ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 1, 1996 TAG: 9612030035
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: CAROLENE LANGIE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Post-riot South Central L.A. needs a lift and Muhammad Nassardeen is making sure its own people have a hand in the rejuvenation.
``We are trying to connect the dots between major players in the business world,'' Nassardeen said. ``Now when the community is trying to revamp economically, we need our brightest minds to be in the forefront of that.''
Nassardeen is founder of Recycling Black Dollars, an organization designed to promote self-determination through economic development in black communities. Formed eight years ago, it has grown to include 2,000 business owners wishing to remain linked with customers in the neighborhood.
Members include AT&T, Pacific Bell, Sony Pictures Entertainment, IBM, Arco and other big businesses. Recycling Black Dollars also has many small business members, from printing shops to mom-and-pop corner stores.
Nassardeen believes that economic self-sufficiency for the area, ripped apart physically and financially in the 1992 Los Angeles riots, ultimately depends on the people who have lived there, even if they've moved away.
``I am not going to fault someone for moving for better schools or to get away from police helicopters flying overhead at night,'' he said. ``But don't just come back for church on Sunday. You've got to give back by going back. We can't afford to have that anonymity that others can choose to have when they are successful.''
Nassardeen's mission is to unite minority-owned businesses. One way he has helped is by creating a black phone directory that lists black-owned businesses, offering contacts for establishments ranging from advertising agencies to psychologists.
``Recycling Black Dollars provides a network for the various businesses to know what's out there. We don't have to go to John's carpet cleaning business when we can go to Armed's,'' said Ruthie Bennett, a senior vice president at Founders National Bank of Los Angeles.
The black-owned bank is proud of its record of lending to black business owners, Bennett said. ``We want to give back to the community so they can give back.''
Bennett said she was an employee of the now-defunct Security Pacific Bank for 16 years until she felt something inside draw her back to the community.
``You ask yourself if your involvement will make much of a difference,'' she said. ``But you have to realize that the buck stops here. You bring what you have to the community and it adds up.''
``If we don't do something now about the plight of black people, 20 years from now it may be too late,'' Bennett said.
Nassardeen saw that banks were essential to rebuilding South Central after rioters burned businesses and homes. So he organized Recycling Black Dollars' Change Bank Program, which brought in about 1,400 new accounts and more than $7 million in new deposits this year to the city's four black-owned financial institutions.
According to Nassardeen, Los Angeles blacks contribute $9 billion in bank deposits with only 3 percent of that amount being put into black-owned outfits.
Hundreds of blacks responded to a campaign in February urging them to put their money in black-owned institutions. Deposits at Founders Bank of Los Angeles alone were boosted by $600,000 in a single day Nassardeen called Change Bank Day.
``When you own your own home, you have a different attitude toward your community and banks are essential to owning your own home. That's why Change Bank Day is important,'' Nassardeen said.
Nassardeen's calling to boost his community came a decade ago while working at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood as its director of community relations.
Now business owners share his dreams.
``Muhammad is the driving force behind Recycling Black Dollars. When you look at him and you see the energy he brings with him, you can't help but move forward,'' said Office Furniture Outlet owner Frank Denkins. ``He is in no way about to give up on this.''
Recycling Black Dollars has been the wake-up call the community needed, he said.
``If we give our money only to the businesses owned by the white establishment, we'll never see our people in a position to own our own businesses.''
Blacks with a sense of responsibility to give back are showing they feel connected to their community, realizing they can't afford to live in a cocoon, happy with their personal achievements.
``Think about who your children will marry,'' Nassardeen said.
``I have four daughters. If they bring someone home and I haven't made every opportunity available to those young men to be successful and I don't like their choices, I only have myself to blame.''
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Muhammad Nassardeen, chief executive officer andby CNBfounder of Recycling Black Dollars, says economic self-sufficiency
for the area ultimately depends on the people who have lived there.