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.