The Cause

His music empire also expanded along with his influence on the music scene. Brown owned three record labels and bought several radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. He also had restaurants and various other businesses. This was a major feat at the time. As Mick Jagger, observed "Before James there was a dearth of people from the African-American community who were entrepreneurs. You weren't expected to be an entrepreneur. If you were an entertainer, you were just paid and were told what to do and where to go. And you just did it. He was one of the first people that said, 'No. I want to take control.'. As a bandleader, Brown knew how to handle people, money and balance the books. Brown especially knew how to make a tour more profitable or to highlight and merchandise other acts. He also had progressive ideas of wanting to recycle money within in the black community before it goes outside of the community. In the mid-1960s, James Brown also began devoting more and more energy to social causes. In 1966, he recorded "Don't Be a Dropout," an eloquent and impassioned plea to the black community to place more focus on education. He always took the opportunity to advise kids to stay in school and get an education. He was a strong positive influence in the community at a pivotal time in America. On April 5, 1968, the day after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, with riots raging across the country, Brown gave a rare televised live concert in Boston in an attempt to prevent rioting there. His effort succeeded; young Bostonians stayed home to watch the concert on TV and the city largely

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