More Park Sausages, Mom! Please?

Mr. Haysbert, RIP:

Raymond V. Haysbert Sr., an elder statesman of Maryland's
African-American business community, died at Union Memorial hospital
Monday. He was 90.

Haysbert had been the chief executive officer of the Parks Sausage Co.,
one of the largest black-owned businesses in the country. He was a
longtime chairman of the Urban League in Baltimore.

He moved to the city in the 1950s, recruited by Henry Parks, and helped
turn the sausage company into a success. Known for its popular "More
Parks Sausages Mom, Please" slogan, it became the first minority-owned
company to go public on the stock exchange and earned record financial
profits. Later, he founded a family catering business, Forum Caterers.

"Ray Haysbert was synonymous with the struggle for entrepreneurship
among African Americans at a time when it wasn't very popular," said
Kweisi Mfume, former Baltimore congressman and head of the national NAACP.