Muhammad A. Nassardeen, 54; led push to patronize black-owned firms

Muhammad A. Nassardeen, an entrepreneur who encouraged African Americans and others to patronize African American-owned businesses and promoted the practice as a much-needed strategy for revitalizing the community and addressing problems such as unemployment, has died. He was 54.

Nassardeen, the founder of Recycling Black Dollars, died Thursday after suffering a heart attack in his Inglewood office, said Daniella Masterson, a family spokeswoman.

Assemblyman Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton) said in a statement Friday that “the chronicles of history shall portray Muhammad as a stalwart champion of political and business empowerment within the Los Angeles African American community -- an objective he pursued with earnest diligence.”

The organization that Nassardeen founded in 1988 now has 2,500 members and is credited with influencing the spending habits of many African Americans and improving the financial health of businesses.

Its influence extends well beyond the city.

“He never saw the Los Angeles region as it is, but as what it could be . . . the beacon for the whole country and a model for the country in terms of economic development and empowerment, especially for people of color,” said Aubry Stone, president and CEO of the California Black Chamber of Commerce.

Muhammad practiced what some called “economic activism,” arguing for the economic freedom and strength of black America with a fervor that was evident in his speeches, on his radio program and in his Black Business Month activities.

With the RBD Resource Guide and Directory and a phone referral service ([800] UNITE-US), Nassardeen connected black consumers with black businesses and black business owners with one another. At monthly networking breakfasts, business owners exchanged ideas and promoted products and services. “I would estimate that over the 20 years, some 2,000 to 3,000 business have benefited from the work of Recycling Black Dollars, led by Muhammad,” said Harold Hambrick, president of the Black Business Expo. “He was an advocate for small businesses.”

Through his Change Banks Month, Nassardeen encouraged African Americans to switch from white-controlled banks to black banks, a promotion that “attracted more than 2,000 new depositors and . . . $20 million in four years,” according to an article in the October 2000 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

African Americans had $9 billion on deposit at mainstream institutions, yet those banks often turned down African Americans seeking loans, Nassardeen said in a 1992 Los Angeles Sentinel article.

“There’s no doubt that the black bank can deliver services,” Nassardeen said. “Just think what the black bank could do if black people deposited only 25% of that 9 billion.”

Born Nov. 16, 1952, in Philadelphia, Nassardeen studied business at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles and for 11 years worked at Centinela Hospital Medical Center, where he was director of community relations.

The idea for Recycling Black Dollars grew out of a conversation Nassardeen overheard between two African American doctors.

The two spoke ill of black-owned businesses and said they hired white professionals -- lawyers and accountants -- because they questioned the competence of African Americans.

The conversation revealed a need to change the image of black businesses, to strengthen those that existed and to create new ones.

With $20,000 of his own money, Nassardeen started the organization in August 1988.

At the core of Nassardeen’s philosophy was the belief that the answer to some of the problems plaguing the African American community lay in its spending habits.

“If you spend $25 to fill your car with gas at a white station, you get $25 worth of gas,” he said in a 1991 Times article.

“If you go to a black business, you have gotten the gas and supported the black employees and helped their families. . . . Blacks have been blaming people for our ills for years and years and years, and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere. We need to focus on the things we can change.”

That idea resonated with various segments of the community, from ministers to gas station owners.

Nassardeen presented it as an economic strategy, one that would bring jobs and all the benefits employment brings. He said the strategy, which he called “race-embraced” spending, was viable even in a diverse city.

“Recycling Black Dollars helped create a positive mind-set for African Americans,” said Earl “Skip” Cooper, president and chief executive of the Black Business Assn.

“One of the things that we recognize is that every ethnic group supports their own. . . . And that’s why it’s so important for us.”

Nassardeen also put his skills to use at Crenshaw Christian Center, where he and his family were members. He did public relations work for the church and played a key role in having a square at 79th Street and Vermont Avenue named after its pastor, the Rev. Frederick K.C. Price.

“He was an awesome member of our church,” Price said. “He was so involved in everything in the community. He was very, very involved in our ministry.”

A candlelight vigil is planned for 6 p.m. Monday at Leimert Park. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected to adjourn in Nassardeen’s honor on Tuesday.

“A piece of me is lost with the passing of Muhammad,” Hambrick said. “We will move forward in the spirit of what he stood for. [We will] continue to promote black businesses.”

Nassardeen is survived by his wife, Jennifer; his mother, Amina Nassardeen; four adult daughters, Alicia, Aysia, Kalita and Raven; a 12-year old son, Raheem; two sisters; and two brothers.

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jocelyn.stewart@latimes.com