Diane Mongo

https://youtu.be/xAH1MAVcCi8

see some some of the questions I like to

be somewhat prepared but these are these

are off-the-wall I mean this is a little

different from me but we'll go out I'll

just you know just off the cuff from the

time trying to figure out how they pull

themselves up as the old saying goes by

their bootstraps and they had no boot in

your perspective and the historical

point of view what was that what was

that what was that like as you can

imagine for African Americans my

imagination takes me to my family

my family history during Prohibition

days I think a lot of people that were

very aggressive if you were already in

some type of business and black

businesses amongst each other I mean we

supported each other but when

Prohibition hit it hit everyone my

family just happened to be into the they

were in the liquor business you know

very aggressive people they were part of

the Underground Railroad they you know

my family's from Canada they were part

of the Train so they were very

aggressive people so by them being into

the business before prohibition and when

they had to go give up their business

because now this is what was taught to

me they had to give up their business

because women couldn't keep their

husbands home couldn't keep them in from

buying liquor and bringing the money

home so the women protested and marched

and they that's what cost prohibition

they stopped it became illegal well how

do you put someone that's been in

business out of business just because

your husband or someone supported a

business

and it was the woman's movement that's

that really helped that cause

prohibition now this is what was told to

me and I talked to me somewhat so since

I come from a family that was in the

business

why why not you still have to feed your

family so we continued to sell the

liquor and guess what we made more money

during Prohibition then when it was

illegal so I just think that when you

talk about being in business you have to

be able to one be aggressive you're

gonna support your family that's most

important and when you're in business

you always I don't care what type of

business you own when you're the person

out there making a dollar you're putting

your life on the line so if you with a

head of those things in mind you're

gonna do what you have to do so I hope

I've answered your question yes when the

government stopped people from selling

liquor you know during that time of

prohibition - you have to remember we

have run into a depression okay so

you're talking prohibition depression a

lot of people out of work a lot of

people selling marketing something the

alcohol which was truly illegal at the

time that's my definition

for entrepreneurship in general did it

enhance it did it totally knock it out I

mean we had opportunities to do a

variety of different things in terms of

like business and entrepreneurship but

was most of our business so concentrated

in the liquor business that prohibition

you know I would say in your speaking of

the black race are we speaking as two

people as a whole

okay african-americans as a whole for

the African Americans the majority of

the people it hurt them I honestly

believe that because most of us were not

self-employed so unlike my family we

were self-employed so for those who were

really aggressive for them that was a

boom but for the majority of their

African Americans I would say it was a

negative where you basically whispered

how we're gonna go down to a place it

was sort of it was on the ground

it's basically underground and it was

almost Invitational because you're not

just going to let anyone in your place

so that's why they spoke quietly they

speak easy you know yes so when you talk

about my business the mangos that is the

mango speakeasy one of the reasons I own

the company demongo speak he saved my

husband and I is because both our

families was in that business during

Prohibition and before prohibition and

both sides he's an American mines

Canadian so the family is met and that's

how

you know we come together but what

happened is you don't teach we didn't

teach our kids to do wrong okay we

weren't going to be illegal but we were

legal before it became illegal they the

government put us out of business then

the governor government went back in

businesses the government took over the

business the same way it is I hate to

say it today with the drug business

which is a sad thing or the gambling you

know or even what they doing with the

dairies and doing with the farmers and

you know so politically we looked and

said one Demong goes represent the

politicians the entertainment and the

underworld and they all go hand in hand

because the politicians are put into the

business by the underworld who finances

them and the entertainment what the part

of entertainment was the brain to people

to get there so they all went in Hana

Hana that's why if my place we wanted to

take the shame out of it because would

you say speakeasy not only did you speak

quietly about where to meet but the

family had to sweet quietly about who

they are and what their family was doing

they it was a shameful thing so we

decided to take the shame out of it

because one we don't raise dirt we

didn't want to be illegal my family

didn't want to be illegal but they were

forced to be illegal they had to support

themselves so therefore and the

politicians the rules you know they they

write the laws if your neighbor next

door who's you know persuading you to do

go one way or the other

and people like to be entertained so

they also support the entertainment so

therefore we took the shame out of it

they end up raising doctors lawyers

didn't she say yes so why be ashamed of

your background you are who you are

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obviously with Harriet Tubman everything

was reapplied and you know we water what

was it that caused speakeasies to even

come about as a business we just went

over of that the because you had to

speak quietly about it first of all if

he shouted out everyone knows what's

happening they know how to catch you

they know how to find you so you have to

be quiet about it you have to trust who

you're telling it to there's a trust

factor there there's there's a little

trust factor that that's excuse me my

office I'm driving up I'm sorry

am I not speaking clearly I got you okay

okay right okay okay so yeah the teacher

we're gonna be the one that you're not

gonna see me they're gonna see human so

they won't know what you're being asked

I gotcha

yeah I've done that before and so you

know and that's why I was asking the

question about about it and I'm really

getting to an end as it relates to

business in general there was a need for

african-americans to really begin to

operate on a very quiet but something

was happening you know at that time in

1920 to 1933 prohibition was taking

place and African Americans were trying

to start businesses they had them with

just not in large numbers

this Big Easy became a place to do what

exactly what I mean you hitted what I

want to try to incorporate the question

in the speakeasy became a place where

people would go to you speakeasy became

a place where people will kind of let

the hair down they wanted a place where

they can network with each other they

became a became a place where they could

have a good time be entertained and

they could just forget about the

troubles for at least an evening so

that's to me is what a speakeasy is look

at these speakeasies and negative ways

and put terms on them like blind pegs

and all these other kinds of plays in

fact speakeasy was have been said that

that was the place that started the 1967

riots at a took place at a speakeasy too

because law enforcement wasn't very

happy with the fact that speakeasies

we're doing so well and that people were

congregating and having a good time and

and those kinds of things so just from

the whole business aspect of it all what

did it do for the economics of it from

the owners standpoint so the world were

business owners making a lot of money

out of this was it just something to do

like a social thing or during

Prohibition businesses made far more

money than they ever could make during

when it was legal I don't know why

people tend to like to spend a little

extra money doing a little wrong but as

a business you supply and demand you

take care of business you look at your

market and you you your business takes

care of your market so as far as during

the Prohibition days while it was

illegal they made money

[Music]

obviously further and further away from

slavery whether industries that they

prefer to to go into for the blacker

East african-american race there were a

lot of thriving business amongst the

black people because because we were

segregated and could not visit white

establishments they supported their own

and in supporting their own we had not

only that we have our barbecue shops not

only we had our barbershops Beauty

swords we had the the cleaners business

we had I mean we had every kind but we

had our own restaurants we supported our

restaurants we supported our

Undertaker's black businesses I hate to

say it but during segregation a lot of

there were a lot of entrepreneurs once

the doors opened up where people can

visit white establishment they took when

I attitude that the the white man's ice

is better than the black man's ice

because we had a lot of ice man and it's

old I used to call or you know so they I

have no idea why we decided that if we

can integrate a place and we could give

them our dollar even though it was

unwelcome I don't know why we wanted to

just still give them our dollar I can't

answer that why but we did do better

when we were segregated now like I said

I'm from it was a black town called

North Buxton in Canada and Ontario which

is right across the border here

downtown Detroit takes about 60 minutes

to get there but we were a black

settlement but we end up becoming very

integrated because you know because

everyone was mainly related so I grew up

not understanding just black business I

understood business so that's one of the

things that is a pet peeve of mine

because business good business is good

business it doesn't have a race it

doesn't have a sexing it doesn't have a

religion when you are a business person

if you follow the rules to business you

can thrive no matter what and if you

have a product a good product will sell

with every race or everyone so it's how

you marketing but we as black people

that I realize in today's world we have

a problem that is time I mean we really

disrespect time and when I say if you're

not on time I can't count on you and

when I can't comment on you I can't

trust you because you may take some

shortcut to you do some things that

really will destroy a lot of things so

no you just respect my time you just

respect there's a whole lot of other

things that you're disrespecting so I

think as a business owner one of the

main things I would like to tell and

teach our kids is one you can't just go

into business for something that you

think makes the money and one of the

main things in the black community was

our hair care

although hair also you can find every

texture here in every race you know here

but here doesn't really have a sex I

mean here doesn't have a race you may

find a certain texture in a more

prevalence in a race but

the only difference between here is

there is a sex between hairs you can

pick up a hair they can identify a male

hair from a female hair but other than

that you can take a guess on what race

there they are but basically the sexes

so when you sell a product when you sell

a service excuse me when you are selling

a service do the best you can you know

learn your market learn your product

learn what you or some try to be the

best at it or just be good at it

you sometimes being the best you know

you're you're the best

if people for every person who tell you

the best but one of the things is if

when people say you are good you are

good so just be good at your and be on

time and don't go into something just

for the money just learn your craft

learn take care of your service and the

money will follow what you just

described what did that mean when it was

as some people would say it was bombed

not necessarily put the blame on the

government but what did that mean to the

african-american community and economy

when black Wall Street was taken down

when you ask black Wall Street you're

gonna have to define that to me because

I'm here in black Wall Street but I

think that's a metaphor for so what was

black entrepreneurs right we were

circulating the dollar within nine it

was quite a massacre that took place in

that entire community of Tulsa Oklahoma

that destroyed well I'm have to educate

myself on that okay cuz I'm not sure

I've you know that's really interesting

I would love to yeah tell her in that

history to them the importance of

entrepreneurship and you know how it was

part of the african-american journey how

making all of this money was good for us

because we were selling to one another

when you think about entrepreneurship in

its current day what do you think

african-americans are missing are all

when I think of black entrepreneurship

today is I don't see a respect for each

other I think we don't support each

other I think when we do give our dollar

to a black man black man given a dollar

black man buying a service or or

supporting a black man he's asking way

more from that black person than he

would a white person when they go into

when you go into an establishment that

is own Bible

you feel that you should get a discount

you feel that you should get a little

bit more and you we are so critical of

our black brother or sister that's in

business but when they go into a white

establishment they first go in waiting

to be told what to do where you can just

stand back you're okay yes thank you

they wait to be seated they don't ask

well how come I can't sit here they just

go and they sit and when they asked

they're given a menu or this is what's

on the menu today well how come you

don't serve this I mean that's not on

the menu today they don't ask that but

they will come in and when I say this

I'm speaking from my own experience or

what happens first of all we have a

minimum of drinks or there is a cost

when you come into the to my

establishment I just came to visit I

just came to look and see what's going

on no you don't just come into a

person's place to stake up a seat that

may turn over some money help pay the

bills and just look and stand and just

want to see what's going on I want to

hear your band there's no overhead

there's no cover charge but yet you can

go into that white man's business and he

hasn't he tells you what does minimum is

and you're all no problem

they tell you what's on the menu you may

not even know what's on the menu but you

could you make a suggestion they order

you order something you don't ask what

is it what is it made of them what they

don't do that in our business do you

have you can't do that give me the same

respect and that's the only thing I

think that today's today's economy in

today's market of black people servicing

other black businesses they do it's a

disrespect please business is business

treat all businesses

the same so today we here

Oprah Winfrey and jay-z and Beyonce and

Daymond John as entrepreneurs and very

few recognized that there was Reginald

Lewis and CJ madam Walker or a number of

others who actually melee and sacrificed

talk a little bit in your mind about the

sacrifice that those individuals

experience oh you just okay speaking of

Beyonce jay-z and all of them who have

paved the way young people who all they

know is Beyonce and jay-z and Oprah

Winfrey and those individuals Daymond

John not as many know enough about

reginald lewis about CJ madam Walker and

others who were entrepreneurs and paved

the way for them to be jay-z I'm looking

at that as a educational problem

first of all if you don't know who madam

Walker is and the residents and all the

rest that has nothing to do with jay-z

and Beyonce as far as I'm concerned

III honestly think when these kids need

to be taught that in school or in the

household or however they should be

taught especially if you're wanting to

become an entrepreneur you really should

research people research whatever fields

you're going into and you will learn

such as I was in the hair industry so I

learned about madam Walker who happened

to be the first black happened to be the

first female millionaire not black she

was the first woman to become a

millionaire so that's a different than

what and and when you talk about Oprah

Winfrey read up on NOFA referee I love

her story you find out how she

made her Millions you should read up on

these people so you know the question of

today's millionaires or entrepreneurs

and very rich people I there they're

doing it in a way there I think it's so

smart because they are invested in their

money the way they should you you make

your money and if you don't invest it

and recirculate that it's going to be

eaten up in taxes so ok the question

gets to be a little blur when you asked

what you thought were some of the needs

african-american entrepreneurs to be

indigenous to be creative to be very

passionate with yeah passionate with but

and that was all on top of having to

deal with racism and avoiding lynchings

and you know all of the things that

African Americans when they started

making money there were people out there

there was a resistance to it so much

like we were talking about prohibition I

wanted you to talk a little bit about

the resistance that you believe those

individuals had to experience to make

the money that they did and to pave the

way just so that there were people like

the Oprah's and all the rest of them who

now have an easier walk with it and they

did okay

I don't know how this interview is going

but to spend for me to spend more time

on prohibition to back then or even you

know III I want to get past that and

what I would love to do is just go

forward in terms of the present day in

terms of where and what we need to teach

our kids and it's the same thing what

would Oprah is trying to teach what

Beyonce's teaching what

they're shown that there's more than one

way to make money and you still no

matter what they're doing you still have

to be passionate about it and they're

sacrificing a lot of their time

seriously there's when you go off into a

business each business has to be treated

like a baby you got to let feed at first

so that it can learn to sit up and once

it sit up then you got to teach it how

to feed itself a little bit just hold a

bottle then you have to teach that baby

how to crawl and once that baby started

crawled and you got to teach it to walk

you teaching it to talk and then you're

teaching it one you're trying to teach

it how to survive just amongst

themselves like don't touch that you'll

burn yourself you know the area is what

you can't go into you have to teach that

kid how to you know something happens

you don't understand let's talk about it

take it to you you may not just take it

to mom and daddy like they said it takes

a village you go out and you talk to

other kids you teach them to socialize

and amongst themselves how to so once

you start doing all of that do you know

that a kid is who they are by the time

they're about 8 years old 7 years old

you can just about judging know which

direction that kid is born into because

it had that foundation you put a good

solid foundation there once that

foundation is made then that kid can

start growing our job as a parent or our

job as a community is to help that kid

or that tree state grow strong you got

to keep it on a straight line and

sometimes that tree go to you know

wiggling and variant you got us kind of

help straighten it up a little bit and

it's just not the parents it's a

community it's the teachers just the

neighbors so

if there's anything else what should we

be teaching our young people or young

adults that are looking to go into an

entrepreneurship you've got a wealth of

experience and what would you pass on to

them in terms of outside of the passion

and outside of the nurturing component

what I'm what I'm teaching too I think

as parents as a community as you know

your past or whatever people that are in

the lives of these kids I don't think

there's anything wrong that by the time

you see that your child is into cooking

or if your child is into art and your

child is into tinkling with his hands

and making little designs or stir them

in that direction you may have a curious

cat that looks like they're involved in

a little bit of everything just watch

them and see which way they go and each

time they're in it if they decide I'm

going to get involved in this stick to

it if it's a program there's a six-month

program and the kids is looking to go

into this and they're in it for two

weeks or three they decide they want to

drop out no you discipline them you

wanted to go into that you stick it to

you stay in it for at least at six

months now after the six months because

this is a two-year program that you're

into but after that six months when you

decided that you didn't want it okay so

you sample it and you know you don't so

now here I want to go into this so you

find they're going into this well before

I let you go into this us make an

agreement that this is gonna just your

internet something that cost some money

and guess who's paying for it comes out

my pocket so since you want it you're

gonna have to help work for it you're

gonna have to sacrifice a little so

since you're doing you're gonna clean

your room you're gonna put whatever you

talk to that kid and you make that kid

while they're young you let that kid

know that nothing comes free in life and

you can't keep asking

or changing your mind about certain

things and just drop it because you got

tired because once you go into something

normally you're gonna have to sacrifice

some time so they're all playing

basketball but you wanted to play an

instrument that costs money

so I'm here you're sacrificing your time

you're gonna help clean your room let's

help pay for this you just stick to it

a lot of us we just let our kids just

sample things because they are curious

they sample certain things but at any

cost

there's no discipline it doesn't matter

they don't have to pay so now they feel

entitled after a while once that kid

threes a certain age because you've

allowed them to do these things there's

an entitlement attitude so no you're not

entitled one and then you're gonna be

thankful for your teacher who took the

time out to be there on time you're

gonna get there on time to help teach

you and then when it when your time is

up now I gotta take the next person you

came late you didn't get to you think

you're supposed to spill over into the

next man's time No

so there are sacrifices so just that's

all I'm saying is just one nurture your

kid see what they're passionate about

and then when they decide they want to

go into a business that's what they

should go into whatever they're

passionate whatever they decided to give

up playing ball or if a person is a ball

player and you know that one he has to

study now you have to first of all in

order to get along in this world today

you had better get an education at least

have a nice foundation where you can

communicate because that is another key

communication you have to be able to

communicate so while you're out there

playing basketball while you're out

there socializing you still guess what

in order to do your passion you gotta

sacrifice a little that basketball time

to hit the books so that you can at

least you have nice basic

I do lowlife or you know a little

academic so that you can if if you're

not in this country you can go on

another country you can still

communicate well well what is funny is

to me excuse me some of the questions

that I was I was told I was gonna be

asked because I have a great deal of

connections with political and you know

one of the things that I what I

personally was known for was being Mary

Young's personal hair stylist confidant

his friend is like a family I was like a

daughter to him from the time he became

there until the day I gave him his last

haircut and put him in the ground so

they were asking a few questions about

my comb and young or you know a lot of

the the people that I was connecting

with like you know dime barn or

different the governor's or the

presidents and I've matter so I'm like

they wanted some stories but I'm glad I

didn't have to tell stories I'm happy so

no that was good well well I