LEBRON JAMES MEETS THE PRESS FOR DAMAGE CONTROL FOR THE “I PROMISE MIDDLE SCHOOL”, HE SUPPORTS THE SCHOOL FINANCIALLY IN HIS HOMETOWN OF CLEVELAND.

Children around the country are heading back to school to face the same old problems they left there in June 2023 and some new and added problems–Critical Race Theory and Transgender bathrooms!

In Cleveland, Ohio “The King” LeBron James has a math and reading problem at his school of “I Promise.”

No members of I Promise’s inaugural class have passed the math portion of Ohio’s proficiency test since the school opened. Just 3.1% of the school’s sixth grade class demonstrated proficiency in English language arts in 2021-22, and none achieved math proficiency.

The report could be misleading because of the pandemic. See the full story at the link below. https://www.complex.com/sports/a/tracewilliamcowen/lebron-james-i-promise-school-low-test-scores

In the meantime, here in DMV there are not enough teachers to teach and not enough drivers to drive, all want a slary increase!

In Howard County, Md. one school district, children were left with little or no transportation. Officials claim that there was a bottleneck as 200 buses tried to leave the lot at the same time-sounds like boycott!

In most school districts they are still trying to figure out a way to keep our children safe from the evils that lurk, inside and outside of the schools! The see through book bags to deter bringing guns into the schools have been almost non-existence.

I will never forget the Dinner Party in 2016, my wife Hattie and I were sitting around a table discussing a Donald Trump White House with several other dinner guest, very little has changed in 2023.

We are still talking about a Donald Trump White House or could it be a Donald Trump-Jail House!

One brother, a Ph.D. from a prestigious Ivy League School and a CEO, decided to explain the problem that we are now facing in Black America as it related to our schools.

The problem, he said, “It started with teachers and community activists.  What is a kid going to learn from someone who decided his or her best option in life was to become a teacher or community activist?”  

You could hear folks around the table take a deep breath!

He went on to remind us what they say about teachers:  “Those who can, do.  Those who can’t, teach.”

To my surprise he turned to me, and said, “Harold you are a community activist and youth advocate,  be honest, what do you make as a Historian at Ben’s Chili Bowl? 

My response should have been, “A half-smoke with Chili!”

I have been known to call them like I see them.  Instead, I replied, “Ben’s Chili Bowl could never pay me what I am worth.  Do you really want to know what I make?

MONTGOMERY COUNTY MOTORCYCLE COPS JOIN ME FOR LUNCH AT BEN’S CHILI BOWL.

“First, I have gone where there were no paths in community involvement by pro athletes, politicians, entertainers and law-enforcement (Officer Friendly). I used my non-profit organization, Kids In Trouble and Inside Sports radio talk show formats and made a trail for the NBA-NFL and MLB to follow. 

THE INSIDE SPORTS FORMAT CHANGED THE WAY WE TALK AND REPORT SPORTS IN AMERICA.

A SPORTS & POLITICS FORMAT WERE UNHEARD OF ON RADIO AND TELEVISION IN THE 70s.

ESPN RECENTLY BARRED REPORTERS FROM DICUSSING POLITICS ON THE NETWORK.

In the meantime, I made kids believe that if a knucklehead like me from a NE housing project could sit on a mountaintop with The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, and have lunch at the White House with President Richard M. Nixon of the United States of America—so could they.

PAT PATTERSON HAS OUR BACKS WHILE THE GREATEST AND ME CONDUCT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP.

SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM ROGERS LOOKS ON WHILE PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON WELCOMES HATTIE T AND ME TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

I made kids excel in the classroom.  I made C students feel like they just won the Congressional Medal of Honor and a B and an A were in their future.

I made them feel they were the best when they took the field in sports.  I taught them sportsmanship and made them respect each other.  I taught them that losing a game was not the end of the world.

I taught them there will always be a game the next day or the next week.

I made young athletes understand, that the most important game being played was not football-basketball or baseball.  It is the Game Called Life and their life did matter. 

I made kids understand that every black face they saw was not their brother or sister, and every white face they saw was not their enemy.

I made kids do one hundred sit-ups and one hundred jumping jacks when they didn’t follow the rules.  I made them understand there are consequences when they didn’t follow the rules.

I made kids believe their heroes were not athletes, entertainers, or drug pushers.  Their heroes are their parents and teachers.

In 2007 I saved a young austic girl who had fallen or was pushed on to the subway tracks at Potomic Avenue Station in SE DC. I pulled her off the tracks as a subway train was approaching the station. I made the rescue look like a walk in the park. I was scared to death. I was soaking wet after the rescue. I think I had peed on my self.

HATTIE AND I ARE HONORED WITH A CERTIFICATE FROM THE METRO GENERAL MANGER JOHN CATEO.

I made a young man like Lonnie Taylor growing up in the inner-city believe he could become the first black Chief of Staff for a white Congressman on Capitol Hill.

I helped prepare Dave Bing to survive the wars of the NBA on the playgrounds of DC.  He would later become, the Mayor of Detroit.

BING NBA SCORING LEADER TO THE NBA HALL OF FAME

BING PRESENTS ME WITH A COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

THE ROUNDBALL REPORT THE PG COUNTY TELEVISION BASKETBALL SHOW WITH ESPN ANALYST CHRISTIE WINTERS-SCOTT AND MONICA McNUTT-THEIR NBA CREDENTIALS VIA INSIDE SPORTS.

I helped make Cathy Hughes a radio and television personality by becoming a mentor to her son, Alfred Liggins. He became a benefactor of Kids In Trouble my non-profit organization. He participated in the John Chaney/Sonny Hill and Bighouse Gaines/Earl Monroe basketball camps in Philadephia and Winston-Salem, NC respectively. He and his mother were gifted with Nike apparel during her days as a receptionist for WHUR Radio. Not to mention the gifts given to her by Larry Brown and Earl Monroe.

WHUR RADIO: CATHY HUGHES AND ALFRED LIGGINS

NFL FILMS VIDEO TAPE NFL PLAYERS

RB Larry Brown and LB Harold McLinton are teaching water safety to inner-city kids at the Hillcrest Saturday Program. A year earlier I had saved an 8 year old boy I found lying on the bottom of the pool. This was the first ever NFL video promo seen on national television in 1972.

I helped make Sugar Ray Leonard believe he could become a World Boxing Champion when others had forgot. He became the first in the history of the sport to earn over one hundred million dollars in prize money. 

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN SUGAR RAY LEONARD MADE CHILDREN FIRST.

I helped make BET comedian Chris Thomas “The Mayor of Rap City.”  I provided him with his first Comic Relief platform on Inside Sports. Chris was on WYCB Radio with me when Sugar Ray beat Wilfred Benetiz for his first title. Ray called in LIVE on Inside Sports to thank me for my support. He said, “Harold I am the Welterweight Champion of the World tonight, because you were there when no one else was.”

CHRIS THOMAS BEFORE HE BECAME “THE MAYOR OF BET”– INSIDE SPORTS WAS HIS PLATFORM.

I helped to make gospel singer Robin Sugar Williams believe she could become somebody and sing at the White House for the President of the United States and around the World.

ROBIN-FOZIE-UNKNOWN SANTA AND HB. SANTA’S HELPERS FOR ANNUAL KIT TOY PARTY.

I helped mentee Omar Tyree to become a best-selling author for the NY Times.  He penned “Flyy Girls and Marion Barry: Mayor For Life.”

AUTHOR COOL HAND LUKE OMAR TYREE–WATCH OUT HOLLYWOOD.

I used Inside Sports to help Georgetown basketball Coach John Thompson to promote his team when he had a difficult time winning a game. The GT play by play games were heard on W-O-OK Radio. He later became the first black to win a NCAA Division One title. I introduced him to Nike and he became a millionaire. 

JOHN THOMPSON IS SANTA’S HELPER DURING ANNUAL KIDS IN TROUBLE CHRISTMAS TOY PARTY.

When I was the East Coast Nike Rep, Howard White participated in my community endeavors until he hooked on with Michael Jordan. He was recently featured in the movie “Air” based on Michael Jordan’s legacy as the face of Nike. Actor/Comedian Chris Tucker plays White in the movie.

HOWARD WHITE KNEELING ON RIGHT AS A PARTICIPANT IN THE INSIDE SPORTS & KIT CELEBRITY TENNIS TOURNAMENT–ANACOSTIA PARK IN SE DC. HE HAS NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE.

When others had forgotten their sucess. I paid tribute to pioneering Ohio State first black QB, Cornelius Greene and his DC teammates, Woodrow Roach and Lenny Willis at the Shorham Hotel. Joining them were legendary Coach Woody Haynes and two time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

OHIO STATE: COACH WOODY HAYNES-QB CORNELIUS GREENE-RB WOODROW ROACH-RB ARCHIE GRIFFIN-RB LENNY WILLIS AND HBELL. TRIBUTE AT THE SHORHAM HOTEL IN WASHINGTON, DC.

I guided QB Doug Williams through the community as he guided the Washington Redskins to the 1988 NFL Super Bowl. He became the first black QB to win a Super Bowl and the MVP.

HB-HATTIE T & QB DOUG WILLIAMS

When the NFL and the NBA “Blackballed” the great Willie Wood and pioneer Earl Lloyd and forgot their contributions to the pro sports franchises–I made them remember. 

GREEN BAY PACKER GREAT WILLIE WOOD WAS INDUCTED INTO THE NFL HALL OF FAME IN 1989. EARL LLOYD WAS INDUCTED INTO THE NBA HALL OF FAME IN 2003.

ALEXANDRIA YOUTH HONOR NBA PIONEER EARL LLOYD IN FRONT HIS STATURE AT THE CHARLES HOUSTON REC CENTER IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH.

I MADE KIDS BELIEVE THE MOST IMPORTANT HALL OF FAME–IS GO’S.

MR. CEO, THAT IS WHAT I MAKE–I MAKE A DIFFERNCE. WHAT DO YOU MAKE?

FOOTNOTE: WE WILL ALL KNOW THE MOMENT WHEN AMERICA DECIDES TO REALLY MAKE CHILDREN FIRST-EVERY SCHOOL BUS IN AMERICA WILL HAVE SEAT BELTS!

THIS PAGE IS IN HONOR OF MY MENTOR AND COUSIN DC NATIVE, EARL TILDON. HE RECENTLY WENT HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD- I WISH TO BE THE GREAT WRITER HE WAS. YOU NEVER KNOW WHO IS WATCHING YOU. RIP BIG BROTHER.

A GRIEVING MOTHER’S TEARS

Author Earl Tildon 1993

Who is Harold Bell?  From where I sit, a man obsessed with youth and children’s plight.  He is a man who walks swiftly away from compromise, aggressively wanting things right.  Who is Harold Bell?  From where I sit, he is an arrogant rebel with youth as his cause.  He keeps raising their issues without fear or pause.

Why does Harold Bell do what he does, and why does he do it his way?  It may be because many others who did it are longer doing it today.  It may be that those who have risen to the heights don’t quite remember any more.  For once they have left the place of their birth they throw away the key that once opened the door.  Harold Bell is no diplomat; perhaps he doesn’t know how the game is played! Perhaps he is naïve to think that “Superstars” are coming back where he stays.  Could it be that it is not vogue to court the poor, or not want a black child to die, or maybe it is politically incorrect to ask the question why?

Maybe Harold Bell speaks up too much, or perhaps he is far too crude.  Or maybe he has spoken out against the establishment, or maybe he has just been rude.  But Harold Bell didn’t invent rudeness nor does he speak as loud as some, for leaders have known through the ages that justice goes to the beating drum.

Harold Bell perhaps understands that silence somehow appears to be consent.  And he knows that our oppressors flourish when our heads and backs are bended.  He also knows that children maybe homeless or parentless or in pain.  He also knows that their need to survive is real and to reach out to our children the World gains.

Thank God Harold Bell has access to the media so that we can read and listen to his candid outspoken word.  Thank God for readers and listeners who understand motivation is what we need.  Thank God for those like Harold Bell, who speak out against “Kids killing kids,” crack, heroin and speed.

It is hard for me to understand why some may dislike Harold Bell!  He is such a nice guy it is hard to believe some would turn him off while little children die.  There may have been a word that even Harold Bell could say that would have caused the listener to save a child along the way.

But such is life we can’t always please, so why expect it of Harold Bell?  He did not create today’s problems and who are we to judge we do so little well?  At least he is study on the course and he is consistent from year to year.  We need more Harold Bells who understand our plight and “A Grieving Mother’s Tears!”