The day I lost my hometown of Washington, DC forever–burn baby burn!

Ben’s Chili Bowl along with Industrial Bank of Washington and Lee’s Flower Shop are three of the landmark survivors of the riots. When the White House ordered the shutdown of all businesses in the city, U S Federal Marshall in Charge Luke C. Moore called President Lyndon Johnson and asked him to allow Ben’s to stay open-request granted. Luke would later go to become a sitting judge on the DC Superior Court. Luke, Willie Wood (NFL) and I walked arm in arm down the U Street corridor the first day of the riots.

Judge Luke Moore and Chief Judge Eugene Hamilton of the DC Superior Court attend annual Bolling Air Force Base Kids In Trouble toy party.

A story written by me in 2004 in the Washington Post titled “Breaking the Faith” based on my up close experience of how black crooked politians, pulpit pimps, cops, judges and spooks that sit by the door sold us out and one of the reasons why we have the DC we see and hear today!

I recently read in a post shared by George Coustantin on Face Book relating to a lost city known as the “Harlem of the West,” Five Points, in Denver, Colorado. Five Points was a predominately black neighborhood. The community of nearly 6,000 residents included black doctors, lawyers, dentists, clergy, railroad porters, as well as cooks, janitors, domestic servants and funeral directors. The community was created when Black Americans were prohibited from buying in other areas of Denver. I grew up in a similar community called Parkside/Mayfair/Eastland Gardens in NE DC.

The community’s Welton Street was home to over fifty bars and clubs, where jazz musicians Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and others performed. The Rossonian Hotel, built in 1912, was where many Black Americans stayed when they visited town due to Jim Crow laws (don’t forget Black Wall Street and DC Chocolate City).


Good cops: in 1968 my friend in the community former Assistant Chief Tilmon O’Bryant ask me to put my life on the line when he issued and swore me in as a DC cop with nothing but a badge. The badge allowed me to pass freely through the police and military barricades set up around the city. Cops on the beat Charles Robinson and Andrew Johnson (not pictured) teamed up with me to help bring peace to our streets–but were sabortaged by the FOP!

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture says,
“Part of our mission is to work with individuals, organizations, regional museums, and historical societies to identify treasures and reclaim them for future generations to enjoy. We’re excited to partner with the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, and the Black American West Museum & Heritage Center in Denver for our Community Curation Program. Join us to learn how to preserve your family history.” If these are really the words of the Smithsonian National Museum they are talking out of both sides of their mouth!

December 1968 shortly after the riots my wife Hattie and I found our non-profit organization Kids In Trouble, Inc in the Hillcrest Children’s Center (now the YMCA). Redskin players RB Larry Brown and LB Harold McLinton are seen teaching water safety to inner-city kids as NFL Films record promo.

My wife Hattie T teaching potential merimaids of Cardozo HS how to swim
When we tried to recruit black volunteer mentors from Howard and DC Teachers colleges none were to be found. We had to bus white students in from a Seven-Day Adventist Church in Tacoma Park, Md. every Saturday to meet the needs of kids in trouble.

I don’t know how the Black History in Denver, Colorado was lost or suppressed, but I clearly know how my history is being lost and suppressed. For example; my history is being lost because of black folks like Lonnie Bunch and Damion Thomas who are suppose to be “The Gate Keepers/Curators” of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) instead they are looking like “The spooks that sat by the door.” Their Assignment, ‘block other blacks!’ To show you how small and petty they are they denied me press credentials for ‘The Grand Open’. Control freak boxing promoter Don King must have told them I don’t kiss rings or jackasses.

I am a pioneer in (audio, video and oral testimonies) in sports talk radio and television. I changed the way we talk sports in America and I also changed the way we talk sports around the World.

How could I have touched the lives of all the names listed below and they can have buildings and streets named after them and be considered for a place in any hall of fame or museum without me? How can the ‘The Gate Keepers’ at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), ignore the fact in writing that the owners of the Washington Post Katherine and her son Donald Graham kidnapped my tag ‘Inside Sports’ my popular sports talk show and made it their own in 1978? It sounds a lot like ‘Old Christopher Columbus’ discovering America to me. The two Grahams assigned a staff of writers to take my title and go to New York City and publish ‘Inside Sports Magazine.’ The magazine folded two years later after losing millions of dollars because they could not transfer my radio success into print. In the meantime, Newsweek owned by the Washington Post also now own the Copy Rights to Inside Sports!

Talking about “Breaking the Faith” these are the same two Grahams who convinced Cathy Hughes in 1986 to sell out Congressman Walter Fauntroy and dozens of other black community activist as they were participating in a boycott of the newspaper giant for racial discrimination in advertising.

Hughes in the cover of darkness made her way up the backstairs of the paper and made a deal with the Grahams to call off the boycott without the knowledge of Fauntroy and other partipants. This was the birth of Radio One with the Grahams providing financial support.

Other testimonies; “Harold and I have a lot in common. He has persevered and stood fast for the principles in which he believes.” Muhammad Ali

“Harold, you help prepare me for the NBA.” Dave Bing (NBA Hall of Fame)

“Harold if you had been white you would be a millionaire and they would have been calling Howard Cosell the white Harold Bell.” Ali Business Manager, Gene Kilroy

“Harold, I am the Welterweight Champion of the World today, you were there when no one else was. Sugar Ray Leonard

“Harold has always been a voice for people who didn’t 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.” James Brown (NFL/CBS Sports)

Benefactors of Kids In Trouble & Inside Sports
David Aldridge (Washington Post/TNT)
Tim Baylor (NFL)
Raymone Bain (Michael Jackson publicist)
Dave Bing (NBA)
Kevin Blackistone (ESPN)
Larry Brown (NFL MVP)
Jamie Foster Brown (Sister 2 Sister Magazine)
Jim Brown (NFL)
James Brown (CBS/NFL)
Adrian Branch (NBA)
Maureen Bunyan (TV 7)
Adrian Dantley (NBA)
Bobby Gardner (NFL)
Cornelius Greene (Ohio State)
Larry Fitzgerald, Sr. (ESPN)
Glen Harris (DC Sports talk radio)
Darryl Hill (Naval Academy/University MD)
Grant Hill (NBA)
Robert Hooks (DC Black Rep)
Cathy Hughes (Urban Radio & TV One)
Tracy Jackson (NBA)
Lamont Jordan (NFL)
Mark Too Sharp Johnson (Boxing)
Don King (Boxing)
Randy Kennedy (Harvard Law Professor) Alfred Liggins (Radio and TV One) Earl Lloyd (NBA Pioneer)
Jair Lynch (Olympic Gymnast)
Sugar Ray Leonard (Boxing)
Butch McAdams (DC Sports talk radio)
Vasti McKenzie (the first female Bishop in the AM & E church)
Tony Paige (NFL)
Lavonia Perriman (Radio talk show host)
Bill Raspberry (Washington Post winner of the Pulitzer Prize)
Bill Rhoden (NY Times & ESPN) Darrell Sabbs (Cardozo HS)
Donnie Simpson (WKYS/Bet)
John Thompson (GT Basketball)
Roland ‘Fatty’ Taylor (ABA/NBA)
Lonnie Taylor (Capitol Hill )
Cecil Turner (NFL)
Chris Thomas (Comedian)
Omar Tyree (Author)
Jim Vance (DC TV-4 anchor)
Michael Wilbon (Washington Post/ESPN)
Michelle Wright (DC Radio personality)
Alex Williams (Federal Judge)
Doug Williams (NFL Super Bowl & MVP) Robin Sugar Williams (gospel vocalist)
Willie Wood (NFL)

The bottom-line black folks are still comfortable in letting others (mainstream media) pick and chose our heroes. The latest example; NBA great LeBron James, he has been selected as “The Chosen One!” How do I know–I have seen several of The Chosen Ones’ up close and personal to include, Magic Johnson, Sugar Ray Leonard and now LeBron James.

HBO recently named James and his partner Maverick Carter the Executive Producers of a two part Muhammad Ali documentary titled “What’s My Name.” First, I would like to know who advised James he was an authority on Muhammad Ali? There are some who think because he is the greatest basketball player in the NBA and he has millions of dollars in his bank account that qualifies him to be executive producer of a documentary of one of the most admired black men in the World?

The recently released 41 second trailer was the worst I have ever seen representing Muhammad Ali. Judge for yourself/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5CZ7p6F_vI
*Check out the voice impersonation of Ali (fraud)
*There is nothing in the trailer that resembles Ali (photo or live shot)???

Jarrett Bell NFL columnist for USA Today called me in November last year to ask me to lookout for his friend Branson Wright. Branson is a columnist and sports talk host in Cleveland and was coming to DC to promote a documentary. The documentary was relating to a former Ohio basketball phenom who had lost his way because of drugs and the criminal justice system. I thought to myself there must be dozens of those stories on the playgrounds of DC! I have already covered most of them up-close and personal. But I can never say “No” and I told Jarrett I would do what I could to connect his friend.

I don’t know if it was by coincident but his friend would becoming to town the same week that LeBron James and the Cavaliers would playing the Wizards. The Cavaliers would beat the Wizards in OT. I gave Lebron a copy (teaser) of my one on one interview with Ali after the press conference. He has not even had the professional courtesy to get back to me. This made me do further research on Branson Wright the sports columnist and why would he travel all the way from Cleveland to promote his documentary and seek financial relief for his project? He is a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a sports talk show host and beat reporter for the Cleveland Cavaliers–home of “King James.”

In conversation with a Cavalier player that knows both men I was told that Lebron and Maverick Carter were the first to see Branson’s documentary, but did not acknowledge or support the project. He said, “I was not surprised, Lebron is a very selfish guy and you better keep a close eye on your Ali interview!” I called and asked Branson about LeBron being the first to see his documentary, his response was “No Comment!” I then called the player back to tell him Branson would not confirm, he said “I understand LeBron and his crew are very vindictive, he is not as black as many think. The school is a sham all he did was put up the money the city owns the school and there seem to be more white teachers than black, but I still applaud him for the effort.”

Now after seeing the Ali trailer. my conversation with LeBron’s teammate and the silence of Branson Wright made my antenna go up. I am now thinking Lebron and his crew are thinking of trying to use some of my Ali interview footage despite my copy right protection. I know for a fact there is limited original footage available for a two part documentary as they claim.

I have already been burned by Corporate America once (Washington Post) see https://sundaylongread.com/2018/01/28/inside-inside-sports-the-oral-history/

My interview footage is one of a kind, but a thief is a thief, especially when they think money makes them smarter than the black brother they just left behind. I not only know Muhammad Ali’s name but I know his history.

Coming soon to social media a one part slide show documentary titled,
“Uncovered & Uncrowned: Harold Bell & Muhammad Ali”
Introduction: George Foreman-Geraldo Rivera-Don King and Muhammad Ali

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION AND ALI’S RESPONSE IN OUR ONE ON ONE INTERVIEW:

Ali-Controversy
Ali-The difference between a fighter and boxer (Photos of Joe Frazier & George Foreman)
Ali-Friendship
Ali-The eyes of God
Ali-Education
Ali-Truth
Ali-Our precious gift: Black women and children
Ali-Personal Goals in ‘The Game Called Life’
Bert Sugar-The Greatest
THE BROTHERS’ REFLECTIONS:
Roy Foreman-George’s state of mind in Zaire
Rahman Ali-Just the two of us
Closing: slow motion Sonny Liston-Joe Frazier-George Foreman
Theme song: Muhammad Ali
Critics
“Harold and I have a lot in common. He has persevered and stood fast for the principles in which he believes.” Muhammad Ali

“Harold if you had been white you would be a millionaire and they would have been calling Howard Cosell the white Harold Bell.” Ali Business Manager, Gene Kilroy

“Harold, I am the Welterweight Champion of the World today, because you were there when no one else was. Sugar Ray Leonard

“Harold has always been a voice for people who didn’t 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.”

James Brown (NFL/CBS Sports)

“Harold Bell is the Godfather of sports talk—the good kind.”

Dick Heller (Washington Times)

“Harold Bell is the Heavyweight Champion of sports talk.”

Don King (Boxing Hall of Fame)

NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd was heard on the ESPN John Thompson sports talk radio show saying “Harold Bell maybe controversial but I have yet to hear someone call him a liar.”

“Birds of a feather flock together” GT Coach John Thompson and Cathy Hughes of Radio and TV One benefactors of Kids In Trouble and Inside Sports.

Let me remind Lonnie Bunch in the words of Dr. Harry Edwards the architect of “The 1968 Olympic Project.” The project spotlighted the raised black gloved fist of sprinters and medal winners Tommie Smith and John Carlos. They were protesting racism in America. He said, “Harold, congratulations, your archives are valuable and should be given the broadest possible exposure. Your discs and videos of your programs belong in the new Smithsonian Institution of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). A wing of the new museum 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”! Dr. Harry Edwards. In the words of actor Jack Nicholson in the movie a Few Good Men, “You Can’t Handle the Truth!”