by Harold Bell

Kwanza Jones is the first Black Woman, to be a Principal Minority Owner of a Major League Baseball team in America.

Her parents, mother and father were both attorneys practicing in Washington, DC in the 80s. 

In 1980 her mom Dorothy was practicing before the DC legal system. Her disciplinary proceedings, for example, reached the DC Court of Appeals in 1986 and 1988. 

Judge Ted Newman was a central figure in that very institution during that era.  That does not prove a personal relationship, but professionally their worlds unquestionably overlapped.

Newman was Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals from 1976 until 1984, it was the District highest local court.  He had previously served on the DC Superior Court beginning in 1970.   

In 1976 he became the first Black Chief Judge of the DC Court of Appeals and the first black jurist nationally to head a state-level court system.     

It was during this era that Judges, Ted Newman, Luke Moore, Gene Hamilton, Harry Alexander and Henry Kennedy all were playing active roles in the community endeavors of our non-profit organization Kids In Trouble.

The program was found by my wife Hattie T and me, in December 1968 after the riots nearly destroyed the Nation’s Capitol.

DEC 1968–THE FIRST KIDS IN TROUBLE CHRISTMAS TOY PARTY FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. SANTA CLAUS IS MY VIRGINIA SAILORS MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL TEAMMATE–LB GEORGE KELLY.

I remember DC Superior Court Judges led by Luke C. Moore, Harry T. Alexander, and Ted Newman as the early judicial backbone of Kids In Trouble, with Gene Hamilton and Henry Kennedy Jr., among the judges who later joined the team.

Although professional athletes were highly visible with Kids In Trouble, the Judges were its, “Backbone.”

Luke Moore was the person who encouraged DC Mayor Walter Washington and the other judges to become involved. I credit him for the success of Bolling Boys Base and the Kids In Trouble Christmas toy parties all followed the 1968 riots.  The Boys Base was the first of its kind on a military installation.

U. S. Marshall Luke C. Moore, NFL Green Bay Packer football great, Willie Wood and I walked arm in arm down the U Street NW corridor during the first day of the riots in 1968. Luke followed in the footsteps of Frederick Douglas as the second Black U. S. Marshall-In-Charge.

Judge Ted Newman presenting Washington Redskin RB Larry Brown with the Kids In Trouble “Man of the Year Award.” 

Judges Luke C. Moore and Harry T. Alexander thanking NBA players Larry Wright and Kermit Washington for their support of their reach back into community efforts.  

KIT REACH BACK COLLAGE:

Top Row: Judges Luke Moore & Eugene Hamilton- Bolling AFB Boys Base cartoon-Carlton Snipes-Petey Greene-William Raspberry-Row 2-NFL Films taping water safety promotion for KIT Saturday Program with NFL players, Larry Brown & Harold McLinton-Hattie T teaching swimming at Cardozo High School-Santa’s Helpers, Judge Luke Moore-Santa-Harold McLinton-LB Dave Robinson & WR Roy Jefferson-Row 3-Santa’s Helpers L-R HBell-Al Atles (NBA)-Sam Jones (NBA)-K. C. Jones (NBA)-Roy Jefferson (NFL)-Judges Luke C. Moore-HBell-Roy Jefferson-Ted Newman-Henry Kennedy, Jr.-HBell-Maureen Bunyan-Roy Jefferson-Derrick Humphries-Row 4 Coach George Allen (NFL)-Roy Jefferson (NFL)-Richard Nixon-Nixon visits Redskin camp-Spotswood Bolling-Brown vs Board of Education plaintiff 1954-HBell Spingarn High School basketball teammates-Row 6 Sugar Ray Leonard-Sugar Ray Leonard & HBell in the studios of W-O-O-K Radio-Ali-Varonica & HBell

I found Bolling Boys Base, on Bolling Air Force Base in 1971, DC Superior Court Chief Judge Harold Green, Judges, Moore, Newman, Hamilton, Alexander and Kennedy were all in attendance for the opening.

The same network expanded well beyond the judiciary to pro athletes, Willie Wood, Lenny Moore, Johnny Sample, Larry Brown, Harold McLinton, Roy Jefferson and Ted Vactor.

Media figures, Petey Greene, Melvin Lindsey, William Raspberry, Maureen Bunyan, Paul Berry, and Jim Vance.

Law Enforcement officials included, Tilmon O’Bryant, the highest ranking black DC Police Officer during the the 1968 riots. Chief Burtell Jefferson, first black Chief of Police in Washington, DC, Andrew Johnson (DEA) and FBI Agent, Wayne Davis, first Black In Charge in the Detroit Office.   

The chronology is right on point: Judge Newman was Chief Judge 1976-1984, exactly within the period I describe and despite occupying one of the most important judicial positions in Washington, his public record shows that he remain ebbed connected to the black legal community.  He could often be seen hanging out in the clubs and bars wearing colorful African dashikis.

He had practiced at the historic Black firm, Houston, Bryant and Gardner, he chaired the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association and taught at Howard University.

Kids In Trouble, Bolling Boys Base, Christmas toy parties, celebrity fashion shows, and tennis tournaments are footprints in the sand, a journey that was fueled by the remarkable group of judges that had my back at the DC Superior Court in Washington, DC.

ROW 1–SPORTS MAGAZINE COVER BOYS-NBA DAVE BING & NFL RB LARRY BROWN VISIT KIDS IN TROUBLE SATURDAY PROGRAM FOR A NFL FILM ON WATER SAFETY.

ROW 2-QB & SUPER BOWL MVP DOUG WILLIAMS-IS SANTA CLAUS FOR KIT AND NFL JIM BROWN MAKES KIDS FIRST AS THE HOST OF THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TOY PARTY AT THE GRAND HYATT HOTEL IN DC.

INSIDE SPORTS CELEBRITY TENNIS TOURNAMENT: L-R JUDGE HENRY KENNEDY JR.-GEORGE SOLOMON-JIM “BAD NEWS” BARNES-HBELL-DONNIE SIMPSON & HOWARD WHITE

OFFICER FRIENDLY-BURTELL JEFFERSON DC’S FIRST BLACK POLICE CHIEF IS SANTA’S HELPER AT THE KIT ANNUAL TOY PARTY FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. HE IS HELPING A CHILD SELECT A TOY.

AFTER THE RIOTS

* Harold K. Bell would received a Presidential Appointment in 1969. In 1972, he changed the way we talk and report sports in America via Inside Sports. The Washington Post and ESPN copied his sports talk format–but could never duplicate. Sports talk today is a billion-dollar industry.

*Luke Moore would receive a Presidential appointment and a seat on the DC Superior Court in 1970

*Willie Wood, was finally inducted into NFL Hall of Fame in 1989. Thanks to a campaign initiated by Harold Bell.  

Luke Moore was the pivotal connector. My historical account says essentially that he brought the judicial to Kids In Trouble, the athletes, politicians, broadcasters and others followed his lead.

This historical archive proves: Only that the parents of today’s Kwanza Jones potentially belonged to the same black Washington legal establishment that provided institutional support to my non-profit organization Kids In Trouble half a century ago. 

The Jones and the judges may not have been in the same court rooms, but they were on the same page when it came to the black community. 

Congratulations to Ms. Kwanza Jones-keep it moving my sister!