In September 2001, I wrote a column called "Our Word For Today is Assets." In that column, which is reprinted in my book, I Will Not Apologize, I write about the need to purchase income assets, mainly Real Estate. The reason given at that time was to have a resource that keeps on giving back in the form of rents and value without having to be at a job every day to earn a living. I called it a way out of generational poverty and into generational wealth.

Today, it is obvious that wealth, especially in California is directly related to ownership of Real Estate. In recent months I have heard of businesses who were put out of business because the landlords realized that they could get more rent than they were currently getting and the old tenant had to either agree to a massive rent increase or move. The question of fairness is not a business term and so there is no need to discuss it. The simple fact is that if you own property, you have a legal right to ask what you want in return for the use of that property.

I have seen families and businesses displaced by rent increases, but more tragically, I have seen parents either sell their property for a profit without a thought about their children’s future ability to find housing. Many are moving east or south after selling but we all know the old saying that as California goes so goes the country, so it is just a matter of time before the value of land goes up in all other states too.

I recently went to my hometown of Bakersfield, California and picked up a magazine advertising homes and real estate for sale. I saw houses and buildings across the range of prices from $100,000 to $800,000. I saw golden opportunities that are disappearing at this moment. The question for all of us is are we letting this California Gold Rush pass us by?

When there was a Gold Rush in 1849 in California, probably two thirds of the nation’s Black population was in slavery and the rest were free, but broke. Today, we have an opportunity to join in the new Gold Rush if you are willing to do what it takes.

What does it take? It takes money. If you have sold your house, find a new property to invest in immediately. If you don’t have the cash yourself, join with someone else, form a legal partnership and buy something. Otherwise you will be left out. Borrow on the property you have rather than sell it. Use the money you borrow to purchase another house, rent one and live in the other. And remember, there is nothing wrong with buying property which you need to fix up.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times (March 23, 2005) about Magic Johnson talked about how he forms partners to create what they call the, "Magic Fund", a fund to purchase multi-million dollar properties. The various investors receive a payoff when the property is sold. Now, we can’t expect to enter the market at the level of a Magic Johnson, but we can all enter the market. You can join with a group of friends or club members and form a fund or you can call it a pot to put your money in for the purpose of entering the Real Estate market. Then you become a capitalist. If you think that is a bad word, then obviously this article and the Gold Rush is is not for you.

The article is an example of why you should read the papers every day, and teach your children to read it every day. Also teach them to read something other than the sports and entertainment sections. In the article it tells about how the Magic Fund purchased a property for $100 million, in 2003, and then sold a portion of the property to some other entity, in this case the city of Los Angeles, for $35 million, and then sold another portion to some land developers for $40 million. They have now made a deal to sell another portion for $130 million, and they still have property to sell, develop, or rent, possibly forever, while passing on the ownership of their portions of the fund to their children and their children’s children.

The other point of the article was that Magic’s group purchase properties that are in distressed urban areas. This is something that I learned while reading Donald Trump’s book, The Art of The Deal." Don’t go out and try to buy the most expensive piece of land. Look for the one that has potential and a reachable price, buy small and grow.

Many of the problems in our communities is that we don’t have leaders with business backgrounds. Most of our politicians are not from entrepreneurial backgrounds such are the white ones. We have a lot of sociologists left over from the Civil Rights Movement of the Sixties. The main message of the Sixties was "give us" our rights. During the current gold rush we need a new message and that is how do we take, buy, purchase or acquire our economic birthright knowing that the giving period is over?

Remember the Gold Rush was a time of taking what you could and staking your claims to a piece of land to seek out your fortune by what ever means necessary. It is good to see the reparations movement working to get what is rightfully ours, but there will be no giving of those rights without a big fight. In the meantime we must learn the art of making deals and staking claims to land to get in on the benefits of this new gold rush.