(NNPA)�There is an intersection in my hometown that has a rent-a-center, a pawn shop, and a check-cashing outlet on three of the four corners. Ironically, on the other corner there is a bank. Every time I drive by I think about the money being wasted by Black people and the money being made by others via those businesses.

Of course these establishments are always found in Black neighborhoods and in most instances owned by someone other than Black people. Have you noticed the commercials for a national chain of furniture and electronic rental stores? One features a Black family, in which the father is hugging a television. The other one shows an Hispanic woman with her child ecstatic because they are finally going to get the furniture they always wanted.

What they are going to get are usury interest rates. What they are going to get along with their "no down-payment" and "no credit check" is the convenience of paying a ridiculous amount each week for a piece of furniture or a stereo unit. They are all smiles on the commercial, but they wouldn�t be smiling if they knew they were paying as much as 520 percent annual percentage rate on that precious television.

Things have gotten so bad, and probably embarrassing for the regulators, that new laws are being passed to stop the mass rip-offs of unwary consumers, the vast majority of which are poor. Limits are being placed on interest rates to slow the bloodletting just a bit. The pawn shops. Well, we know the deal there. They have been in Black and poor neighborhoods forever, and they are just as profitable now as they were 30-years-ago-maybe even more. The gold, diamonds, video cameras and watches are still in high demand and are still being moved by our people at a very profitable rate.

The new kid on the block, the check-cashing outlets and instant lending establishments are making a killing as well. They make convenient "payday" loans and will graciously cash your check, for a few percentage points that is. These places are popping up all over our neighborhoods. Most of them are owned by other ethnic groups. The check cashing game preys on the poor and the ignorant, and the owners are reaping untold harvests.

As I said, the irony is that a bank sits on the other corner. Oh yes, it can be placed in the same category in some respects. Don�t forget about those $27 returned check charges and those 20 percent interest rates on their credit cards. Man, it�s Christmas all year long for these guys.

We don�t even need to pose the question, "Why are these establishments so prevalent in Black and poor neighborhoods?" It�s quite obvious why they are there. A more suitable question is "why are we their primary customers?" Is it because we have no other alternatives? Is it because of our instant gratification mindset? Is it because we don�t trust banks? Is it because our needs are so immediate that we are willing to sacrifice a portion of what we have�a major portion�to satisfy those needs?

Whatever the reason, I hope we will make a concerted effort to cease and desist this kind of business activity. We cannot afford to patronize these businesses nor should we patronize them. They are leeches and bloodsuckers of the lowest form and we should stay away from them at all cost. They only make it easy for us to avoid responsibility, to put off planning, and to always stay behind when it comes to economic empowerment.

We must change our habits and our thinking when it comes to our money. Why give it to someone else for something you don�t need or can wait a little longer to have? Why pay outlandish rates to obtain some temporary creature comfort, especially if that item is not going to help you earn money in return? It makes no sense for us to practice consumerism the way we do.

Of course, the money-changers love it and are laughing everyday as they make their way to their bank steeped in the confidence that come tomorrow, bright and early, one of us will be standing at his front door when he arrives to open his shop. They know us like a book. Don�t they?

By the way, the adjoining blocks of that intersection I spoke about also sport a Korean hair products store, the proverbial Korean wig shop, a dingy five and dime store, a major supermarket and drugstore with police guards, and a sprinkling of other little places where Black consumers can dish out their money.

There are improvements and changes being made, however. A group of Black doctors bought one of the buildings and is currently renovating the property and bringing a new enterprise to the neighborhood. Just down the street our Black Chamber of Commerce recently purchased a building for our headquarters. And, one of our oldest Black-owned businesses is a block away from us.