James Wright, Jr. was a writer for the Afro-American newspaper, the Washington Post, and several other small community newspapers. James died at the age of 62–he is gone too soon.

I was a former freelance writer for the Washington Afro-American, Washington Post, and New York Amsterdam newspapers. During our media careers James, and I were like ships passing in the night, honking our horns here and there.

I was the No. 1 writer for the Bleacher Report in the Early 2000s. The Bleacher Report was launched in 2005 all the writers were volunteers. I had mentioned to James about writing a blog for the Bleacher Report, I heard rumors that they were going to start paying the top writers. For what ever reason, he never followed up, and he was right.

All my blogs averaged 1,000+ readers. The blogs that got the most reads were the sins of Georgetown Coach, John Thompson, and boxing “Cash Cow”, Sugar Ray Leonard. Each blog had 5,000+ readers. I knew the closet, where all their skeletons were hiding. Their closets was so crowded, skeletons had to RSVP.

The Bleacher Report dropped me like a “HOT PATATO” as soon as they started to pay the white writers.

I always smile when I hear white folks claim “Blacks always play the Race Card”, when they invented The Race Card!

When I challenged, a man named America’s No. 1 sportscaster, Dallas, Texas’ No.1 Dale Hansen for copying my sports talk show format via telephone. He confessed in a return call message saying, “Harold, this is Dale Hansen returning your call, I misplaced your number, but I finally found it. Everything you have done makes my little bit look like the peeling off of the cover of ‘White Privilege’ as you say, seems rather insignificant, but I hope you get this message, thank you.”

In August 2012, TNT and Ted Turner brought the Bleacher Report for $175,000 million dollars. They have headquarters in New York City, London and a CNN Sports Report!

My last face to face conversation with James Wright was on a DC bus on the NW 14th street corridor one summer day in July. He has always been the quiet private type, at least to me. I walked to the back of the bus, nodding at James as I walked on by. Suddenly, I turned around to go back, and sit beside him.

We exchanged small talk before he asked, “What is your latest project?” I told him I was still working on my Muhammad Ali documentary. He looked at me, and said, “Dam Harold, it has been a long time coming.” He got up to get off at the next stop, his last words, “Is your telephone number still the same?” My response, “Yea man, it is the same”, and he was gone.

The next time I heard from James Wright was in late August 2014. He wanted to know if I was having my annual Christmas Toy Party? I said, “I don’t think so, my wife wants me to give it up, forty plus years is enough!” He said, “Okay, let’s do Muhammad Ali. I am shooting for the Front ‘Page’, that is where your story belongs.” I said ok, James sounded like he had already written the story.

Sure enough, with very little conversation from me, on October 11, 2014: On the front page of THE WASHINGTON AFRO AMERICAN-with a photo of me, and THE GREATEST-MUHAMMAD ALI:

“SPORTSCASTER HAROLD BELL PLANS ALI DOCUMENTARY.”

He, John Hollins, and Dave Aldridge, are the only Blacks in media who spotlighted my history making exclusive one-on- one interview with ‘The Greatest.’ The interview made me the first black media personality in boxing history, to interview an undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World one-on-one.

James Wright was an excellent writer, what really stood out to me was his honesty and integrity. I have never read one his stories that had not been throughly researched. He never needed pom poms, and a short skirt to get to the truth. He was no body’s cheerleader!

When I was honored with The National Associations of Black Journalists ‘Sam Lacey 2020 Pioneer Award’, (Thanks to Dave Aldridge, another honest, and quiet media giant with integrity). James, left a message on my cell phone saying, “Congratulations, long over due.”

Today, we are surrounded by cowards, and bullies in our schools, churches and so-called politicians (if the shoe fits-wear it). James Wright Jr, had more balls than most media personalities I have ever met. He knew how to help others quietly, and effectively.

We all are running against the wind in America. With much respect, admiration and love. Gone Too Soon, my brother (RIP).

NOTEWORTHY: God bless, the Dell Computer Family. Making children really ‘First’. They put their money (6 Billion dollars) where their mouths are!

Freddy Lewis takes Kentucky Colonels’ star Dan Issel to the hoop.

In 1971, my homeboy, and friend Marvin Gaye, hit it out of the park with ‘Whats Going On’, heard on Saturday mornings on W-O-O-K Radio.

In February of 1972, I found my pioneering radio sports talk show, Inside Sports. In the summer of 1972, the unforgettable Black film movie classic “Super Fly” was a run away best seller in Black movie theaters around the country. The music was produced and written by super-rapper, Curtis Mayfield. The theme song was about the life of a drug hustler who went by the the name of Freddy. He was found dead of a drug overdose.

The sounds of Marvin Gaye, and Curtis Mayfield were the highlights of my music breaks on Inside Sports. There were no other sports talk shows like it in the country. I would open up the show with Whats Going On, and close the show with, Freddy Is Dead.

By the way, Freddy Lewis is alive, and well, living in Washington, DC enhancing the lives of our youth.

Freddy Lewis is surrounded by ABA legend Colis Jones, and DC playground basketball legends, John ‘Bay-Bay’ Duren, and Stacy Robinson. The occasion, the screening of the documentary, “The Waiting Game.” The story of the basketball wars between the NBA and ABA in the 60s and 70s.

Freddy Lewis and Colis Jones / photos fred Shepard

This story is about about a “Super Star” basketball player, Freddy Lewis, and how the NBA wrote him, and 24 other living players out their pensions that they deserved. The numbers would be dozens of other players, but they have since passed on.

The documentary tells the story of how the upstart American Basketball Association was more than just a copy of the NBA.

It had its own ID, they played with a basketball with the colors of America, red, white and blue. Freddy is the only player to start his career in the NBA, and play all nine seasons in the ABA with the Indiana Pacers. He is not in the NBA Hall of Fame, nor does his jersey hang from the rafters with George McGinnis and Reggie Miller’s in the home arena of the NBA Indiana Pacers.

The Heart and Soul of the ABA: Legends, Connie Hawkins, Marvin Barnes, Dr. J-Charlie Scott, and George Gervin.

There are a few important things to consider if you ever watch “The Waiting Game,” the 2024 film that documents the fight for aging players of the defunct American Basketball Association to receive financial recognition from the NBA. For starters, just know that James Jones, a six-time ABA all-star, is still driving an Uber in Las Vegas, and 23 other living players are still waiting for their pensions stolen by the NBA.

Also, understand that Darnell “Dr. Dunk” Hillman, an NBA slam dunk contest winner and two-time ABA champion, hasn’t received a pension for his five years of work in the ABA. And that Sam Smith — another former ABA champ whose sas photo on his death bed sparked a measure of empathy from the NBA, the Board of Governors and the Players Association — relied on health insurance obtained through a job at a Ford plant after his playing days but not from his four years as a professional athlete.

And yet, there’s an even more striking takeaway after watching this documentary that features a handful of former players, giants who appear broken down through rough years after the NBA absorbed four of the ABA’s teams and that red, white and blue ball stopped bouncing. Primarily, these are older Black men, and if you can connect the dots, they are the Afro’d pioneers who committed their bodies as well as mortgaged their futures to help lay the foundation for the next generations of entertainers in basketball shorts.

They dunked before “Air” breathed new life into the NBA, and they popularized the three-point shot several decades before Stephen Curry and his followers by bombing away from deep. And still, these men largely have been forgotten — and some have been intentionally locked out from receiving benefits from the NBA.

The biggest takeaway from the documentary isn’t even in the documentary. It’s that a year after the release of “The Waiting Game,” the thriving and rainmaking NBA has been infused with a $76 billion media rights deal, and the ABA players are dying poor and abandoned. Candace Parker/Washington Post (10-31-2025)

The Waiting Game is a powerful documentary that reveals an incredible battle between the NBA and a tiny not for profit working men trying to gain full recognition for the men of the ABA — a colorful, exciting, rival league that arguably invented the modern game of basketball. It’s a fight for benefits the players of the ABA felt were promised, but never delivered. While following an investigation of the legal trail of the ABA-NBA merger, key impact journalism, and the advocacy for justice, the film reveals the lines that can stand between the greed of Big Business 1% interest and basic human dignity.

I lived this charade by the NBA up close and personal.  I had friends who I broke bread with, and were contributors to my pioneering radio sports talk show, Inside Sports. I remember the players clearly, and their forgotten history.

They included: Dr. J-Spencer Haywood-George Gervin-Connie Hawkins-Jimmy Jones-Gene Littles-George McGinnis, and Roland ‘Fatty’ Taylor all played a role in making Inside Sports must hear radio.

Roland ‘Fatty’ Taylor had the unique experience of leading the fast break, with Dr. J in the fast lane on his left and the Ice Man cometh on his right.

Fatty, joins Larry Brown (NFL), Petey Greene, and me for a community outing at the Hillcrest Children’s Center in NW DC (old Turner’s Arena).

Spencer Haywood, Jim Brown, Sonny Hill, and Sam Jones (not shown) joins the non-profit Kids In Trouble organization for a Youth Violence Forum in Washington, DC.

The NBA owners pocket BILLIONS, and tip the ABA players 25 MILLION DOLLARS for their pension fund. They should be ashamed of themselves, and the NBA Players Association was compliant in this conspiracy.

Dr. J and George McGinnis, George Gervin and Fatty Taylor all played important roles in making Inside Sports, the No. 1 in sports talk radio and television.

This is an excellent documentary, and fans of the NBA and ABA should put this on their Bucket List —this history-making story needs to be seen on the big screen.

The unsung heroes in this documentary are not all basketball players!

Harold, CONGRATULATIONS!  Your archives are valuable and should be given the broadest exposure. Have you thought about offering discs of your programs to the new Smithsonian Institution NATL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE (NMAAHC). A wing of the NMAAHC WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE STRUGGLE IN SPORTS AND WILL BE TITLED “LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD”,  Your work was a major force over the years in leveling the playing field, especially, in terms of the struggle to define and project “our truth”.

I will send you a contact involved in putting the NMAAHC together.

Great job over the years,  great timing in reprising that legacy now.

The best wishes of me and my family to your wife-she is in our thoughts and prayers.

Dr. Harry Edwards

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 30, 2014 at 3:05 PM

THE UNSUNG HEROES AND BRAINTRUST OF “THE WAITING GAME.”

SCOTT TARTER-JOHN SHUFORD AND CHRISTOPHER SMITH

THE DOCUMENTARY IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE / http://www.TheWaitingGameMovie.com ($10)

Dale Hansen is a rare bird in sports broadcasting (honest). He got my attention when he was honored in Washington, DC several years ago as “The Television Sportscaster of the Year.” 

I googled him and discovered to no surprise, he was using the unheard of Original Inside Sports format (Sports & Politics) that I start airing in 1972.

I called his office in Dallas and left a message congratulating him and reminded him, he was using my sports talk format from 1972. I emailed him some background proof (videos). His response I could not believe. He called and left this message, “Harold, this is Dale Hansen in Dallas.  I lost your telephone number when you called the other day.  I finally had to track through your notes and I finally found it.  I am sorry I didn’t get back to you.  Your stuff is fantastic to read about.  Everything you have done makes my little bit a peeling off of White Privilege and rather insignificant, but I thank you for sharing this with me.  I hope you get this message, Thank you, sir, thank you very much.” 

The more things change the more they remain the same for example, Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen (ret) and Senator Stephanie Flowers (D-Pine Bluff Ark) in color and black and white.

Major League baseball finds itself in the same league, out of 30 teams there were only two black managers at the of the 2023 season. 

This is the sport that Jackie Robinson kicked the door down in 1947 dreaming more black Americans would be given the opportunity to play in America’s pastime. 

In 2023 there were less than 10% black Afro-American players on tMajor Leaugue Baseball rosters, and there are no black owners, but still on April 15th every major league baseball player’s uniform will have the number 42 stitched on the back of it celebrating Jackie Robinson Day.

The GREAT Jackie Robinson-‘He Never Played the Game.’  He was a man’s man on and off the field!

If Major League Baseball was really honest only the players who are Afro-American would be wearing No. 42.  Then you would see they are perpetrating a fraud.

The NBA is making some progress when it comes to hiring black coaches.  They are now the standard bearers when it comes Black Head coaches.   Makes sense players of color make up 75% of the players on the court. 

The NBA has one token black owner–Michael Jordan. These celebrations are especially disturbing to me during these fake black history month celebrations.  The celebrations should be called exactly what they really are–’56 years after the murder of our Prince of Peace and our No. 1 theme is still “We Shall Overcome.”

I have been asking the same question since 1972 why are pro sports franchises and white folks pretending to celebrate ML King day every year-keep hope alive?

The charade continues you add on to this lack of progress to the recent FBI discovery that several elite hollywood actresses and CEOs have been paying brides to get their dumb ass kids admitted to some of the elite colleges in the country by scaming the SAT and ACT admission exams.

There is some good news, thanks to White Privilege so far there were no Negroes, coloreds, coons, jigger boos, Afro-Americans or Ns found in the wood pile—this scam  was for whites only .

The scammers and master-minds in-charge was a CEO by the name of Rick Singer and a tennis player and graduate of Havard University by the name of Mark Riddell.  The FBI seized a non-profit bank account own by Singer and found 52 million dollars in the account.  This scam is the biggest ever in college academic history.  To no surprise the biggest college scammer were the NCAA.

The arm of college sports—the coaches were being paid millions of dollars in salaries and the slave mentality athletes were paid next to nothing. 

That has changed several years ago a group of college athletes sued the NCAA.  They had their day in court.  The NCAA skirted around the courts again when Judge Claudia Wilken criticize and berated the organization and then ruled in favor of the players, but gave the NCAA permission to continue the status quo and continue business as usual?   

On this confusing ruling I think I am going to have let Dale Hansen explain exactly what happen because I don’t have a clue. He understands White Privilege better than I.

Without a doubt the athletes are in a better place in 2024 with endorsement opportunities (some have obtained millionaire status) and the transfer portal.  The portal allows them to seek employment else where without penalty.

But I do have some understanding of racism and what State Senator Stephanie Flowers went through in Arkansas as it relates to a “Stand Your Ground” law on the books in Arkansas.  In February 1957 The Little Rock 8 arrived at the door of Central High School as a result of Brown vs Board of Education.  It was the first day of school but they were prevented from entering the school.

The Arkansas National Guard under the orders of Governor Oval Faubus blocked their path.

Let us Fast forward to Little Rock March 2019 sixty-two years later.  State Senator Stephanie Flowers a black lawmaker refused to have her path blocked and refused to retreat when her white, male colleagues moved to cut off debate on a bill that would let Arkansas residents use lethal force as the first line of self-defense if they felt threatened (White Privilege). 

This bill was law in 31 other states in the United States of America.  I just learned thanks to Senator Flowers that out of the 50 states in the United States of America, 31 states have Stand Your Ground Laws—are you kidding me? 

That stat has since been updated to 38 states with Stand Your Ground laws.

The Stand Your Ground law has replaced the rope and you can now be lynched by a gun and bullet as law-enforcement has proven around the country.

After her deeply personal tirade against so-called, “stand your ground” propositions, the bill was defeated.  The video of the comments, which allude to racial tensions simmering far beyond Little Rock, had gone viral. 

Senator Flowers tells her white colleagues, “I’m the only person here of color, OK.  I am a mother, too, and I have a son, and I care as much for my son as you care for yours, but my son doesn’t walk the same path as yours does (White Privilege),”  Flowers, a Democrat said, Wednesday during debate “So, this debate deserves more time.” 

“For a long time since I’ve been back here in Arkansas, I have feared for my son’s life,” she said, according to the meeting notes.

“Now, he’s 27 and he’s out of Arkansas, and I thank God he is when you’re bringing up crap like this. It offends me.  And then you want to limit the debate, too. This is crazy.”

Flowers, the panel’s vice chair, demanded the floor after some senators tried to curb her debate time that would ditch the “duty to retreat” clause in state law.  It obligates people who feel threatened to try to escape the situation before using force.

The critical change, which some politicians in Arkansas oppose, would align with “stand your ground” laws in at least 31 states where there is no duty to retreat an attacker in any place someone has a legal right to be.

 She reminded them, “You can’t silence me!’

Such measures have come under scrutiny nationwide, particularly after a July shooting in Florida.  A sheriff there said “stand your ground” laws prevented him from arresting the shooter who was white, after he fatally shot Markeis McGlockton, who was black, over a parking spot. The local prosecutor later charged the shooter with manslaughter; the shooter has said he shot McGlockton in self-defense.

“It doesn’t take much to look at the local news every night and see how many black kids, black boys, and black men are being killed with these ‘stand your ground’ defenses that these people raise, and substantial racial disparities exist in the application of “stand your ground” laws, experts have found. 

Defendants in Florida were nearly twice as likely to be convicted in a case involving white victims than in cases with victims of color, according to a 2015 study in Social Science & Medicine.  Nationwide, the rate of justifiable homicide was 34% in cases in which the shooter was white and the victim was black, compared with only 3% in cases with a black shooter and a white victim, the Urban Institute found in 2012. they get off,” Flowers told her fellow lawmakers Wednesday.  As Flowers spoke, Republican state Sen. Alan Clark, the committee’s chairman, at one point interrupted her, saying, “Senator, you need to stop.”

“No, I don’t,” Flowers responded.

“Yes, you do,” Clark insisted.

“No, I don’t. What the hell you going to do, shoot me?” she asked, adding moments later, “Do what the hell you want to do, go ahead, but you can’t silence me.”

“Sen. Flowers, if anybody hasn’t tried to silence you, it’s me,” Clark replied.  She then got up and left the debate on “Lynching by gun!”

After public testimony on the matter, the bill — this is what I find rather ironic, the bill was opposed by state police, the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association and Arkansas Moms Demand — The bill failed by one vote, though its sponsor hopes to bring it back up Monday March 11th.

The controversial Stand Your Ground bill passed the Arkansas Senate, but was voted down in the House Committee, effectively keeping the bill from becoming law.

Senator Flowers was the only black on this committee with white men.  My question is, “Where are all the black men?”  I salute, kneel down and take my hat off to State Senator Stephanie Flowers a woman of COURAGE, which is also lacking in the black community in 2024.  Especially, found lacking by black men in pro football during the Colin Kapernick kneel-in.  

Senator Flowers refused to be bullied by a bunch of cowards who have hidden behind a rope for over 400 years and now they wanted to hide behind White Privilege and a gun.

I have spend the past 50+ years working in the war zones of the inner-city and I have seen black on black gun violence up close.  I lost two brothers who decided to make law-enforcement their career choices and left here much “Too soon” because of of their efforts to fight crime in their community and in their work places. 

My older brother was a U. S. Marshall for 20 years and my younger brother Earl was a DC cop for 14 years.  When they didn’t go along to get along, they both were confronted with “The Thin Blue Line and Code of Silence.” 

COPS IN THE FAMILY: EARL AND BOBBY WITH HATTIE T AND MOMMY B

EARL WITH DC’S FIRST BLACK POLICE CHIEF-BURTELL JEFFERSON

This blue wall still exist in police departments around this country who already operate under the premise of “Stand Your Ground” when it comes to black America.

I find it rather ironic when I hear cops who are paid to protect and serve cry “Its us against them!”  They forget that this is a job that they volunteered for–they where not drafted. 

If it is too hot in the kitchen get the hell out and find a job working from your home behind a computer than behind a shield, gun and oath that you took to protect and serve.

The Stand Your Ground law is another form of “White Privilege” as are bankruptcy laws, white collar crime, Red lining, grand juries, justice & just-us judicial system and a list of other hidden agendas they keep hidden to make sure we stay in our lane!  No one is “Playing Fair and there will never be an Even Playing Field” as long as there is White Privilege.   Hats off to Dale Hansen and Senator Stephanie Flowers.

Muhammad Ali, won a gold medal in the light-heavyweight division at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. He is welcomed home by his brother Rahaman, and the city of Louisville, Kentucky. He discovered he could not out box the racism in his hometown, he threw the medal into the Ohio River.  In 1996, he was presented with a replacement medal and famously lit the Olympic flame for the Atlanta Games.

In Atlanta, Georgia, suffering with Parkinson’s disease, Ali carried the 1996 ceremonial Olympic Torch into the Olympic Stadium. He was the definition of courage throughout his pro boxing career.

Rahaman Ali had his brother’s back, and front during their journey in the seedy cut-throat world of professional boxing.

When Keith Winstead called to tell me that Rahaman Ali had been admitted to hospice in Louisville, Kentucky, we knew that he soon would be in a better place.

When Rahaman died, he was confined to a wheelchair. He could no longer walk or talk. He suffered three strokes. August 1, 2025, not knowing where his next meal was coming from, he went home to be with the Lord. The family that his brother left behind to look over him, had gone their separate ways.

When his older brother died in 2016, Rahaman said, “My bother was a really sweet, kind, loving, giving, affectionate, wonderful person.” Those same characteristics, he inherited from his brother.

Rahaman, fell on hard times trying to survive after his brother died in 2016; His family was nowhere to be found, sisters-in-laws, children, nieces, nephews, and keepers of the Ali estate (Museum). They never reached out to the younger brother, who was like Ali’s shadow his entire boxing career.

Ali sold the rights to his name, likeness, and images for 50 million-dollars, plus 20% of the advertising to a group out of New York City in 2006.

The deal was made with CKX, Inc., an entertainment company that also controlled the rights to Elvis Presley’s name and image.  CKX later renamed itself Core Media Group and eventually sold the Ali business to Authentic Brands Group, sold after they made billions of dollars using Ali’s name and likeness in advertising ads around the world. 

I never knew or heard whether the champ had left a will that included his only brother.

The Ali family home in Louisville was sold, and again Rahaman never received any compensation. I often wondered where his so-called extended family was when he needed them.

I often wondered what happened to the 50-million-dollars cash, and the 20% of the advertising dollars Ali received to relinquish the rights to his name and likeness to a marketing group in New York City in 2006?

There are many lies on social media describing the homegoing of Rahaman Ali, the brother of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali. One popular YouTube video had Rahaman’s services being held the day after he died.

The video described how Iron Mike Tyson had delivered a tribute that rocked the foundation of the church. The daughter of Muhammad Ali, Laila, was in attendance and paid tribute to her uncle. None of the stories are true.

Laila Ali fought Erin Toughill in Washington, D.C. on June 11, 2005 at the MCI Center, winning by TKO in the third round to claim the vacant WBC female super middleweight title. The fight was part of a Mike Tyson undercard event.  

The Greatest did not want Laila to follow him into the ring, it was all hugs and kisses in DC.

Mike Tyson, now 58, retired from professional boxing two decades ago. In his last official bout in 2005, Tyson opted to quit on his stool before the seventh round against Kevin McBride

Even though Tyson quit on his stool, he went out like a champion. After the fight he came out of the dressing room, and sat on the steps at ringside. He answered questions from the media for almost an hour. He made no excuses for his defeat. I have never forgot that moment with Iron Mike!

Thanks to Rahaman, I got a chance to spend a few moments with the Champion as he walked to his limo. He was like the Piped Piper, hundreds of fans were following him. The scene reminded me of when we first met on the Howard University campus in 1967. As we walked together down the Georgia Avenue NW corridor, only to see hundreds of students were following us.

Gene Kilroy was Ali’s business manager throughout much of the champion’s career. He traveled the world with Ali, and Rahaman. Kilroy told friends he was going to be at Rahaman’s service, but he was a no-show. I was not surprised!

Kilroy, had plenty of company; no one from the museum was in attendance at the Memorial Service, and city leaders all called in sick.

Minister Louis Farrakhan prayed over Rahaman during his hospital stay and made sure the Nation was represented at the service. Muhammad Ali’s second wife, Khalilah, was there with her four children.

Louisville City leaders, Ali Museum staff and CEO, family and friends were far, few, and nowhere to be found at the Memorial Service on Saturday, August 16, 2025, in Louisville, Kentucky. Lonnie Ali, Laila Ali, and the so-called family members should be ashamed of themselves.

Lonnie Ali and the museum administrators never encouraged Rahaman to be a part of the museum family that bore his brother’s name and honored him worldwide.

Rahaman, never benefited from the family name in Louisville. A family friend once suggested to the CEO and President of the Museum to add Rahaman to the staff as a ‘Greeter’, but the suggestion fell on deaf ears.

The museum will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary of its opening, and 9th anniversary of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award this year. Name one person, who deserved to receive the award more than Rahaman-he should have been the first. They swept him under the rug like a piece of dirt!

They are all living off the blood, sweat, tears, and the name of Muhammad Ali, blood brother of Rahaman!

Keith Winstead the cousin of Muhammad Ali lives in Louisville. He is also the historian for the Ali family. He and Glenn Singleton of New Orleans made every effort to support Rahaman as much as possible.

Muhammad Ali, met Glenn in New Orleans when he fought Leon Spinks for the Heavyweight Championship of the World in 1978. He tagged Glenn as his “Best Fan.”

Keith, and Glenn were there for Rahman when his brother went home to be with the Lord in 2016.

Rahaman, took his brother’s death rather hard right up until his own death.

In a recent annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards Ceremony at the Ali Museum, Glenn and Keith teamed up to buy Rahaman a suit for the tribute for his brother, only to discover Rahaman and Carolyne had not been invited.

Long before, pretty women, the Olympic Gold Medal, scam promoters, and insiders took his personal belongings, jewelry, robes, shoes, and gloves to sell to the highest bidder, Rahaman, was trying to do the right thing.

Ali, ignored the thieves, and looked the other way. He truly cared less about material things.

As a professional boxer, Rahaman won 14 bouts, lost 3, and had one draw. In his career, he knocked out seven opponents and was himself knocked out once. He retired from professional boxing after back-to-back losses, he was knocked out by future Superman film series actor Jack O’Halloran in what was his only knockout defeat. 

The brothers pose together after a sparring session.

After his career ended, Rahaman would travel, and also train, with his brother.  He would later appear as himself in his brother’s 1977 biopic “The Greatest.” 

In 2014, Ali released his autobiography, That’s Muhammad Ali’s Brother! My Life on the Undercard, which was co-authored by H. Ron Brashear.

In 2019, Rahaman released his second book titled My Brother, Muhammad Ali – Biography. It was co-authored by Fiaz Rafiq, with the foreword written by NFL legend Jim Brown.  

In 2021, he appeared in the documentary Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali.  The same year, he appeared in three episodes of his brother’s documentary miniseries Muhammad Ali. 

I met Rahaman in 1972, five years after I met his brother on the campus of Howard University in 1967.  

In 1972 I found Inside Sports my pioneering and trailblazing radio sports talk show, in Washington, DC. The one of a kind sports talk show revolutionize sports talk, and included politics with no cut card.

J. D. Bethea, was a sports columnist for the Washington Star Newspaper and Harry Barnett was a local attorney, one day I heard them planning a road trip to Cleveland at Billy Edwards’ Boxing Gym in NW DC.

The occasion, Muhammad Ali was participating in a charity boxing exhibition to raise money for a failing Children’s Hospital. I asked if I could ride with them to see ‘The Greatest’ in action. They said, “No problem.”

When we arrived at the hotel, Ali was doing what he did best, entertaining a group of reporters who were hanging on and laughing at his every word. The scene reminded me of when I first saw him entertaining the students on the campus of Howard University. Someone once said, “Ali could have been a great comedian.” He kept us laughing, when we should have been crying.

We tried to walk around the throne of fans and reporters to get to the front desk to register for our rooms. Suddenly, Ali’s voice boomed, “Harold Bell what are you doing this far away from home?” I almost fell to the hotel lobby floor. I felt like, I was caught playing hooky from school. I regained my composure and waved a hello, “Hi Champ.”

Rahman, would later find me in the hotel lobby, and take me to the Champ’s suite. Ali would introduce me to everyone. I would meet Lloyd Price, Don King, Drew ‘Bundini’ Brown, Pat Patterson, and “The Usual Suspects.”

Later that year, Rahaman called to invite me to the Ali Deer Lake Training Camp in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. I would drive to the camp once, and sometimes twice, weekly. I became a regular face.

In 1974, I became, “The Chosen One.” I will never forget the day Rahaman came to me, and whispered, “The Champ wants you to sit next to him.” There were around a dozen media reporters in the camp that day; I was the only brother. There I sat on a rock on the mountain top with ‘The Greatest’!

SITTING ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP WITH MUHAMMAD ALI

After the press conference, Rahaman, invited me to have lunch with Ali and a few members of the training staff in the log cabin. The chef was their mom, Odessa. The menu was hot dogs and beans. I had two helpings, mom offered me a second helping saying, “Harold, you look like you have not eaten in a couple of days.” Everyone laughed, as I gladly excepted the second helping.

The Champ and family: Rahaman-Mom, Odessa and Dad, Marcellus. The champ was, ‘Mommy’s baby, daddy’s maybe.’

MEMORIES: BIRDS/BROTHERS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER-MUHAMMAD & RAHAMAN ALI!

“I remember a dinner at the Alladin Hotel in Vegas. They were honoring all the living heavyweight champions with a presentation of a diamond ring. They were beautiful rings full of stones. Ali got his and was walking off of stage he passed a little girl sitting in a wheel chair. The girl’s mother asked if Ali could pose for a picture, without batting an eyelash, Ali hugged the little girl, kissed her and put the ring in her hand. That ring was worth thousands of dollars, but it didn’t mean a thing to him compared to the pleasure he got from giving the ring to a little child.” Chuck Bodak (Boxing cut man)

“Ali was such a generous person, he made sure everyone got paid for their services. If someone took a suitcase out of his car, Ali always tipped them right, he never left a restaurant without making sure the waitress got a good tip. He understood these people had bills to pay, buy clothes and food and a place to live. He never felt he was using his money right if he spent it on himself instead of helping other people out. One time we were in Haiti driving to the airport and Ali all of a sudden said, “Stop the car!” There was an old Haitian woman sitting by the road, and Ali got out of the car, walked over to her and handed her a handful of bills. The woman could not believe it. Ali did things like that all the time, money and possessions never mattered to Ali. He spent it on everybody but himself. I’m telling you if someone cut Ali open, they’d find his heart was made of pure gold.” Lloyd Wells (Ali confidant)

I was just a phone call away when “The Greatest” landed in New York City by a private jet from Zaire, Africa in 1974. His companions were his brother Rahaman Ali, wife Kalilah, the other woman, Veronica Porche and a briefcase with a million dollars. He made sure, this was one million Don King would not get an opportunity to steal.

“Harold, Ali had all these plans, in the locker room before fights, he be waiting and wondering like you do sometimes. And out of nowhere, Ali would ask a question, what could he do to help the poor? And believe me, as you well know, you could walk into any locker room in professional sports-baseball, football, basketball; I don’t care what sport you are talking about, and those brothers are not thinking about helping poor people. But that was the way my brother was, he wanted to help poor people.” Rahaman Ali

Rahaman, was right on the money when he summarized the mindset of today’s pro athletes. In my exclusive one one-on-one interview in 1974 with Ali regarding the meaning of Friendship, Helping others, the thought-provoking interview still helps me, not to forget who I am and where I came from.

My deepest sympathy went out to his Rahaman’s wife, Carolyne, who was by his side for 14 years she endured the naysayers, heartache, pain, and suffering of this sweet human being. During his illness, she slept in a chair in the hospital for two weeks. They both deserved better.

Boxing history has proven that the sport has been engulfed by thieves, liars, and cowards. The brothers, Muhammad and Rahaman Ali’s names, will not be embedded in that history.

Despite the racism they experienced in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, Ali and Rahaman, lived by these words. I was a witness. RIP my brothers from another mother!

I am a native Washingtonian, my life began in Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York in 1938. My mother Mattie would need several years to find her way back home to Washington, DC where all the drama started. She followed my dead beat father Alfred Bell to New York City six months pregnant.

My Aunt Ertis in the Bronx took us in while my mother waited to see if he would do the right thing. The Temptations best described my father in their classic vocal, “Popa Was A Rolling Stone, where he laid his head was truly his home.”

We moved back to DC my mother found a place to live in a neighborhood near the Lily Ponds called Kenilworth Gardens. My first home was a one-room shack and an outhouse at the end of Douglas Street NE.

My Aunt Sara (The Enforcer) told me, “Mama told ‘Brother’, he was not going to keep showing up to make babies and leave them with her to raise.” Despite Grandma Bell’s shoutout, my father was in and out of our lives like a revolving door.

My heroes have always been Black women, my aunts, Sara, Helen, and June on my father’s side of the family. My mother’s side of the family was her cousins, Doretha, and Evelyn aka Ms. B. They were like her sisters. My Aunt Ertis in New York City was like my Godmother. During our brief stay in New York City, my mother and I lived with her in the Bronx before heading back to DC.

One cold January morning my mother quietly left the shack for the corner store to pick up milk and bread. Thinking I was sound to sleep, she left me and my dog Billy with a kerosene lamp burning to keep us warm. The shack caught fire and burned to the ground.

My mother returned home to find fire trucks in front of the burning shack, and me sitting on the ground crying. My dog Billy was standing over me. She thanked the firemen for getting me out of the burning shack. Once she calmed down they explained that was how they found me and the dog sitting on the ground. I went from a one-room shack and an outhouse in NE DC to Grandma Bell’s House to Dean Wood minutes away in NE DC.

It took my grandmother’s wrath to make him do the right thing by my mother and marry her. Amy Tyler Bell did not play when it came to family.

In 2025 I still have no clue how I got out of that burning shack. My dog Billy never said a word. Instead of following the Yellow Brick Road to Grandma Bell’s house, we followed a dirt road and never looked back.

The neighborhood later became Kenilworth Courts a housing project ruled by Kimi Gray, Mayor for Life, Marion Barry, and Secretary of HUD former NFL QB Jack Kemp.

“HAROLD BELL-I NEVER PLAYED THE GAME” AMAZON 5 STARS REVIEW

Harold Bell is more than a journalist-he is a pioneer who revolutionized sports talk media.  He changed the way we talk and report sports in America and created opportunities for inner-city children, and black sports reporters alike.     

In defiance of Critical Race Theory (CRT)-though more accurately, American History.  This legendary sports journalist and civil rights trailblazer will unveil his highly anticipated second book, “For Whom The Bells Toll” in November. 

Harold Bell went from an outhouse and a one-room shack in NE DC to a White House in NW DC.  He has been called, “The Godfather of Sports Talk.” 

His groundbreaking work offers a firsthand account of his extraordinary and at times, improbable relationships with two of the 20th-century’s most celebrated and controversial figures: President Richard Nixon and Muhammad Ali.  

As the creator of Inside Sports and founder of Kids In Trouble, Bell broke barriers in sports journalism, launching a platform centered on Black athletes’ voices long before the Washington Post (Inside Sports Magazine), ESPN (The World Wide Leader in sports reporting) and Bryant Gumble’s, HBO Real Sports (37 Emmys). 

All copied his talk format. The Washington Post now own the copyrights to Inside Sports.   

His talking sports, and politics went where others dared to go.  Inside Sports changed the way we talk and report sports in America. His bold approach and no-cut card were unheard of in sports talk media. 

Today every radio and television sports talk format seen and heard is a copy of the ORIGINAL INSIDE SPORTS.  He paved the way for all who followed in his footsteps at great personal cost. 

Media copy-cats, co-opted his vision, stripping him of the credit and financial rewards he deserved.  Yet, Bell never wavered in his commitment to truth and integrity. 

Bell’s groundbreaking work has been recognized across the globe.  As he famously closed out his Inside Sports talk show with: “Every Black face he saw was not his brother, and every White face he saw was not his enemy.”

The quote shut down critics who sought to label him, reinforcing his belief that truth and integrity in journalism must come before racial divisions and a dollar bill.

Many of today’s most revered sports media journalists got their start because of Bell’s sacrifices—mentored by him, influenced by his work, and standing on the foundation he built.

Leading the pack are, Cathy Hughes (TV ONE), James Brown (CBS/NFL), Dave Aldridge (ESPN), Mike Wilbon (ESPN), Bill Rhoden (NY Times), Larry Fitzgerald, Sr. (ESPN), Kevin Blackistone (ESPN), Sugar Ray Leonard (ESPN), John Thompson (ESPN), Lavonia Perryman (iHeart Radio), Christie Winters-Scott, and Monica McNutt (ESPN). 

Long before their 15 Minutes of Fame, they all came through Inside Sports and Harold Bell.

After Ali’s historic KO of George Foreman in the 8th round in Zaire, Africa, his first call for an exclusive interview was to Harold Bell. 

It was a move that defied Ali’s strict personal rule of avoiding interviews while still visibly bruised.  The heavyweight champion sat down with Bell for a candid, and raw conversation with a never seen before black eye.

Bell’s history-making 1974 interview with Ali made him the first black media personality to secure a one-on-one exclusive interview with a Heavyweight Champion of the World. 

The interview 50 years later, remains copyrighted under Bell’s ownership.  It is part of a larger, invaluable archive of rare footage that only Bell controls.  Some of his material has never been seen or heard by the public and will be central to an upcoming documentary accompanying his next book, “For Whom The Bells Toll.”

Bell reflects on Ali today, saying, “Ali was a prophet in every sense of the word.” The very issues Ali spoke about in our historic, one-on-one interview remain at the forefront of today’s political upheaval and cultural landscape.

His words resonate now more than ever, proving why Harold Bell remains defiant when he says sports and politics are strange bed-fellas, but are American as Apple pie. 

Ali’s perspective on race and social conditioning was profound. As Bell recalls:

“Ali reminded me babies did not come out of their mother’s womb with an AK-47, selling drugs, wearing a KKK robe, or using the ‘N’ word. This is taught behavior.”

This Legacy was built with his wife of 57 years, Hattie.  They found Kids In Trouble in 1968 shortly after the riots almost destroyed his hometown of Washington, DC.  The tag Inside Sports for his groundbreaking sports talk in 1974 was the brainchild of Hattie. 

The NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB all followed Kids In Trouble into the community.  He encouraged professional athletes, judges, and politicians to reach-back and enhance the lives of inner-city children using Kids In Trouble as their vehicle.   

With “For Whom the Bells Toll”, Bell is reclaiming his life story, revealing the untold truths of his relationships with Ali and Nixon, and cementing his legacy as a guardian of Black American History.

A documentary companion to “For Whom the Bells Toll” will feature Bell’s exclusive, copyrighted archival footage of Muhammad Ali, as well as rare insights into his unparalleled conversations with Ali, Richard Nixon, Jim Brown, Harry Edwards, Red Auerbach, Emanuel Steward, Marvin Gaye, Bert Randolph Sugar, Don King, George Foreman, Thomas Hearns, Angelo Dundee, Lloyd Price, Sugar Ray Leonard, John Thompson (GT), Dave Bing (NBA) and the list goes on and on.

The National Association of Black Journalist honored him with its Sam Lacy 2020 Pioneer Award. 

When Maryland Public Television needed someone to preview the cut/paste PBS Ali Documentary by Ken Burns, they called Harold Bell.  He sat on a panel that included Burn’s daughter Sara, and son-in-law, David.  Bell made their commentary look obsolete. 

When Showtime needed a voice to help narrate their boxing special “The Kings” , Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and ‘The Cash Cow’, Sugar Ray Leonard in 2022, they called Harold Bell. 

This unique journey into sports talk and a life beyond the rim will be a ride you will need to have your seat belts firmly buckled. 

THE RELENTLESS ENGINE OF ATLANTA: HOW JOHN WESLEY HOLLINS Jr. BUILT A LEGACY ON MENTORSHIP, MARKETING, AND THE MOUND-RDC MAGAZINE

At RDC Magazine, we pride ourselves on highlighting individuals whose lives are powered by purpose and legacy. Few embody that spirit more than John Wesley Hollins, Jr., a man whose unwavering commitment to community, youth empowerment, and business excellence makes him nothing short of a force in the city of Atlanta.

When John Wesley Hollins, Jr. walks into a room, he doesn’t just bring a presence; he brings decades of impact, stitched into every stride like the seams of a well-worn baseball glove.

For more than 30 years, Hollins has operated as one of Atlanta’s quiet powerhouses, bridging boardrooms, baseball diamonds, and underserved communities with one resolute mission: uplift, mentor, and transform. To attempt to define him by a single title is to miss the point. He’s an executive, a father, a former Division I baseball phenom, a youth mentor, a philanthropist, a hospital board member, and the founder of a sports program that has funneled millions into scholarships. But perhaps above all, he’s a community architect who has spent his life pouring concrete foundations beneath dreams that might have otherwise crumbled.

At WANF-TV / Gray Media (also known as Atlanta News First), Hollins holds court as a Senior Account Executive. In this role, he has not only elevated the station’s profile, but also helped shepherd major advertising campaigns for the city’s top law firms, ad agencies, and growing businesses. His eye for opportunity is sharp, his client list elite, but it’s the small businesses that have felt his greatest touch. Through strategic media and marketing, Hollins has helped develop countless local enterprises, guiding them into Atlanta’s fast lane with the poise of someone who has mastered both the game and the grind.

But Hollins’s success in the corporate world is only one part of the story.

His legacy is arguably most profound off-screen, where he has spent his life mentoring underserved youth and building bridges to opportunity with tireless devotion. The roots of this work stretch back to Eastlake Meadows, the housing project once nicknamed “Little Vietnam” for its violence and hardship. It was there that his father, John Sr., planted seeds of change by launching the first organized football program in the community. He did it with a belief so radical and so simple: that all children were created equal and that sport could unify where society divided. His first recruit was his own son.

That moment didn’t just shape Hollins’s path. It ignited it.

As the Executive Director and founder of ATL Metro RBI, Inc., Hollins has taken that same ethos and scaled it. The youth baseball program he built from the ground up doesn’t just teach kids how to hit curveballs. It teaches them how to handle life’s curveballs. It’s about leadership, health and wellness, mentorship, and perhaps most importantly, access. To date, ATL Metro RBI has secured over $2 million in scholarship funding for students attending top universities across the country, from Georgia State to Stanford, Morehouse to NYU.

More than 700 young men have gone on to play college and professional baseball through the affordable training and support provided by Hollins’s program. Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves have backed him. Mizuno Sports and Better Baseball have partnered with him. In 2019, that work crossed international borders with over $100,000 in sports equipment delivered to Puerto Rico and Curaçao. ATL Metro RBI expanded into the Caribbean. That same year, the Mayor of Puerto Rico awarded Hollins the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, an emblem of sports-driven service rarely handed to non-islanders.

Yet Hollins is no sideline cheerleader. He is a former star athlete himself. At Georgia State University, he lettered in baseball for four years, received academic and athletic honors, and was nearly named Conference Player of the Year. In 1986, he was invited as an unrestricted free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates following the MLB draft. His approach to mentorship now is rooted in experience that is equal parts discipline and empathy. He knows the sacrifices. He knows the spotlight. And he knows that young people need more than inspiration. They need infrastructure.

His accolades are as numerous as they are impressive. In 2016, he received the Barack Obama Honoree Award for Lifetime Achievement in Community Service. His name is now forever enshrined in the 44th President’s Library. He has been a proud member of 100 Black Men of America since 2008, and from 2015 to 2018, he served as President of the DeKalb County chapter. In this role, he and fellow leaders mentored young men and women, opening doors to scholarships, global travel, and life-changing opportunities that many had never imagined possible.

Hollins is currently an Executive Board Member of Grady Memorial Hospital, where his leadership helps shape the healthcare systems that serve Atlanta’s most vulnerable. His capacity for service seems boundless. It’s the kind of work ethic that feels increasingly rare, almost sacred. The kind passed down by fathers like John Sr. and magnified by sons like John Jr.

Speaking of sons, Hollins’s legacy is perhaps most vivid in his own children. His eldest, John W. Hollins III, is now an attorney for Atlanta’s Public Defender’s Office. His youngest, Jordan, is a two-time national champion and professional MLB hitting instructor in the Appalachian League. Both, like their father, are stewards of community, navigating their own paths with the same principled compass.

Through it all, there is Tekki T. Hollins, his college sweetheart and wife of nearly 40 years. Together since 1987, their marriage is a portrait of stability, love, and partnership that has weathered the tides of time with grace and grit.

It’s easy to say a person is the heart of a city. But in John Wesley Hollins, Jr.’s case, it’s not a metaphor. He is the pulse behind so many of Atlanta’s progress stories, the kind of leader who doesn’t need headlines because his work speaks for itself. In an era where community is too often a marketing ploy, Hollins reminds us what true service looks like: quiet, consistent, and deeply personal.

That’s why RDC Magazine is honored to feature him—to spotlight a man whose story doesn’t just reflect excellence, but redefines it for generations to come.

In that way, he is not just a man of the moment. He is a man of the mission, living proof that legacy is not about fame or flash, but about the lives you lift along the way.

ATLANTA METRO RBI-THE HOME OF FUTURE MAJOR LEAGUERS–CAN WE PLAY BALL NOW?

NBC SPORTS brings the NBA back to NBC after two decades. MJ will give NBA basketball balance sports reporting for the first time in decades. Watch how quiet the experts will get with the return of MJ. Especially, those he kicked under the bus.

Michael Jordan is joining NBC Sports as a special contributor for its NBA coverage, for the 2025 season. His role will include appearing in a series called “Insight into Excellence,” features will include interviews with host Mike Tirico. Jordan will provide commentary during the network’s broadcasts of NBA games.  

Oscar Robertson’s “All-Time NBA Team” included Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Stephen Curry (he was being diplomatic). My official team consists of Wilt, MJ, Elgin, West, and Oscar. They are my All-Time “GOATES” of the NBA. MJ and Oscar are the only two living GOATES!

My second team would be comprised of Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Gus Johnson, Magic Johnson, and, Earl ‘The Pear’ Monroe (He revolutionized guard play). Pistol Pete Mavarich was great, but he followed Earl’s dazzling act of now you see me and now you don’t! My coach, Red Auerbach.

Red, and I discuss the NBA with Earl Lloyd, Pop Gates and Bighouse Gaines via telephone.

I watched ‘Showtime’ originate in Baltimore in the late 60s, with Wes Unsel, Gus, and Earl, leading the fast break. ‘Dancing’ Harry moved to his own beat on the sidelines. In 1971, the Bullets traded Earl Monroe to the New York Knicks after they refused his salary demands.

My media credential became official in 1972, when I debuted with my pioneering “Inside Sports” talk show in Washington, DC on W-O-O-K Radio.

Earl would lead the Knicks to an NBA championship in 1973. The Washington Bullets/Wizards would not win their first and only NBA Championship until 1978. With the present day charade taking place in DC , it is possible the Wizards won’t see another NBA title until 2078.

WHUR Radio talk show host Ron Sutton, and I share a laugh at the segregated Washington Bullets press table before they moved to Washington, DC. They dropped the Bullets and became the Washington Wizards.

In 1984, when MJ made his rookie debut, he wowed the league. He averaged 28 points a game, and his best was yet to come. He would become a household name, winning 6 NBA Championships.

In 2010, MJ became the first NBA player to own a team, the Charlotte Hornets. He brought the team from the first black majority owner, Bob Johnson. In 2023, he sold his stake in the team.

MJ is joining NBC Sports, just in time for the NBA 2025-26 season. He will be part of the network’s coverage which is returning to NBC after a long absence. While the specifics of his role haven’t been fully detailed, it’s been described as a “special contributor” role. 

He is definitely the NEW SHERIFF in the NBA broadcasting booth. He will shut down all talk of GOAT pretenders, and the hollering of screaming of ESPN’s biggest frauds, Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon.

Remember John Feinstein, Wilbon’s colleague at the Washington Post said, “Michael Wilbon is the biggest ass kisser in sports media.” Wilbon, is the author of two books written on the NBA journey of NBA Hall of Fame player, Charles Barkley. Despite Wilbon’s kissing up , MJ kept his distant.

This isn’t the first time Wilbon has been called out for “sucking up” to athletes (he has written books with Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan). Michael Leahy of the Post beautifully deconstructed Jordan in When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan’s Last Comeback, and in the process took a shot at Wilbon.

“All along, I thought that Wilbon’s treatment of Jordan highlighted the basic danger in getting too cozy with a subject,” Mr. Leahy writes. The access that Mr. Wilbon prized, Mr. Leahy argues, came at the cost of never being able to write something critical about his celebrity subject.

What they don’t do well is take criticism from colleagues. They’ll definitely make the thin-skinned sports media member list (This paragraph is an understatement). The best objective way to describe Wilbon and Korhisner, “They have no balls or integrity!”

I missed the initial viewing of ESPN’s Out Side the Lines aired on Sunday February 23rd. The show hosted by Bob Levy examined the use of the N word. I heard from several different sources that Michael Wilbon lost a lot of credibility when he justified his use of the N word as a term of endearment.

Since I had not seen or heard the show, I held back judgment and waited until it re-aired on Sunday March 2nd.

It is rather ironic that Wilbon, and I had a recent conversation about the use of the N word. The conversation took place in the pressroom before a Wizard’s game at the Verizon Center. He told me ESPN wanted to have a conversation on the use of the N word on Outside the Lines.

The show would be hosted by Bob Levy. Wilbon said, “I am not comfortable doing the show with Levy.” Wilbon cited that he had no problem with Levy as a journalist but he had “No horse in the race” and he refused to participate.” I agreed with Wilbon, why would ESPN assign Levy to host a sensitive topic like using the N word to white guy? Those words out of Wilbon’s mouth got my undivided attention.

I have questioned Wilbon’s mindset on different topics on several occasions as I have questioned others in media. It has never been anything personal it is a price we all pay for writing or voicing our opinions in public forums.

He said folks had asked him about our relationship, and he said “I told them everything is cool with me and Harold Bell we have talked.” It is difficult to believe anything that Wilbon and James Brown say out of their mouths. The two are pathetic liars! What Feinstein said about Wilbon sounded real personal.

Feinstein, died March 13, 2025. Wilbon, said all the right things about their relationship, “What a great friend he was, how much they loved each other, and junior could be tough sometimes.”

Stephen A, and Wilbon never played in the NBA. To a man, NBA players claim neither one of the ESPN experts, could not play ‘Dead.’

In a 2007 tribute to our Winston-Salem State University basketball coach, the legendary Clarence ‘Bighouse Gaines, in Chicago, those were his exact same words when asked about Stephen A’s basketball ability on the Winston-Salem State University basketball team, “He Could Not Play Dead.”

In 2007, in a tribute to Bighouse, I received the first Clarence ‘Bighouse’ Gaines Community Service Award.

Congratulations to Bighouse induction into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

I am No. 54 on the 1962 Rams basketball team

In an interview with Bobby Burkard on his Outkick Podcast, Wilbon was quoted saying, he and PTI partner, Tony Korhisner were responsible for the success of ESPN programing. He claimed the shows copied off of he and Korhisner’s PTI programing! He forgot, he came through Harold Bell and Inside Sports. My talk format is copied by every radio and television sports talk show in America.

Wilbon and I share a laugh during a tribute Gary Mays aka One Arm Bandit at Bens Chili Bowl in DC.

Stephan A. has the University on a monthly stipend to keep his college sports history hush-hush. The “Real Deal”, he has no college sports history to talk about! I don’t blame the university for taking his money.

There is on-going bad blood between MJ and Charles Barkley. Barkley claims, MJ was like a brother before he publicly discussed MJ’s poor performance as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. According to MJ, too much information!

Stephen A. Smith and his 100 million dollar ESPN salary will be muted when it comes to all things NBA. There will be two NBA Hall of Fame Players that despise him, one is a millionaire and the other is a billionaire.

Charles Barkley will be in the ESPN studio and the NEW SHERIFF in town will be in the studios of NBC-let the games begin!

A NOTE TO COMMISSIONER ADAM SILVER–NBA OUT OF BOUNDS:

Hi Adam, the small town of Kerrville in Texas lost hundreds of lives in the early morning hours on the 4th of July weekend due to a horrific flood. Without warning, many of the town’s children were in camps on the river banks of the Guadalupe when the flood erupted their sleep without warning.

As of July 9th across six counties in Kerrville, Texas, 120 lives have been lost and at last count 170 are missing.

The three Texas NBA teams — the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs — along with the NBA and the NBA Players Association, issued a joint statement on Instagram announcing that they had donated $2 million to relief efforts. How CHEAP can you get?

The NBA is made up of 30 BILLIONAIRE OWNERS and 450 millionaire players on 30 teams, the average salary of each player is five-million dollars+, and that includes the 10 players sitting on the bench. Combine with the Mavericks, Rockets and San Antonio, they could only raise two-million dollars? There are 27 players earning 40 million dollars annually. I find it difficult to believe, THE NBA CARES!

There are a group of players in the NBA who bet millions of dollars on NBA, MLB, NHL games and pro tennis matches. The money that they bet during the NFL season is off the charts.

Adam, you have 30 BILLIONAIRE OWNERS and 450 plus players and hundreds of front office employees under lock and key, and you embarrass yourself and the league donating a measly 2 million dollars to Kerrville-a National Disaster!

If I was the Commissioner and the President of the NBA Players Association, I would be ashamed to let anyone know I was a part of the rallying cry of, THE NBA CARES!

If NBA Players Cared about our children, they would have followed the lead of NBA 2025 first team All-Pro Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers. When he was a member of the Utah Jazz in 2020, he pledged a $12 million donation to Greenwich Country Day School in Connecticut.  It is the middle school, his sister and he attended, and where his mother was a teacher.

The donation supports student scholarships, the construction of a new athletic center, and a faculty recognition program. This gift is the largest single donation in the school’s history.  It is also, the largest single donation ever given by an NBA player to a non-profit organization in one lump sum.

Hopefully, there are other pro athletes donating to the Kerrville disaster. The donation by NBA Commissioner and President of the NBA Players Association could best be described as pennies on a dollar donation pledged to people in the city of Kerrville.

Families have lost their homes along with their children and friends, this is a national disaster. The lost children will not get the opportunity to grow up to be healthy, wealthy and wise. What about the children left behind?

NEW NBA SLOGAN: THE NBA CARES–SHOULD BE CHANGED TO “THE NBA COULD CARELESS?”

(NBA) DAVE BING-RED AUERBACH-SAM JONES-JIM ‘BAD NEWS’ BARNES-KC JONES-LEE JONES-JIM BROWN-WILLIE WOOD-JOHNNY SAMPLE-LENNY MOORE-LARRY BROWN-HAROLD McLINTON-AND DOUG WILLIAMS (SANTA CLAUS).

Bing and Wood, are native Washingtonians. In 1967, Bing was “The Rookie of the Year”, with the NBA Detroit Pistons, and Willie Wood was a veteran All-Pro Safety and Punt Returner for the NFL Super Bowl Champions, Green Bay Packers.

In the 60s and 70s they were the first pro athletes to reach back into the community to enhance the lives of inner city youth under the umbrella of my non-profit organization, Kids In Trouble, Inc. The NBA, NFL, MLB, and the NHL all followed my lead.

The 1967 NBA All-Star Game was being played in Baltimore when shots were fired after a basketball game at Spingarn High School in Washington, DC our alma mater. A McKinley Tech High School student shot a Spingarn student during an augment after the hotly contested game won by McKinley Tech.

I was working as a Roving Leader (Youth Gang Task Force) for the DC Department of Recreation & Parks.

It was a Friday evening, and I was headed home to NE DC, when I received a pager/beeper signal from my Director, Stan Anderson. He requested that I stop by Spingarn on the way home to see if I could be of some assistance.

I parked my car on 24th & Benning Road and walked across the street to the school. The school was crawling with cops, and there were students hanging out in front of the building. I did not see any familiar faces. There was a loud mouth in the crowd yelling, “Revenge!” to anyone who would listen.

The young man who suffered the gun shot wound was going to survive. I let the cops deal with the loud mouth. I walked back to Sport’s a carry out across the street and ordered a hot dog and RC Cola.

I sat out in front of Sports’ at the bus stop enjoying my hot dog. A couple of young brothers waiting for the bus, mentioned that the NBA All-Star Game was being played in Baltimore on Sunday.

A light bulb appeared in my head–Dave Bing. He was playing in his first All-Star Game in Baltimore. The next morning, I drove to the Baltimore Civic Center where the game would be played.

I arrived around 11 am, and discovered from a friendly security guard the entry of the players. It was 12 noon when Dave arrived with his Detroit teammate, BIG Bob Lanier. He was surprised to see me, his first words, “Harold Bell, what in the hell are you doing over here!”

We both laughed, and he introduced me to Bob as his mentor in the hood. I explained, I needed a minute. He told Bob to go in and he would be right behind him.

I told him about the shooting of a Spingarn student on Friday evening, and there was talk of revenge. I would verify the talk only as gossip, but I would rather be safe than sorry. He agreed to come to the school on Monday after the game. I called our Coach William Roundtree, and told him to alert the Principal, Dr. Purvis Williams.

When Dave walked into the Spingarn Auditorium on Monday morning, thanks to the All-Star Game on National Television, the students gave him a standing ovation. I don’t know how he felt, but I felt like a proud ‘Big Brother!’ He squashed the talks of revenge, with a few words about The Game Called Life!

Dave, was named the Rookie of the Year, he was the first point guard to lead the NBA in scoring, honored as one the 50 Greatest NBA Players, inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, and last, but not lease a forgettable tenure as the Mayor of Detroit.

I look on as NFL HOF player and Green Bay Packer great, Willie Wood honors DC legendary sportswriter, Dick Heller with the Kids In Trouble Community Service Award.

NBA COACH CHAUNCEY BILLUPS CAUGHT IN GAMBLING STING!

REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE-WHEN YOU HELP OTHERS YOU HELP YOURSELF/ ALI

For verification type this link on youtube MICHAEL WILBON BLASTS STEPHEN A. SMITH IN INTERVIEW via BOBBY BURACK’S OUTKICK PODCAST. This interview confirms what his late colleague and friend, John Feistein said, “Michael Wilbon is the biggest ass kisser in sports media.”

I am convinced that Michael Wilbon never cared whether Jayson Whitlock made public his complaints on his behalf regarding his thoughts on Stephen A. Smith and his bosses at ESPN. Whitlock was summarizing Wilbon’s interview with Bobby Burack on his OUTKICK PODCAST.

Regardless, it is an interview full of holes and B. S. from Michael Wilbon and this blog will help clear the record on ‘The Real Michael Wilbon’. Wilbon, thanks for the opportunity.

THE FRAUDS OF ESPN: STEPHEN A. SMITH & MIKE WILBON

Michael, I have known you, up close and personal from your first days at the Washington Post in 1978 but since your 15 minutes of fame, you are now talking out of both sides of your mouth when it suits you.

I ran into your father-in-law Ben Watkins at the Langston Golf Course in NE DC one weekend in 1995. I knew him from hanging out at the in-crowd Faces’ Restaurant on Georgia Avenue NW in DC.

He proudly told me you had married his daughter, Sheryl, and I said, “Good luck” and kept it moving. That was not nice, and I liked Ben, but you had turned into a piece of do-do. Your word has meant absolutely nothing.

You seem to have forgotten I knew you when you were just an intern at the Washington Post in the late 70s. You arrived when Catherine Graham and her son Donald decided to take my radio tag INSIDE SPORTS to New York City and make it their very own. That was an unforgivable moment for me!

Your PTI partner, Tony Corhisner was a part of the writing crew on the midnight train to New York City to publish, INSIDE SPORTS MAGAZINE.

You were hired in 1980 out of Northwestern University. I was introduced to you by the czar of the sports department, George Solomon. You followed his lead, and became a regular on INSIDE SPORTS.

In 1980, I was named Washingtonian of the Year, for what ever that was worth!  I did not get stuck on stupid, and kept moving.  What goes around comes around!

I became, “The Spook Who Sat By The Door” when I visited the Washington Post. First, I knew the owner, Donald Graham. We met when he was a DC rookie cop on the streets, and I was working as a Roving Leader (Youth Gang Task Force) for the now DC Department of Recreation & Parks.

We would sit and eat 10 cents hamburgers at the Little Tavern on H Street NE, and we talk about our being native Washingtonians and our work on the streets of DC. He was an officer and a gentleman.

I had no idea he was the son of Catherine Graham owner of the Washington Post until he was gone from the neighborhood. I was told his mother had demanded, he turn in his gun and badge for a suit and tie.

Columnist Bill Raspberry (Pulitzer Prize), Petey Greene (Emmy Award), and I use to hangout together for lunch at Faces’ Restaurant for the great fish on Fridays.

The Mayor of U Street, John Snipes, Petey Greene, and Bill Raspberry participate in a Community Day at the Kids In Trouble Hillcrest Children’s Center Saturday Program in NW DC.

I would visit the Washington Post newsroom as a guest of Raspberry. I would work my way around to the sports department on the same floor. There I would meet writers, Byron Rosen, Donald Huff, Tom Callahan, Dave Dupree, the legendary, Shirley Povich and sports editor, George Solomon.

One day, I encountered Donald Graham getting off the elevator on the 5th floor. I was talking to Raspberry as we waited for the elevator. He surprised me, when he greeted me with “Hello Harold Bell, what are you doing here”? I introduced him to Raspberry whom he already knew.

He gave me his business card and told me to call him the next time I was in the building. Raspberry, seem to be in shock that I knew Donald. He asked me where did I know him from, I told him we use to double date. I never revealed to anyone at the newspaper how Donald and I met.

I called him several weeks later inquiring about a job at the paper for one of my young men. He hired him at the front entrance as a greeter for signed in visitors.

I worked my way into the confidence of George Solomon and became a freelanced writer in the sports department. George helped me to write my first column, “Racism and the Boston Celtics”. The column helped give Inside Sports big exposure in the DMV.

Sports writer Donald Huff, would later write a lionizing column titled, “Bell Gets His Ratings Off The Streets”.

In 1989 the paper highlighted the shortcomings and lack of black sports broadcasters as anchors on local television. I was the leading voice for the story titled, “Local Anchors: A Shutout”.

In 2004 Editorial Columnist, Coby King, allowed me to write a column on the Editorial Page spotlighting my community involvement, ‘Close To Home’ titled, “Breaking The Faith-Betrayed by our Preachers & Politicians” (Glen Ivey & Granger Browning).

When the Washington Post established their first ever television sports talk show on Comcast Television, George Solomon would have me act as a host when he could not be there for showtime.

Donald Graham/George Solomon, deserve a thank you for their support for putting a spotlight on my trailblazing, but difficult media journey. The support, never erased the memory of the Midnight Train to New York City in 1976.

Wilbon, it was George Solomon who asked me to introduce you to the high school coaches in the city. I became your mentor. I kept you out of harm’s way.

There were several high school coaches who were making bogus claims of making children first. They were just going through the motions and taking the money and running.

When you became a columnist, I let you hang out with my NFL and NBA friends that included Roy Jefferson and Sam Jones. I remember one evening, we were the guest on the Kojo Nnamdi TV Show on the Howard University campus (FRAUD). We were sitting in the Green Room waiting to go on the show.

You pulled me out of the room and confessed with tears in your eyes (aka Sugar Ray), you were having problems with sports editor George Solomon. You claimed, George was looking over your shoulder and changing your stories.

You were under the impression that being a columnist you were free to write your own columns without interference from Solomon-it was welcome to ‘George’s World’.

I suggested, “How would you like to try being a columnist at the Afro-American or Chicago Defender newspapers”? You were easily intimidated, but you got my drift, and thankfully made the adjustment!

Unaware, you gave me the opportunity for my first national television exposure. You were invited to be a guest panelist on the Geraldo Rivera television show.

When I got your telephone call, you were talking so fast, you sounded scare. I thought someone was chasing you.

The next thing out of your mouth was, “Harold can you be on a television show for me tonight. Geraldo Rivera is doing a show on boxing promoter Don King, and you know him better than I do”. The topic, “Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King”! That was enough to scare you.

I said, “No problem”, what television station and what time? You said, ‘Channel 9, the show airs at 7:00 pm”. You gave me the contact person and the rest was my national television sports debut.

It was three against one, the host, Geraldo Rivera, boxing historian, Bert Sugar, and author Jack Newfield of “Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King”.

I still have the video in my archives, it was one of my finest hours on national television with the one exception, in a dumb effort to support ‘A so-called brother’. I defended King’s right to steal from his fighters!!

You, left the Washington Post in 2010 after 30 years and became one of the biggest frauds in sports media, running a close second to Tony Corhisner. He was lucky, Donald Graham had his back-no talent.

You wrote two books on NBA legend Charles Barkley. Your first book was titled, “I may Be Wrong, But I Doubt It”.

I remember, I was going in the Washington Post building one evening, and you were leaving. I was late for a meeting with columnist, the late Bill Raspberry, you stopped me in my tracks.

You had a copy of your first book, and you could not wait to show it to me. I congratulated you, and you promised to get me a copy, and leave it with George Solomon. I watched you skip down the street. It was like you just had your first child. I was happy for you.

I never received the book. It was your first lie, and you have been lying to me ever since. You are second only to James Brown.

Your, esteem Washington Post colleague and close friend, the late John Feinstein said,  “Michael Wilbon is the biggest ass kisser in sports media”.  I really don’t think that is all your fault.

It has a lot to do with the egos you surround yourself with. For example, the egos of Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Stephen A. Smith are different from the egos of Muhammad Ali, Red Auerbach, Jim Brown, Dick Gregory and Richard Nixon. I was not required to kiss their ring or ass when I entered their space.

Dave McKenna of the City Paper wrote a column in 2000 titled, ‘Black History Mouth’, This is One DC Sports Legend That Will Not Kiss Your Ass”! He learned the hard way. I would jump over 100 Michael Wilbons to get to ONE Dave McKenna. Wilbon, has no integrity!

MY FRIENDS TO THE END-FOUR OF THE BIGGEST EGOS KNOWN TO MAN!

Whitlock claims that you are mad with your partner in crime, Stephen A. Smith. The problem, he is making 100 million annually, only because he was able to kiss more asses and rings than you-am I missing something?

Stephen A is now the face of the ESPN the WORLD WIDE LEADER in sports, and you want to know if that makes you “Chop Liver”?   No, it makes you a Player-Hater, a common trait among media personalities in America.

No Michael, you are not Chop Liver, but you, and your no-talented partner, Tony Corhisner, the host of Pardon The Interruption are COPYCATS with the rest of the sports talk media in America and beyond. 

You are using my INSIDE SPORTS radio talk show format, that your former bosses at the Washington Post kidnapped in the late 70s. I was in the studio interviewing, Byron Rosen, Dave Dupree, Tom Callahan, David Aldridge, Leonard Shapiro, and sports editor George Solomon. We were talking sports and politics. The INSIDE SPORTS format was one of a kind in the 70s, it was unheard of.

Corhisner was a part of a group of thieves/writers that Catherine and son Donald Graham boarded a midnight train to New York City in 1976 to publish, INSIDE SPORTS MAGAZINE. 

Washington Post INSIDE SPORTS MAGAZINE Flipped & Flopped in NY City

Washington Post owner Donald Graham’s conscious was not his guild when he and his mother decided to hijack my INSIDE SPORTS tag to New York City. After the fact he sends me a check and asked for ANONYMITY!

The INSIDE SPORTS MAGAZINE failed, because Cornheiser and the rest of the Washington Post merry men, had no clue how to transfer my successful talk show into print media.

In the meantime, after losing several million dollars, Catherine Graham, ordered everyone back to DC.  She stayed in New York long enough to COPYRIGHT my tag “INSIDE SPORTS”, now owned by NEWSWEEK (Washington Post).  

Bill Rasmussen and his son, watched the Washington Post charade from the sidelines in Connecticut. They came up with the bright idea of taking the INSIDE SPORTS talk format and making it a television talk format.  ESPN was found in 1979. The program hit the ground running and never looked back.

ESPN copied my format, but could never duplicate it. I was the first sports talk show host with a format that dared to talk sports and politics. ESPN tried but could not stand the heat coming from the Capitol Hill politicians. The political topics threaten their bottom-line, the ESPN boss said, “No Mas”.

In March 2018, the Washington Post published a Page One story in the sports section with the new President James Pitra of ESPN asking, “Can ESPN Just Stick To Sports.” Stephen A thought there was Freedom of Speech in the work place, he left the building looking for a Podcast.

In 1995, James Brown before NFL/FOX, he teamed up with retired television morning news anchor Byrant Gumble and they discovered “REAL SPORTS/INSIDE SPORTS”. This was much like when Christopher Columbus discovering America. The Native Americans already occupied the land.

Thanks to James Brown, Byrant Gumble, REAL SPORTS won 33 Emmys and a Life Time Achievement Award for sports journalism using the INSIDE SPORTS format-another big fraud and liar!

Sports journalism and the internet are overrun with frauds and liars. The Shirley Povichs, Wendell Smiths, Byron Rosens, and the Sam Laceys are no longer among us. Dave Aldridge is exceptional!

Wilbon and I enjoy a laugh during a tribute to ‘The One Arm Bandit’ Gary Mays at Bens Chili Bowl

It is often said, curiosity killed the cat, meet Harold Bell. Thanks to my cell phone where “BIG BROTHER” has a pipeline to our every conversation, I asked Sirius several important questions regarding Wilbon.

One of those questions, “Did Wilbon ever write a book on Michael Jordan”? Sirius could never give me a straight answer. I revisited Wilbon’s friend and colleague John Fiestien saying, Wilbon was one of the biggest ass kisser’s in sports media. I thought for sure Wilbon had kissed MJ’s ass for a book deal!

I lost Wilbon’s cell number years ago, I could no longer call him directly. It has long been said, “Harold Bell is too confrontational”. I found it better than talking behind the person’s back!

I badgered Sirius enough, she contacted Wilbon, and posed the MJ question. It was about an hour later, I noticed a text on my phone asking, “Who is this, and no I did not”. Lord behold, it was Michael Wilbon.

You would have thought I had just won the Pulitzer Prize. I could not believe, ‘Mr. Wonderful’ had responded to my inquiry!

I have never been fishing, but evidently, I had used the right bait to get you to bite. My next text to you read, “Did you give the go ahead for Jayson Whitlock to call out Stephen A, Smith and ESPN on your behalf”? In Whitlock’s summary you claimed PTI’s impact is responsible for the success of ESPN’s affiliates and their talk shows aired on the network”. If you said those words in the OUTKICK interview, you are delusional.

“You, for one are aware that you and Corhisner copied the talk format of your mentor, Harold Bell and Inside Sports.

During your tenure at the Washington Post you were a regular on INSIDE SPORTS and my media roundtable with George Solomon, Bill Rhoden (NY Times), Larry Fitzgerald Sr. (Minnesota Spokesman), Kevin Blackistone (Dallas Morning News) and Ron Sutton (WHUR Radio). They were all contributors in the 1970s.

There were discussions regarding sports and politics. Your successful reign at the newspaper was due to your association with a man you once called your mentor, Harold Bell. You leaned on me for advice.” If this is a lie you can reach me at 240-304-1000. I never expected you to call-too much heat.

Your response to my text, “I don’t talk to Whitlock, haven’t in many years and I don’t get involved in back and forth b. s. over who said what when the shit may not be accurate anyway…and that’s that…”

In response to your “I don’t get involved in back and forth b. s. over who said what when the shit may not be accurate anyway…and that’s that…”

You never responded to my contribution to your career success. You are pretending that you and Tony Corhisner created the format that is use by every radio and television sports talk show in America and beyond, the format was created by HAROLD BELL and INSIDE SPORTS in Washington, DC in 1972.

When James Brown was quoted saying, “Harold has always been a voice for people who did not have a voice. He has always called it as he saw it. He has been an inspiration and motivation for me and a lot of other black broadcasters”. Michael Wilbon, even though James was talking out of both sides of his mouth, he was talking about you and the rest of the frauds in sports media.

Dr. Harry Edwards got it right when he said,

Harold,

CONGRATULATIONS!  Your archives are valuable and should be given the broadest exposure. Have you thought about offering discs of your programs to the new Smithsonian Institution NATL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE (NMAAHC). A wing of the NMAAHC WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE STRUGGLE IN SPORTS AND WILL BE TITLED “LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD”,  Your work was a major force over the years in leveling the playing field, especially, in terms of the struggle to define and project “our truth”.

I will send you a contact involved in putting the NMAAHC together.

Great job over the years,  great timing in reprising that legacy now.

The best wishes of me and my family to your wife-she is in our thoughts and prayers.

Dr. Harry Edwards

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 30, 2014 at 3:05 PM

Wilbon, you have become such a pathetic liar, you are beginning to believe your own lies. You can run but you cannot hide.

Wilbon, your son will be 18 years old next year, and he will read this blog one day or one of his friends will confront him and asked, “Why did Harold Bell write all these bad things about your father”? I would love to be a fly on the wall when you have to respond to him–I am sure, it be another lie!

It is often said, “If you want to hide an important message from Black folks, put it in a book”. Today, if you want to hide the continued struggles of Black America, your response to Kendrick would be, “I did not understand a word you said.” We are still looking for love in all the wrong places!

His message is so important, the NFL has barred me from showing you the link that explains Kendrick Lamar’s half-time show at the Super Bowl. His message is that important to black, brown people and our youth. The NFL is requiring you go to YouTube so they can get paid for the views.

It is important that you check out his message, and I promise you will come away a “WOKE” person. See the link description below on YouTube, where his 13-minute message is explained in 17 minutes. He beat the NFL at its own game! ‘Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance Explained: Hidden Messages and Cultural Commentary‘.

The response reminded me of how African Villages communicated and stayed a step ahead of white slave hunters via the drum. Slaves brought to America communicated via gospel hymns. It took them decades to understand the messages sent by the drum and gospel hymns.

Kendrick Lamar is selling out NFL and MLB stadiums on his American tour. Someone must understand what he is saying!

During his performance at NW Stadium, I discovered Kendrick had taken rap to another level.

His 2017 album Damn won five Grammys, including Best Rap Album, and became the first non-classical or jazz work to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He’s won 37 BET Hip Hop Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

“Not Like Us” exposes the on-going Crabs in the Barrel, Player Haters, envy and jealous mentally that keeps us in the back of the bus. Common sense is no longer common in our community.

His storytelling throughout his performances portrays the complexities of modern Black American life.

His half-time Super Bowl performance was the most viewed in NFL history. The show was seen by 133 million viewers, surpassing Michael Jackson and Prince’s performances. I attended his concert at NW Stadium in Prince George’s County, Maryland, home of the NFL Commanders.

He is without a doubt the GREATEST RAPPER in the World. The 1% has tried to impose Critical Race Theory (CRT) in our education system, barring Black History from being taught in our schools.

If you listened closely, you would learn Kendrick’s messages are delivered in his choreography and lyrics. He has borrowed from the ‘Original Rappers’ Oscar Brown, Jr, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Marvin Gaye, Muhammad Ali, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (Wake Up Every Body).

Kendrick Lamar has taken the teaching of Black History to another level, via rap music, lyrics and choreography on stage and in social media.

Too many black adults are caught up in the profanity and his ongoing feud with rival rapper Drake, it is nothing new. All of that is a camouflage for his REAL message.

Kendrick explains, the charade of promises never kept, “Forty-Acres and a Mule. The context of the phrase in the performance was part of a larger commentary on social justice and racial inequality in America”. 

Kendrick’s performance at NW Stadium included other symbolic elements, such as a distorted American flag, a prison yard set design, and references to gaming and mass incarceration. His lyrics and choreography reinforced the theme of systemic oppression and the fight for liberation. 

If you thought the NFL owners and Roger Goodell had a clue to his 13 minute presentation, he would have never got in the stadium. I think Jay Z has booked his last half-time show for the NFL.

Kendrick is saying, “You can run, but you cannot hide from the TRUTH”!

The best example: The Black Farmer has been cheated and bamboozled out of his promised of 40 Acres and a Mule since 1865. Those promises were made and never kept.

The baton was passed on to the modern-day slave owner, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. He was appointed by Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden to sit at the door and block the Black Farmers’ progress. Millions of dollars designated by Biden to help rescue the black farmers never reached them.

The funds for them went directly to the white farmer. The Black Farmer was required to fill out an application of 40 pages, plus 10 to qualify. The white farmer’s funds went directly to his bank.

The Congressional Black Caucus sat on the sidelines and gave the Black Farmer a “HEAD FAKE LEFT” while they went to the RIGHT for a, “Party Over Here and Party Over There”, during Caucus week ends.

Today’s exceptions: There are ‘NEW’ sheriffs on The Hill, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), llhan Omar (D-Minn), Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex) and the only man with balls to say “No Mas”, Al Green (D-Tex).

One sheriff, Jasmine Crockett, threw her hat in the ring to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia as ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. She withdrew her candidacy after receiving only 6 votes within the Democratic party. She needed 150 votes to secure a decisive victory.

Crockett summarized her withdrawal, saying, “It was clear by the numbers that my style of leadership is not exactly what they were looking for, and so I did not think it was fair for me to push forward.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was thrown under the bus by Adam Schiff (D-Cali) for suggesting impeachment for President Trump after he bombed Iran without getting approval from Congress.

This is political player-hating at its best. She refused to play the game, smile, bow down, and kiss every jackass she encountered. In the meantime, black and brown people are treated like criminals and carted off to jail, and little children’s blood flows in our streets. This is no time to be young, gifted, and black in America.

In 2009, U. S. Attorney Eric Holder, as a cabinet member of the Obama Administration, addressed a Black History Month forum at the Department of Justice. He dropped a bomb as it related to racism in America.

He declared, “Americans wrongly consider the United States a melting pot. In things racial, we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards and bullies.”

It took a whole lot of balls to make that statement as a black man and politician, but it was the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In 2025, Donald Trump made him a prophet.

We have a bunch of clowns in social media with podcasts; they don’t have a clue. The biggest fraud and con artist is Stephen A. Smith. He is the hollering and screaming clown you can find on ESPN’s “First Take.”

I played football and basketball for the legendary basketball coach, Clarence ‘Bighouse’ Gaines at Winston-Salem State in Winston-Salem, NC. In 2007, the Alumni Association paid tribute to Bighouse in Chicago. I was awarded the first ever, Bighouse Gaines Community Service Award.

Big Man on campus, Clarence ‘BigHouse’ Gaines & HB in Chicago.

After the tribute, we were sitting around in the lobby reminiscing about days gone by. My teammate and roommate, Barney Hood, brought up the name of Stephen A. He asked Bighouse what kind of player he was, Bighouse didn’t miss a beat, his response, “He could not play dead”! NBA players seem to think along those same lines. Stephen A. and his 1.5 college basketball average are laughing all the way to the bank.

Podcast talk show host Roland Martin, and Black Farmer supporter Corey Lea had different opinions on how to support Black Farmers.

The breakdown in communications with Martin and Lea seems to be personal. Martin refused to interview Black Farmers in the field, trying to save their farms, or to Lea, who was in and out of courtrooms around the country, trying to get the funds Vilsack refused to make available.

John Boyd, who seems to be living in the lap of luxury, was Martin’s mouthpiece on the Roland Martin Podcast, with head cheerleader and wannabe, Scott Bolden, another fraud.

Whoever said, “Black Don’t Crack” has not visited ‘The Hill’ lately. There are three women, who are our warriors and risk takers. They don’t sit on the fence and wait to see which lane is safe to travel. They travel in the Right Lane above the speed limit.

When Ocasio-Cortez was disrespected on the Capitol steps by a white Congressman, she called a meeting of her colleagues to discuss the matter. Al Green was the only Black MAN to show up!

In the meantime, too many Black Farmers have lost their lands and lives waiting for Black Leadership to lead! The leadership that has become null and void.

My friend and Spingarn High School football teammate, Lawrence Lucas, has been on the front lines in this struggle for almost 30 years. He joined John Boyd and Corey Lea in the 1990s. He has been the leading voice for the ‘Black Farmers for Justice’.

1957, the teammates are still in the struggle. Lucas No. 55 standing on the back row, left, and HB on the back row with a helmet under my arm.

After college Lucas worked abroad in Addis Ababa, the Capitol of Ethiopia for the Mapping and Geography Institute from 1965-1970. After that assignment, he returned home and became a speech writer with the administration of President Jimmy Carter.

Lucas, has worked closely on behalf of the Black farmer with Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont), and Corey Booker (D-NJ). Many black farmers today feel that black leadership failed them. There is little or no togetherness, their eyes are not on the prize–EQUALITY.

Kendrick is 38 years old and hails from Compton, California. I was introduced to his rap choreography and lyrics by musician King Shaza in 2019. Shaza is known as the Godson of Rap. In the 60s and 70s when the legendary Gil Scott-Heron went on the road for live concerts, King was his opening act.

I find it amusing that Black folks are still trying to interpret Kendrick’s message (especially black adults). More than likely, they are waiting for Ken Burns ‘The Keeper’ of Black History on PBS to produce a documentary on rap music. He would then interpret Kendrick’s message to them for them!

Muhammad Ali-Harold Bell-Gil Scott-Heron & Kendrick Lamar, saw something and said something!

Email from Dr. Harry Edwards (2014), Dr. Edwards was leader of the 1968 boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City.

H,

CONGRATULATIONS!  Your archives are valuable and should be given the broadest exposure. Have you thought about offering discs of your programs to the new Smithsonian Institution NATL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE (NMAAHC). A wing of the NMAAHC WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE STRUGGLE IN SPORTS AND WILL BE TITLED “LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD”,  Your work was a major force over the years in leveling the playing field, especially, in terms of the struggle to define and “PROJECT OUR TRUTH”.

I will send you a contact involved in putting the NMAAHC together.

Great job over the years,  great timing in reprising that legacy now.

The best wishes of me and my family to your wife-she is in our thoughts and prayers.

Dr. Harry Edwards Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 30, 2014 at 3:05 PM

Meet the press: H Rap Brown-Tommie Smith-Dr. Harry Edwards & Stokely Carmichael in DC 1969.

THE DEFINITION OF COURAGE: WHEN A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!

NOTEWORTHY: Meet Zohran Mamdani, Keeping Hope Alive on the Breakfast Club. This is the kind of politician who will give all Americans hope. We must stop rewarding and honoring crooks and thieves. And those who go along to get along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mb_i6o50oU

WHAT IS IN YOUR WALLET?

The Players in the U Street Corridor in 1968: Thurston McLain-Gene Byrd-Alfred Harvey-Johnny Jones-Co-Captain Bernard Hillary–Co-Captain Lloyd ‘Preacher’ Jones-Sidney Williams-Co-Captain Gene Ward-Johnny Taylor-Butch Harvey-Dynamite-Nat ‘June Bug’ Bruce-Ronald ‘Blue’ Hamilton-Billy ‘Buck’ Johnson, and Wade.

ALL THE USUAL SUSPECTS–HARRISON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 1968 GRADUATING CLASS

I was home celebrating my birthday on May 21st, and the forecasters had predicted rain for the next three days. My wife Hattie and I decided to stay home and have a quiet dinner. In the meantime, the NBA Playoffs had started.

Despite the disappointment of my cousin Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers early and unexpected exit by the Indiana Pacers, there was still some great basketball to be played.

Donovan had three straight 40 points plus games playing with an injury to his ankle, but he got no help from his teammates. The Boston Celtics followed the Cavaliers and lost unexpectedly to the New York Knicks. Despite that lost, I still felt there was still great basketball to be played, and there was my birthday to celebrate.

Later that evening I received a call from Ricky Williams one of my young men from my Roving Leader Days with the DC Department of Recreation & Parks. The phone had been ringing off and on all day with birthday wishes, and I am thinking that since it was Ricky, it was another birthday wish. Instead of ‘Happy Birthday’, his first words were, “We have lost another one, Preacher, Lloyd Jones.”

The next calls were from Billy ‘Buck’ Johnson, Raymond Hawkins and I received a text and photo from Danny Lewis with me, Preacher, and some of ‘The Usual Suspects.’

BOYS NO LONGER IN THE HOOD: MIKE ‘EARDRUM’ COKER-HB-TIM BEST-LL0YD ‘PREACHER’ JONES-MIKE WILLIAMS & VERN BEST

Suddenly, the memories started to rush back to where it all started with Preacher, Ricky, Billy Buck, Ray-Ray and Danny Lewis.

In 1965, Petey Greene talked the United Planning Organization CEO Mr. James Banks into giving me my first Job out of college (Winston-Salem State University). I was hired as a Neighborhood Worker.

I grew up in NE DC, but I spent the weekends hanging uptown in the neighborhood of the Howard Theater and Bannecker field to watch football under the lights. We would venture down to Turners Arena to find what was so special about the building (It was fight night). I saw my mother, aunts, Uncle Billy, and their New York friends in front of the arena. I never ventured to 13th and W Street again. Uncle Billy did not play.

The New York and DC crew are ready to venture to Jimmy McPhail’s Ball Room nightclub on Bladensburg Road in NE, Black Broadway on the U Street corridor in NW, and parts unknown on the weekend. Cousin Lewis and Uncle Billy (in glasses) are sitting on the right. They were dressed to The Nines.’

The United Planning Organization was a self-help organization located on the Black Broadway-U Street corridor of NW DC. This stretch of landscape was the home of everything black in the Nation’s Capitol.

I met the Harrison Playground and Harrison Elementary School crew in 1967. My domains were the playgrounds and DC Public Schools in the area. Garnett Patterson Jr. High and Cardozo High Schools were where I would find the knuckleheads (it takes one to know one), and Bruce, Garrison, and Harrison Elementary Schools were where I thought I would find the ones eager to learn, and were worth saving.

L-R: H. Rap Brown, Tommie Smith, Dr. Harry Edwards and Stokely Carmichael during a press conference. I was just an observer!

This press conference was held across from W-U-S-T Radio, on the corner of 9th and W Streets, NW. “The Mayor For Life”, Marion Barry arrived in DC around the same time as H Rap, Tommie, Harry and Stokely.

They were The Original Blues Brothers. The four were meeting in DC after the 1968 April 4th murder of Dr. Martin Luther King and the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympic Games. The discussion centered around, “Where Do We Go From Here?”

It was in the Olympics that Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their Black Fisted Gloves above their heads, protesting racism in America. Their raised hands were seen and heard around the World. They would pay the price. The white brother on the podium who supported them was ostracized in his native land of Australia. Peter Norman died at the age of 64 in 2006.

Depression and alcohol were cited as the cause of his early demise. Tommie Smith and John Carlos would travel to Australia to be pallbearers at his funeral.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the Black fist salute.

Tommie and John carried Peter Norman to his resting place and sadly went their separate ways. They did not wait until “Death Do Us Part.”

1968 Mexico City Olympic medal winners, John Carlos and Mel Pender are having a sit-down chat with me in Atlanta. John won the Bronze Medal for his third-place finish in the 200-meter dash, and Mel won the Gold Medal in the 4×100-meter hurdle relay. No love lost, and they have gone their separate ways. They are great friends, and I will not analyze them. I wish both peace and happiness.

The 1968 Olympic boycott was the Brainchild of Dr. Harry Edwards. Harry was a regular on Inside Sports during the 70s and 80s. Read what he wrote regarding the history-making Inside Sports talk show format:

Re: INSIDE SPORTS

From: Harry Edwards

Subject: Re: INSIDE SPORTS

To: hkbell82@comcast.net

H-

CONGRATULATIONS!! Your archives are valuable and should be given the broadest possible exposure.  Have you thought about offering disc of your programs to the new Smithsonian Institution NATL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE (NMAAHC)  a wing of the NMAAHC WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE STRUGGLE IN SPORTS AND WILL BE TITLED “LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD”,  Your work was a major force over the years in leveling the playing field, especially in terms of the struggle to define and project “our truth”.

I will sent you a contact involved in putting the NMAAHC together.

Great job over the years, great timing in reprising that legacy now.

The best wishes of me and my family to your wife-she is in our thoughts and prayers.

Harry

Sent from my iPhone

On JAN 30, 2014 at 3:05 PM 

It was after the press conference in DC, I introduced Rap to Petey, and Petey introduced him to Mr. Banks. H. Rap was hired as a Neighborhood Worker for UPO, U Street, and Black Broadway history. Petey, H Rap, and I were together for a year before Rap was named the Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in DC, replacing Stokely Carmichael.

In 1967 my next job would be with the DC Department of Recreation & Parks, Roving Leader Program (Youth Gang Task Force). Petey would stay with UPO and Mr. Banks.

1967 was a good year. I met Muhammad Ali on the Howard University campus. The meeting was life-changing, and we became great friends, so great that I was the only one he allowed to interview him after the Rumble in the Jungle. 50+ years later, those in sports media still cannot figure out–why me!

April 4, 1968, was not a good day. I remember exactly where I was, I was standing on the corner of 9th and U Streets with my co-worker, NFL and Green Bay Packer great, Willie Wood. We just had lunch at the Che Maurice Club, the hangout of the in-crowd. We were just standing on the corner enjoying a bright sunny spring day.

Suddenly, a car drove by with my friend Harvey Cooper hanging out of the window, screaming, “They just shot Dr. King in Memphis!” Willie and I looked at each other, wondering what Harvey had just said. We got our answer when the lunch crowd came out of Che Maurice, looking confused as we were.

Yes, Dr. King had been shot, but his condition was unknown. Willie suggested we call the office to check our status. As we started to walk down the U Street corridor, U. S. Marshall in Charge, Luke Moore, joined us. Luke was the first black U. S. Marshal in Charge since the appointment of abolitionist Frederick Douglass by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889.

When we arrived across the street from Ben’s Chili Bowl, there was Ben, John Snipes and several other men standing in front of the restaurant. Luke went over to see what was going on, minutes later he came back to tell us that Ben had orders to shut down his restaurant. I discovered later that Luke had called President Lyndon Johnson at the White House, and had the shutdown order rescinded.

I called my boss Stan Anderson at the DC Recreation Department and I was told to report to the 13th Precinct to Assistant Chief Timon O’Bryant. He was the highest-ranking black cop on the DC Police Department. To my surprise, I was on loan to the department during the riots.

O’Bryant swore me in, and gave me a badge and no gun to get me through police and military barriers. It was four nights and four days before the riots ended. I was shocked to learn, 13 people had lost their lives. I could not turn in my badge fast enough! The riots almost destroyed the city.

Out of the ashes, my wife Hattie and I found Kids In Trouble, Inc., and the Hillcrest Saturday Program. The program would combine Harrison Elementary, Harrison Playground, and Hillcrest Children’s Center.

Our toy parties and community endeavors for elementary school children thrived from 1968 to 2013 without grants or loans. Thanks to my Virginia Sailor football teammates and Hattie’s co-workers at Cardozo High School, they helped to put us on the right path for success.

Harold McLinton shares some kind words with a child. He proves that No One Was Too Tall To Stoop to Help A Child.

Native Washingtonians, Willie Wood (NFL), and Dave Bing (NBA), would be the first pro athletes to reach back and help Kids In Trouble to enhance the lives of inner-city children.

https://youtu.be/Fkafk63frbg / There Goes the Judge Thurgood Marshall  

Mr. Personality and my mentor, Luke Moore would bring his co-workers from the DC Superior Court, Judges Harry T. Alexander, Ted Newman, Gene Hamilton, and Henry Kennedy, Jr., for support.

My Virginia Sailor teammate, LB George Kelly was my first Santa Claus. NFL LB Harold McLinton, WR Roy Jefferson, RB Larry Brown, and DB Ted Vactor would follow as Santa’s Helpers. NFL MVP QB Doug Williams would follow their lead to the Saturday Program during the 70s and 80s.

Harrison Elementary School Principal, Mr. Cousins, and I became great friends. He was having problems with a couple of knuckleheads (It takes one to know one), relating to absenteeism and disrupting class whenever they felt the urge. He granted me all access to classrooms if there was a need. I met with the teachers and got their approval.

My major was elementary education at Winston-Salem State, but I never wanted to be a classroom teacher. I remembered I was a knucklehead.

The Harrison knuckleheads, I would see after school at the Harrison Playground directly across the street. I discovered some of them were outstanding athletes. It did not matter what sport they excelled in any and everything if there was a ball involved.

Several of them heard I was playing minor league football on the weekends and would show off for me in the evenings on the playground. Gene Ward, Bernard Hillary, Arthur House, and Dynamite were among the gifted ones. I needed to find a way to harness their anti-social behavior in school.

I spoke with Mr. Cousins in reference to having tryouts for touch football games against schools in the area. There were several other elementary schools, I had spoken to about the program. The games would be played after school. He gave me his okay!

The first thing I had to do was to lay-out some ground rules for eligibility to participate. The Rules: Regular School Attendance-Maintain a C average-No profanity in school or on the field. The rules were simple, but difficult to keep for several of my super-star athletes.

Enter Kirby Burkes, a no-nonsense and respected W Street parent, to share coaching duties with me. It was a “Good Cop-Bad Cop” environment, and the tough love we handed out got the winning results we hoped for.

We appointed young men, Lloyd ‘Preacher’ Jones, Bernard Hillary and Gene Ward in leadership roles and it led to winning ways on and off the field of play.

When boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard returned from the 1978 Olympic Games after winning a Gold Medal, he expected a ticker-tape parade, instead, he was met with a media onslaught for having a child out of wedlock. He lost his self-esteem and refused to leave his home for days.

His “Brain-Trust” had no clue what to do; they found me on the tennis courts in Anacostia and asked me to see if I could talk him out of hiding. The next day, I went to his hideout (home) in Palmer Park, and knocked on the door. He greeted me with tears in his eyes. After I got his attention, I suggested he put on a suit and his Gold Medal and follow me.

On the way to see Ray, I called Mr. Cousins at Harrison Elementary and explained to him that I was bringing Sugar Ray Leonard to the school. I needed him to have a class there so they could ask him about his Olympic experience. I thought the little children would help him to regain his self-esteem. It worked!

He was all smiles as we left the school. He was a brand-new man. He was so confident, he asked to be on my talk show, Inside Sports, the next day. He wanted to discuss his Olympic experience further. All I could do was smile, mission accomplished.

Sugar Ray was in his element talking with the young guest on Inside Sports after his guest appearance.

HB, Ricky Dargan, and Kirby Burkes, meet with Officer Friendly, Charles Robinson of the 13th Police Precinct stopping in the neighborhood to chit-chat. Robinson and my friend and former high school teammate, Officer Andrew Johnson, were great communicators.

Larry Brown bruising style of running made him the No. 1 rusher in the NFL in 1973

Roland ‘Fatty’ Taylor (NBA)-Larry Brown (NFL) and Petey Green, hanging out with me during a Saturday Program Community Day.

NFL Films capture Larry Brown and Harold McLinton teaching water safety to Hillcrest Saturday Program children.

Harold McLinton with Hillcrest Saturday Program Legend Michael Gee and Bruce on his left.

Petey would later win two Emmy Awards for his TV show, “Petey Greene’s Washington.” He gave 5 minutes every Sunday to talk sports, leading to my trail-blazing “Inside Sports” talk show.

On any given Saturday, visitors to the Saturday Program, pro athletes, media personalities, DC Superior Court Judges, and Police Chief Burtell Jefferson, were all in the building.

Petey Greene and Dave Bing return to the ghetto to honor the Hillcrest Saturday Program All-Stars.

White high school students on a yellow school bus would travel from Takoma Park, a suburb in Maryland, to mentor and tutor our elementary school students. They would arrive every Saturday at 12 noon.

The students can be seen teaching, reading, writing and arithmetic. These students were responsible for high school students nation-wide receiving college credits for volunteering in the community (Afro-American Newspaper).

The success stories keep coming; Billy ‘Buck’ Johnson after a rocky encounter with not-so Officer Friendly cops helped him get his act together. He has been a staff member at the DC Central Kitchen headed by CEO Mike Curtain for 10 years.

The history makers and benefactors who were a part of the Kids In Trouble and Inside Sports success reads like a Who’s Who.

Petey Green won two Emmy Awards, Larry Brown was the NFL rushing leader in 1973, Doug Williams was the MVP of the Super Bowl, and the first Black QB to win a Super Bowl in 1988. John Thompson was the first Black Coach to win a Division One Basketball title. Dave Bing was the first NBA guard to win a scoring title. He was named one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players of All-Time. William Raspberry columnist for the Washington Post, won the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for community-related journalism. His coverage of the Kids In Trouble community endeavors made it possible for him to win. Jim Brown was voted the Greatest athlete in the history of the NFL. Sugar Ray Leonard was the first pro boxer to win one hundred million dollars. CBS/NFL James Brown, ESPN, Mike Wilbon, ESPN/TNT Dave Aldridge, Radio & TV One Cathy Hughes, NBA/ESPN Adrian Branch, NBA Adrian Dantley, Red Auerbach is the Greatest NBA Coach of all time. His Boston Celtics led the civil rights movement in the NBA. The Celtics were the first to draft a black player, the first to put five black players on the floor at the same time, the first to hire a black coach and General Manager. Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) campaigned with Kids In Trouble, Red Auerbach and Washington Time’s sports columnist Dick Heller to get blackballed NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2003.

Last but certainly not least, James Dudley (Mentor) lived directly across the street from the Hillcrest Children’s Center Saturday Program. In the 50s-60s, Turner’s Arena sat where once sat Hillcrest Children’s Center (Children’s Hospital). Turner’s Arena was the first home of the World Wrestling & Entertainment (WWE) and founder Vincent McMaHon, Sr.

Mr. Dudley drove a limo for Vincent McMahon when he was in DC or Baltimore. The two men became great friends. As the WWE and Entertainment business grew, McMahon needed someone he could trust, he had to look no further than James Dudley.

The General Manager position made James Dudley, the first black GM in the history of sports arenas in America.

Vince McMahon, Sr. died May 1984 and Vince McHahon, Jr. as a favor to his father’s dying wish, he asked his son to lookout for James Dudley.

Vince Jr. put Mr. Dudley back on the payroll at age 74. He made sure Mr. Dudley had two paychecks every month, and a brand new Lincoln Town car to drive every two years. He personally inducted Mr. Dudley into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1994, making him the first black honored. McHahon Jr. made it clear, “There would be no WWE if it were not for James Dudley.”

Mr. Dudley is hanging out with me at Sam K’s Records on 7th & T Streets, NW. Induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1994. He was honored during an Inside Sports Legends tribute at the Hyatt Regency in downtown DC.

My friend and mentor, Mr. James Dudley. He was a trailblazer and superstar in ‘The Game Called Life!’ It was said, he ran a 10 flat in the 100-meter dash regularly, tried out for the Olympic team, and played in the Negro Leagues as a catcher. His grandson William ‘Poochie’ Butler and great-grandson Prince are building on his legacy. Poochie grew up in the ‘Hood’ in the U Street corridor of NW DC. He was a benefactor of the Hillcrest Saturday Program. Prince is a recent graduate of Alabama University, where he was a member of the football team. He will return to Alabama to work on his Master’s Degree in Business and will finish out his football eligibility for the Crimson Tide. Prince is pictured with his proud mom, Nel, and father after the graduation ceremony on the Alabama campus.

I would see Lonnie Taylor in a chance encounter at a Heritage Foundation luncheon on Capitol Hill. He and brother Leroy were once neighborhood kids who enjoyed the Saturday Program during their early years. We exchanged greetings and business cards.

Several weeks later I received a letter from Lonnie saying, “Dear Mr. Bell, It was good seeing you at Secretary Jack Kemp’s Heritage Foundation luncheon. As I stated then, as a former resident of the 14th and W Streets area. I owe you many thanks for the things you did on behalf of the city’s youth. Believe me, Hillcrest Saturday Program brings back fond memories. You should take pride your example of selflessness continues in many of us. Thanks for all you have done and all you do. Sincerely, Lonnie Taylor, Chief of Staff Jack Beuchner, Member of Congress.

The letter from Lonnie was much more than a Thank You to me. His letter head read from the Congress of the United States House of Representatives. This is an American History First, that can never again be duplicated. When Lonnie signed on to become Congressman Jack Beuchner’s Chief of Staff, he became the first ever Black Chief of Staff for a white Congressman in the history of Capitol Hill. Too many of us never got the message.

Lonnie grew up in the shadows of Turner’s Arena and the crime ridden corridor of 14 Streets, NW, and despite his surroundings, he managed to rise above the noise. He has since gone home to be with the Lord, much too soon.

Thirty-six years later, his letter and words still inspire me to never give up or give in to the noise, the fake prophets, and hustlers in our community.

Lloyd ‘Preacher’ Jones was a part of this great Hillcrest Saturday Program’s history along with Johnny Robinson, Gene Ward, Michael Gee, Bernard Hillary, Blue Byrd, Blue, Arthur House, Raymond ‘Sweet Tooth’, Kirby Burkes, Robert Richards, Horsy, and Carroll ‘Honeycomb’ Mathews.

My work with at-risk children and youth gangs carried me all over the DMV and beyond, Barry Farms, Potomac Gardens, Simple City, Parkside-Mayfair, Langston Terrace, Mt. Pleasant, Homer Avenue in Suitland, Maryland, Charles Houston Rec Center in Alexandria, Virginia, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, Ga.

I always found my way back to my “Safe Havens”: the U Street corridor, Harrison Elementary, Harrison Rec Center, and Hillcrest Children’s Center Saturday Program.

Preacher, Ricky, Billy Buck, Ray-Ray, Horsy, and the Usual Suspects never had to look far for me; I was always just a telephone call away. Thanks for the memories.

MY BOY

A careful man, I always wanted to be, because a little fellow followed me. I dared not go astray for fear he would go the same self way. I could not once escape his eyes, what he saw me do he tried. He thought that I was good and fine, and believed in every word of mine. The bad in me he could not see. This little fellow who followed me. I had to remember as I go, thru summer’s sun and winter’s snow, I was building for the years to be, for that little fellow who followed me.

AMAZON BOOKS “5 STARS”

Lloyd married his childhood sweetheart, Debra Mathews, and it has been a love affair for the ages. He leaves behind two beautiful daughters and friends we will never be able to count

Preacher’s legacy is in good hands with India, Debra, and Kandi.

THOUGHT PROVOKING:

ESPN sports talk show host Pat McAfee recently discussed the state of America. He said, “We are surrounded by cowards.” His statement made me think about the young men I have coached and counseled over the years; none came to mind as being a coward. Some became two-faced as they grew older, but no cowards! Pat McAfee may be on to something when it comes to American leadership.