent—he owned homes in Detroit and Atlanta, and was a prominent backer of black political candidates—and he hoped to use the prestige of a high-end restaurant chain as leverage to rise higher in the world of business and politics.
Then, the floor fell out from under the flamboyant entrepreneur. In 2002 Hawkins' had been fined an undisclosed but allegedly substantial amount for failing to pay taxes owed by several of his restaurants. Hawkins' sold his Pizza Hut franchises in early 2003 for $95 million, in part to help him pay the fines. Then, in June of 2004, Hawkins was indicted on three charges in the Philadelphia city government corruption scandal, including conspiracy to commit fraud, fraud, and perjury. The indictment brought to light a number of outstanding claims against Hawkins. According to the Detroit News, Hawkins owed more than $70,000 to a Georgia attorney, $393,000 to a Detroit design firm, $82,000 to a Detroit radio station, and $49,000 to a phone service provider. In addition to these financial woes, Hawkins' wife of ten years, Wendy, divorced him and demanded expensive alimony payments.
When the criminal case concluded in 2005 with a sentence of just 33 months in jail and $25,000 in fines, Hawkins seemed to have gotten off lightly. However, the combined damages from the criminal charges, his personal misfortune, and his business failure—Sweet Georgia Brown was briefly closed in 2005 for failure to pay taxes—appeared to put the once-successful entrepreneur in danger of declaring bankruptcy. It remains to be seen in late 2005 whether the man Ebony once hailed for his ambition and drive to succeed could overcome these obstacles.
Sources
Periodicals
Baltimore Business Journal, September 16, 1994, p. 36.
Baltimore Sun, January 26, 1996, p. C1.
Black Enterprise, September 2004.
Chicago Sun Times, February 23, 1996, p. 43.
Crain's Detroit Business, April 29, 2002; July 5, 2004; May 16, 2005.
Detroit Free Press, February 23, 1996, p. A1; February 28, 1997, p. E1; May 10, 2005; October 7, 2005.
Detroit News, July 8, 2004.
Ebony, April 2003, p. 42.
Jet, March 11, 1996, p. 13.
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, February 23, 1996, pp. 1, 2.
Nation's Restaurant News, March 4, 1996, p. 3; March 13, 1995, p. 3.
Newsweek, May 26, 1997, p. 57.
Oakland Tribune, February 23, 1996, p. C1.
Restaurant Business, November 15, 1997, pp. 25-30; April 10, 1994, p. 38; January 15, 2003, p. 84.
Tampa Bay Business Journal, January 21-27, 1994, p. 1.
Washington Post, December 13, 1995, p. F1; September 11, 1995, p. A10; January 30, 1996, p. D1.
—Marilyn Williams,
Catherine Victoria Donaldson, and
Tom Pendergast
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