As I stated in my letter dated September 2014 entitled "Be Careful Who You Get Involved With," at that time we did not name the principals or the organization. However, in this letter we are naming the principals and organizations (Devon Bell and Charisse Randolph with Black Wall Street Inc. and Kemetic Pipeline International), and those of you that have had experience with this organization or the principals, please send me an email at sam@bobsa.org and please note and protect yourself.

Black Wall Street led me to believe that they had programs which would fund Black entrepreneur projects. To test their validity, I put together a program called "Black Box Distribution Inc." brand-named "The Black Box Barber Caddy." We joined their organization in good faith and paid a monthly fee of $9.99 a month with the first payment being $19.99. Their funding program criteria was as follows: a) become a member of their organization; b) be a member for a minimum of three months; c) and submit your business plan or business model to them. We have been in this program for the last nine months. We were approved for $1 million (go to http://bobsa.org/category/editorials/ to see attached approval letter dated May 27, 2014 in a PDF file).

Over the last six months, we have been promised the funding on numerous occasions. The last correspondence we received from them was a Letter of Conditions dated September 12, 2014. We signed and sent it back to the organization. We continued to provide requested follow-up documents needed to complete the deal. Each time we spoke with them about our projects, they had another excuse for when the funding would be available.

We are done dealing with them....we have to immediately seek other resources to try and get funding for this project. I recommend that NO B.O.B.S.A. associates proceed in doing business with this organization in the future. I will be writing future articles and comments about this organization. Going forward, B.O.B.S.A. has to be more careful about who we trust and recommend to our membership. Each time this happens, it makes it very difficult for us fulfill our responsibility to set the standard to "Connect The Black Dots," and put our trust in organizations that claim their mission is to "help the Black Community."

Let me again apologize to all my Members and Friends for letting these sharks take advantage of us -- NEVER AGAIN.

Sam Ennon

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Meet the Faces of BOBSA in Detroit, MI

B.O.B.S.A will have its first meeting of "Meet The Faces of B.O.B.S.A" in Detroit, MI on November 16th and 17th, 2014 at Greater Grace Temple Church, with of membership of 10,000. We are looking for sponsors for this event and asking our sponsors to participate in BOBSA's TIE BAG box with samples, brochures, and literature about their business. Also, we will be doing flyers and a souvenir booklet which will list the sponsors of the bag. Look for event details and schedules in the near future.

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Nzuri Natural Hair Festival in December

Nzuri Natural Hair, Health and Makeup Expo is the largest African American Holiday Shopping Festival in USA. The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday, December 13th and 14th 2014 at the NRG Center Houston, TX (formerly Known as Reliant Center). Get all the details by clicking here.

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Mainstream Media Not Interested
in Kids Reading Books

This picture appeared on Facebook and it is really refreshing to see a group of young girls and boys doing something positive like reading a book. Unfortunately, our news media may not find it interesting enough unless they are on the 5:00 news or twerking or degrading themselves. We have many children who excel and we should give them the recognition they deserve.

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Soul Styles Specializes in Youth Grooming

Jamila Blair and Claire Turner are the owners of Soul Styles Enterprise, a community base

d company designed to improve local communities by introducing community training, event organization and project management. Soul Styles is a freelance hair stylist duo with sheer determination to succeed. We want to be able to give up and coming black and ethnic businesses access to information, training and to hold networking events to promote their company or services. Our aim is to work alongside local government bodies with our training programs. We will be specializing in training single parents, foster caregivers and families with mixed heritage children. Click here to go to the BOBSA website to find out additional information.

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Nicole Lee - "Healing Cosmetologist"

Imagine this? A Black-owned beauty supply store with various products, accessories, and hair extensions, owned, distributed, manufactured, and supported, by African American stylists, barbers, nail techs, estheticians, massage therapists; operating professionally in their GIFT OF HEALING, servicing the ENTIRE person. By having US help OURSELVES, we can begin the move from being just workers or CONSUMERS to being HEALERS, PRODUCERS, INNOVATORS and CONTRIBUTORS of OUR community and society." ~ "Healing Cosmetologist" by Nicole Lee ~ BOOK COMING SOON!!! Click here to go to the website.

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Brown Sisters Open Store and Salon

Judian and Kadeian Brown are the owners of Black Girls Divine Beauty Supply and Salon in Brooklyn. The two women were profiled by the New York Times recently and discussed breaking into the black hair business when so much of the industry is dominated by Korean entrepreneurs. "I go, 'Look at all the faces on the boxes,'" Judian Brown told the Times. "Who should be owning these stores?" Click here to read more of the Brown sisters' inspiring story.

Michelle Carter

Editor

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"It Takes a Village Today" Helps
Small and Large Businesses

"It Takes A Village Today" is an online marketing company starte

d by Donna Jarrett, Founder & CEO. The main goal of ittakesavillagetoday.com is to expose small and large businesses to consumers who didn't know they existed. Jarrett creates these opportunities for small businesses through creating events centered around them and introducing these companies to an array of folks who can provide them with opportunities for the growth of their businesses. Go to the http://ittakesavillagetoday.com/about-us/ to learn more.

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Free Membership Card with BOBSA Tote Bag

Michelle Carter

Editor

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Expand Your Income Potential
Think Inside the Box

The Box The Black Box Barber Caddy� is the first of its kind to allow Barber Shops and Salons servicing male clients the opportunity to purchase hair care products during their routine appointments. Specializing in products for men, The Black Box Barber Caddy� saves clients time and extra trips while also benefiting owners because of its Self-service operation. Male clients will appreciate the convenience of having all of their staple hair care products at their fingertips and owners can experience the satisfaction of being the one place for all of their clients' hair care needs. Go to site http://www.gofundme.com/f9ge9k for more information.

Michelle Carter
Editor

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Featured Article

Comer Cottrell, Jheri Curl Creator, Dead at 82

Comer Cottrell

Comer Cottrell, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who turned a small Los Angeles operation into a multimillion-dollar success story by catering to the hair care needs of African Americans, died Friday at his home in Plano, Texas. He was 82. His death from natural causes was confirmed by his son-in-law, Eric Brown.

With $600 and a broken typewriter, Cottrell opened Pro-Line Corp. in downtown Los Angeles in 1970. It was not the first black hair care company but it became one of the largest with the Curly Kit, an at-home hair relaxer that made the loose, gleaming Jheri curl - a style popularized by celebrities such as Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson - available at a fraction of the salon price.

That's when his company went from $1 million to $10 million in sales," said Lori L. Tharps, co-author of "Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America," published in 2001. Through his company, Tharps said, Cottrell "democratized the Jheri curl."

With his brother, James, Cottrell turned Pro-Line into one of the most successful black-owned companies in the United States, worth $80 million when they sold it three decades later.

Cottrell headed the Los Angeles Black Businessman's Assn., which represented about 40 black-owned businesses, and during the late 1970s helped them expand through federal contracts and other opportunities.

After moving to Dallas in 1980, he became the first African American admitted to the powerful Dallas Citizens Council and forged political connections that helped pave the way for the election of the city's first black mayor, Ron Kirk, in 1995.

In 1989, he became the first African American to own a stake in a major league baseball team when he joined fellow Republican George W. Bush and other investors in purchasing the Texas Rangers.

He used his position to press for more minority involvement in professional sports management. He also plowed some of his wealth into expanding educational opportunities in black communities, including spending $3 million to preserve the Dallas campus of a bankrupt historically black college as the new home of Paul Quinn College, an institution affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Click here to read more details of his life.

Michelle Carter
Editor

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