Man Who Built Motown Spins Words of Hope

The self-assured, bearded man wearing designer clothes and diamond rings stepped out of a stretch limousine on a South-Central Los Angeles street Tuesday and tried to make a quick sale at a drug rehabilitation clinic.

The pitch was confidence and creativity.

The salesman was Berry Gordy, who borrowed $700 in the mid-1950s in Detroit and built Motown Records into what was once the largest black-owned business in the country.

“Anybody can do anything. It’s just a matter of believing in yourself,” Gordy told 20 residents at the Hillsman Drug and Alcohol Abuse Center, 1440 E. 41st St. “You have the power to be better than you are.”

Citing the examples of Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder, some of the stars he helped to establish, Gordy spread his message of hope, work and will to youngsters, troubled teen-agers and adults battling addiction.

Honored as Achiever

The visit to the clinic was part of a tour that covered some of the institutions funded in part by the Brotherhood Crusade, a philanthropic and charitable group that selected Gordy to receive its 20th annual Black Achievement Award. Gordy will be honored Thursday night at a $250-a-plate crusade fund-raising dinner at the Beverly Hilton, at which the Rev. Jesse Jackson is scheduled to speak.

At an early morning stop at a youth shelter, the Community Youth Sports and Arts Foundation at 4828 Crenshaw Blvd., Gordy urged a group of teen-agers to keep hold of their sense of self.

“I just want you to know that I was never well structured,” said Gordy, who sold Motown in June for $61 million.

“I always did things differently from others, and I tried things that had not been done. I’m sure you have great thoughts and ideas,” Gordy said.

Asked by a young woman how he got his start, Gordy said, “By being myself.”

“I felt I could write songs. Since I was broke at the time, I decided to write a song about money. The point is, I never needed money since,” Gordy said.

Keys to the City

After more stops at alternative education classes at Marcus Garvey School, 2916 W. Slauson Ave., and the Compton Sickle Cell Detection Center, Gordy was handed the keys to the city of Compton in a ceremony at City Hall, complete with a marching band.

For two decades, the Brotherhood Crusade, with a $1.5-million annual budget, has helped health, welfare and education agencies, primarily in the black community. The award Gordy will receive--won in the past by Jackson, actor Lou Gossett and Mayor Tom Bradley--is designed to recognize achievement by a role model for youth, according to Brotherhood Crusade President Danny J. Bakewell Sr.

“He (Gordy) is the best we have, and he came from among the least of us,” Bakewell said. “It’s significant that people be able to touch him and feel him and see him for themselves. He represents the epitome of black achievement.”

In Praise of Ideas

Gordy said he hoped that his audience got his message, to “have the confidence to gamble with your own ideas.”

“Don’t be afraid to be different. Your thoughts are as valuable as those who think they are greater than themselves.”

Chauffeured in a limousine with a police motorcycle escort and constantly attended by crusade aides throughout the tour, Gordy said he felt good “getting back to my roots.”

“I just hope they were as much inspired as I am.”