Business
mogul
Don
Barden
to be
commemorated
in a
Detroit
street
naming
ceremony
DETROIT
-
Dignitaries
and
Barden
Cablevision
alumni
will
honor
Don
Barden
with a
Detroit
street
sign on
Thursday,
November
14, on
Lyndon
and
Schaefer.
A
ceremony
featuring
brief
tributes
will be
held at
4 pm at
Comcast,
12775
Lyndon
Street,
followed
by the
unveiling
of the
street
sign at
5 pm.
Elected
officials
expected
to
participate
include
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer,
Mayor
Mike
Duggan,
Detroit
Council
President
Brenda
Jones,
Congresswoman
Brenda
Lawrence,
Sen.
Debbie
Stabenow,
and
Wayne
County
Executive
Warren
Evans.
Other
speakers
include
John
Graves,
Wade
Briggs,
formerly
of
Barden
Cablevision
and a
host of
other
supporters.
Charlene
Mitchell
is the
Mistress
of
Ceremony.
"This is
a
historic
day for
our
city.
Detroiters
will
always
remember
Don's
contributions
with a
street
named in
his
honor,"
said
Montez
Miller,
who led
the
street
name
changing
effort.
"Don was
my boss
at
Barden
Cablevision,
but he
became a
friend
and
mentor.
I was
among
many he
touched
through
his work
and
philanthropy."
DON
BARDEN—A
POWERFUL
LEGACY
Born
into
humble
beginnings
in
Inkster,
MI,
Barden's
decades-long
business
career
in
cable,
casinos,
real
estate
development
and
entertainment
is a
classic
rags-to-riches
tale.
Barden
built a
cable
system
in
Inkster,
Romulus,
Van
Buren
Township
and
Detroit.
The
Inkster
and
Detroit
systems
were
sold to
Comcast
Cable in
1994 for
more
than
$100
million.
In
entertainment
circles,
Barden
partnered
with
Michael
Jackson
to lobby
for his
Detroit
casino
proposal
and
counted
Aretha
Franklin
as a
confidant.
Barden
was the
owner,
chairman,
and
chief
executive
officer
of
Barden
Companies
Inc.,
the
Majestic
Star,
and
Fitzgerald's
casinos
and
hotels,
and
Waycor
Development
Co. He
led the
companies
from
earnings
of
$600,000
to
annual
revenue
of more
than
$519
million,
making
Barden
Enterprises
one of
the
largest
African-American
owned
conglomerates
in the
country.
But he
never
forgot
his
roots
and
lived in
Detroit
in a
10,000-square-foot
mansion
off the
Detroit
Golf
Club.
Barden
was the
ninth of
13
children,
and left
Inkster
to
attend
Central
State
University,
where he
set out
to be a
lawyer.
But he
dropped
out of
college
in 1965
and used
$500 in
savings
to open
a record
store,
Donnie's
Records,
in
Lorain,
Ohio.
That was
the
start of
an
empire.
He
bought a
nightclub,
a weekly
newspaper,
and real
estate
development.
Along
the way,
he
became
the
first
black
city
council
member
in
Lorain,
bought
an
interest
in a
cable
television
station
and
formed
Barden
Communications
in 1981.
“I
am
honored
to have
my
brother
commemorated
with
this
street
sign,”
said his
brother
John
Barden.
“Don was
dedicated
to
building
a better
Detroit.
He
created
jobs and
other
opportunities
for many
people.
This is
a
fitting
tribute.”
Barden’s
legacy
will
last
permanently
through
the
secondary
street
naming
approved
by the
Detroit
City
Council
Oct. 8.
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