BRC: Talk to us, if you will, about your business, about how you got here, and what it took.

BURKS: It always amazes me that our folks are willing to go to a mall, to Macy's or some place and pay that 400% markup on jewelry. I just can't understand it. When you go to the mall, you can't meet Mr. Macy or Mr. Zales and you sure can't talk to Mr. Jared. But I'm Mr. Burks and I'm right here on Glenwood Avenue every day of the week.

Burks Jewelers has been here in the East Atlanta community for seven years now, serving your needs for watch batteries, jewelry reconstruction, replacing diamonds, as well as original gifts for all your most special occasions.

I've been a certified gemologist since 1986, one of the few black gemologists in Georgia and one of an even smaller number who have our own shops, our own brands. I got into this field when I found out how lucrative it was, and also when I saw how few blacks there were in it. It seemed to me then that they didn't want our folks to learn the ins and outs of buying and selling diamonds and gold, even though black folks buy more diamonds and gold than anybody.

So I worked at it, I applied myself for seven years at Service Merchandise, six years at Freeman and three years at Zales before opening here. Our clientele is about 75% white, and 25% black. I have to assume that so many of our people go to the mall and pay that 400% markup because they just don't know we're here, they just don't know there are African American businesses here to service their needs.

I was on a talk show not long ago and the host asked me what the difference was between my establishment and one run by a white guy, aside from the color of my own skin. The difference is about community and responsibility. When the homeless show up at our door we try to treat them with dignity. Not a day goes by that we don't feed someone. When a homeless person shows up at a white jeweler, see if they don't call the cops before they say a single word to that person. Each year we also take a couple students and work with them to begin their training in this field, where again there are very few blacks.

We'd really like to see the BRC grow and be able to offer more services to member businesses. We're big supporters of the BRC and the idea behind it. I'm right across the street from First Iconium Baptist Church, where Rev. Tim MacDonald is the pastor. He likes to tell people that he doesn't shop for jewelry at the mall, he goes right across the street to Mr. Burks. That's leadership by example.

In each SPARKS issue, we try to showcase the activities of at least one of our not for profit community allies. Late in July Dr. Deborah James made the time to talk to us about Ropheka, Rock of the World Ministries where she serves as Executive Director. Ropheka is a hard-working human services agency which operates out of Atlanta's Dunbar Neighborhood Center.

Ropheka Rock of the World Ministries is a faith-based human service agency located at the Dunbar Neighborhood Center in Atlanta GA. We've been around since 1993, providing a range of human services for local residents.

Ropheka means "I am the Lord that heals you". I got the impetus for Ropheka after working in the federal prison system as a pre-release counselor. One of the things I found out is that the men had post release needs and some family needs. Many didn't want to return to prison, but they needed support. Ropheka was originally started to fill those needs.

I accessed a number of resources, and connected with a group called the Ambassadors for Christ. We started a 12 month recovery program for men coming out of prison, to help them back into the mainstream, to assist them in their search for employment and dealing with some of their personal issues. Inevitably, we expanded our ministry into working with some of the mens' families, and it was then we developed an office here at the Dunbar Neighborhood Center to address these needs.

From there we went to doing after school programs. Now we have a food pantry for seniors and women with children. Next weekend I am taking a number of young people down to St. Simon's Island for the Black Youth Leadership Retreat, where they will be getting a rigorous youth leadership development training.

We also do workforce development training. For four years we did workforce development services funded by the Enterprise Foundation for people who did not have jobs and wanted to become more employable. During that time we began to do work with individuals who needed assistance with literacy and getting their GED.

So now Ropheka provides a variety of human services. Our goal is to fulfill whatever needs there are to fulfill, and if we don't have it here, I work to bring it in.

We have partnered with the Center for Working Families, to search out employers that are user friendly for ex offenders and have developed a modest pool of employers that will entertain hiring individuals coming out of prison. We've also connected with the Georgia Justice Project and also with the bonding project that the Department of Labor has, so that some of these men can get bonded and in this way we try to serve these populations in need for the uplift of our entire community.

Despite the transitions underway in the neighborhood the needs for services like ours are still acute. The housing project was closed down, so a lot of people have been relocated elsewhere. A lot of new housing is unoccupied due to mortgage fraud and some other circumstances. Many units of new housing have been built, but they're overpriced, so nobody is buying. We have a stock of new homes which are vacant and boarded up. We are working with our local NPU-V on that issue.

Bobby Hurd presents a Sunday Evening Gospel Explosion on August 5, 2007 at Salem Bible Church, 2283 Baker Rd., Atlanta GA 30318.
Featuring:

• A sermon by Rev. Jasper Williams, Senior Pastor of Salem Bible church East & West
• The Salem Bible Church Mass Choir and Youth Choir
• The Steppers of Jackson Memorial Baptist Church
• Pastor Dreyfus Smith and the Wings of Faith Recording Choir

Mansa's Juque Joint & Ridgetop Ventures invite you to join us on August 4th and 5th for a SUMMER MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS RETREAT and a SASSAFRAS REUNION!

This is a great time for landowners, previous visitors and those who have never experienced the beauty and peace of Sassafras Ridge to return! Come on up and escape to serenity.

Listen to live R&B music by the world famous T.E.E. Band and a workshop, presentation and discussion led by Ms. Henrietta Turnquest: Realizing Your Dreams and Achieving Your Goals Through Healthy Lifestyles.

Ms. Turnquest is an attorney, a former GA state representative and a Sassafras Ridge landowner.

PLUS... Nature walks, sunset viewing, area tours, great food, networking and dancing! Accommodations include campsites, mountain homes and a local motel.

Carver Bible College wants you to know that registration for the fall term is August 13-17. Carver Bible College is located at 3870 Cascade Road in Atlanta 30331, and can be found on the web at http://wwwv.carver.edu. Carver Bible College was established to meet the need for an institution of higher learning for Black Americans desiring biblical and theological training.

On Sunday morning, August 12, Ray of Hope Christian Church takes radical discipleship to Six Flags Over Georgia, inviting you to celebrate Pastor Cynthia Hale's 28th ordination anniversary with an innovative worship service in the Axis Arena of Six Flags Amusement Park. Following worship you and your family members are free to enjoy the amusement park for the entire day.
Tickets are on sale now for only $26 plus tax. The standard ticket is $49. Call Ray of Hope at 770-696-5100 weekdays between 9 and 6, or Sundays between 7AM and 2 PM, or visit Ray of Hope Christian Church online at http://www.rayofhope.org

Love LIfe Christian Fellowship Church holds its 2007 Golf Tournament Friday, August 10 at Sugar Creek Golf Club, 2706 Bouldercrest Road in Atlanta. Registration is at 8AM and Tee off at 9 AM.
For information, please contact Deacon Demetrius Wright at 678-612-6538
or the church office at 404-241-1499. Continue to check the website for updates.

Friday and Saturday, August 17 and 18 St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Conyers, where Bishop Rodney B. Harris is senior pastor hosts the Spiritual Empowerment Conference. For further details, call 770-388-9844.

Providence Missionary Baptist Church will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Gerald E. Durley at the Sheraton Gateway Saturday August 18. Tickets are $50. For more information call 404-752-6869

On Saturday October 13 from 10AM till 2 PM , the YMCA at East Lake partners with the Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church for its 5th Annual AIDS Walk. One hundred percent of proceeds go to the National AIDS Education and Services for Minorities, and Our Common Welfare.

For more information contact Donna Tate at 770-879-6342. Early registrations (by Sept. 30) are $15 and come with a T-shirt.

You may have received an official looking piece of mail lately with a header and other parts written in apparent legalese, something about an annual filing for your minutes.

It asks for a $125 fee, and offers an official-sounding address for you to send it to, even a phone number for any questions. We won't say it's a scam, but we will say it's misleading.

Georgia does not require business or not for profit corporations to file minutes of annual or other meetings. Two thirds of the way down the page you can find language that says this "service" is not offered by any agency of government. But you have to look awhile, and read carefully to find this information. Clearly, the senders of this misleading letter hope that some of us, in the habit of promptly and dutifully fulfilling our lawful obligations will write them checks for this unrequested and imaginary "service".

We hope that no BRC members are taken in by this misleading letter.