La van hawkins biography of michael

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Businessman, restaurateur

Few people have risen so far—or fallen so fast—as businessman and restaurant owner La-Van Hawkins. In , Hawkins was on top of the world: born in the ghettos of Chicago, he had become the owner of more than Pizza Hut franchises in Michigan and the owner-operator of one of Detroit's swankiest new eateries, Sweet Georgia Brown, and the sales of his company made his the twelfth largest black-owned business in the United States; he owned several homes, including a lavish mansion outside Atlanta, and was recognized throughout Detroit when he drove around in his convertible Bentley; and he was courted by local and national politicians.

In an adoring profile published in Ebony magazine in April of , Hawkins crowed about his success, proclaiming "I'm proof that you can do anything. I've succeeded against all odds because I refused to be denied."

Barely one year later, Hawkins (along with ten others) was announce