Religious, Political Leaders Mend Fences With Bakewell

More than a dozen Compton ministers and political leaders on Wednesday rallied behind Brotherhood Crusade President Danny J. Bakewell, a real estate developer who came under fire earlier this month from the chief of the city’s NAACP chapter for threatening to foreclose on an African American-owned business.

Bakewell is a key player in a real estate partnership that owns the shopping center that includes Mr. J’s Family Restaurant and Sports Bar, and is prepared to close down the failing business. Jim Jones, the owner of the struggling restaurant, owes back rent and other debts totaling $142,000, Bakewell said. He must pay $65,000 to “get current,” Bakewell said.

Led by Compton NAACP President Royce Esters, a handful of protesters picketed against Bakewell at the shopping center, demanding that Jones be given more time to cover his debt. Bakewell said that he has split the debt so that Jones must pay only $35,000 by the end of the first week of June, and that he has attempted to persuade church leaders and other supporters to boost business at the restaurant.

At a news conference Wednesday, two prominent NAACP members, one of them the chapter vice president, extended an apology to Bakewell. Esters said he considers the matter over because Bakewell agreed to delay closing the troubled sports bar for 30 days, but insisted that those at the news conference do not speak for the chapter. . . .