IN PHOTOS-POEMS & VIDEOS

THE BELLS-HATTIE T & HB

A BLACK MOTHER’S LOVE-HER CHILDREN,

MARYLAND STATE SENATOR ANGELA ALSOBROOKS MAKING CHILDREN FIRST.

In 1969 white students were bussed in from a Seventh-Day Ventists Takomac Park, Maryland high school. The students were volunteer tutors for the Kids In Trouble Saturday Program in DC. They became the standard-bearers for high school students nationwide receiving college credits for volunteering in their communities. (Afro-America Newspaper)

Boxing Champions from the Kronk Gym in Detroit, Michigan, Thomas ‘Hit Man’ Heans and Hilmer Kenty participate in a Kids In Trouble Fight Night in DC.

Cardozo High School swimming coach Hattie T teaches survival training to her students.

NFL Films video tape Washington Redskins football players, MVP RB Larry Brown, and LB Harold McLinton teach water safety at the Kids In Trouble Saturday Program for a nationally televised audience.

Kids In Trouble’s first Christmas Toy Party for elementary school children (1968). My Virginia Sailor football teammate LB George Kelly was Santa’s Helper. The party was held at the old Turner’s Arena in NW DC.

KIT Santa’s Helpers are Super Bowl MVP QB Doug Williams and Jim ‘Bad News’ Barnes (NBA)

Former Spingarn High School basketball coach, the late Rev. William Roundtree looks on as former student/athletes, HBell and Byron Kirkley assist as Santa’s Helpers for his youth center.

HBell and youth on a tour of the Charles Houston Recreation Center in Alexandria, Virginia. They are standing in front of a statue of NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd. The first Black to play in an NBA game in 1950.

“Some time ago, there was a man who had a dream that sparked a plan, he took one Hattie as his wife and ventured forth, fulfilling life.

Then came along a certain morn and “Inside Sports” was born.  Yes, Harold Bell would bring his show of sports of sorts to radio.

His moral strength would play its part with gifts to kids to inspire and give them heart!  The obstacles that lined the course he fought with fury and force!

Today, with Hattie standing tall he answers life toughest calls.  With love for all along the way.  It is for whom the Bells toil for everyday!“

Author / May 1980

Murray Brooks (Doris)   

A GRIEVING MOTHER’S TEARS

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!”

Author

Earl Tildon / August 1993

photo credits / fred sheppard

THE SOUNDS OF INSIDE SPORTS!

 

WHATS IN YOUR WALLET?

Dr. Harry Edwards is considered the 20th and 21st century’s most outspoken advocate for civil and human rights in sports arenas across America. The jewel in his crown is the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. The 200-meter dash was his platform for the demonstration that would stun the world of sports. The trio of sprinters who finished one, two, and three were Tommie Smith (USA), Peter Norman (Australia), and John Carlos (USA).

The two Americans shocked the sports world as they raised their black glove fists on the podium in protest of racism in America! Their lives would never be the same. Dr. Harry Edwards, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman, and John Carlos would be joined together in life and death forever. No prenuptial agreement or divorce was imminent.

In the Washington Post on December 11, 2024, Dr. Edwards revealed he is fighting three terminal cancers–in his bone marrow, prostate, and thyroid. The three are ravaging his body, leaving him in frequent pain and fatigued. Still, he has denied any medical treatment, combating the struggle with an upbeat attitude and the occasional Tylenol.

I have known Dr. Edwards for 50+ years through my radio talk show Inside Sports with our friend the late NFL legend Jim Brown. Those one-hour shows were some of the most educational and enlightening discussions in the DMV on Saturday mornings on W-U-S-T AM Gospel radio. As the host/student, I sat in the “Cat Bird’s Seat.” I soaked in their words of wisdom and enjoyed every minute. The shows are classics in my archives.

DR. EDWARDS SPEAKS OUT ON THE ROLE OF BLACKS IN SPORTS MEDIA

“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”.  Over the years, your work has been a major force in leveling the playing field, especially in the struggle to define and project “Our Truth!”  Dr. Harry Edwards.

John Carlos’ thoughts on Harold Bell and Inside Sports’ role in trying to level “The Playing Field.”

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uncdyank071nnjnk7ef1v/Dr.-Jonn-Carlos-RAW-10.24.2024-Interview.mov?rlkey=2zrwxb24y4iepq4q8yuyoyxld&e=1&st=jgmkbo4h&dl=0

This was Dr. Harry Edwards’ take on TNT’s Charles Barkley and ESPN’s Michael Wilbon:  “I love Charles Barkley (aka famous last words of Stephen A. Smith when he is getting ready to criticize a pro athlete) as long as he is sitting on the sports desk at TNT trying to explain why the Clippers will never win a championship as long as their toughest, most consistently competitive player is a 6’1″ point guard.  But when he begins to offer jaw-droppingly ignorant and uninformed opinions on issues from Obama’s Syria/ISIS policy to the “criminal” predispositions and proclivities of the Black community, I find something more productive to do like taking out the garbage or cleaning up my lawn.

And the saddest part of it all is that he apparently doesn’t realize that the networks and interviewers are just flat out CLOWNING HIM!!!  It’s “What crazy crap can we prompt Barkley to say. And all the better if it is an attack on Black people. ”The “guess what Charles Barkley said on CNN?” factor is incentive enough for the networks to persist in presenting and promoting this clown show– long past the time when it is not either funny or even remotely engaging. Now both Barkley and Wilbon look like clowns– and justifiably so.”

Mike and I share a laugh during a gathering at Ben’s Chili Bowl in DC.

I have seen James Brown in that same light during his climb to the top in TV sports, at the expense, of Inside Sports, Kids In Trouble, and brothers like Chuck Taylor. The best way to describe James Brown is “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” of Inside Sports! Like Wilbon, Brown talks out of both sides of his mouth-one lie after another!

Sam Jones-James Brown-HBell-Earl Lloyd at a tribute to Black History Month on Bolling Air Fore Base.

For example, for a man who has never kept his word to me, he said; “Harold Bell 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 (Inside the NFL/CBS)

During the 80s and 90s Inside Sports and Kids In Trouble were the toast of DC. My talk show was No. 1 and my reach-back endeavors, Christmas toy drives, celebrity fashion shows, and tennis tournaments became the BIBLE of Community Outreach in America, despite the acts of sabotage in the media.

Inside Sports Celebrity Fashion Show Curtain Call: L-R Sonny Hill (NBA) Sugar Ray Leonard (Boxing) Ricky Jenning (NFL) HBell (Inside Sports)-(Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe (NBA)

There were police and youth community forums. Pro athletes and celebrities from near and far participated, including non-celebrities like James Brown. The doors to Inside Sports and KIT were open to everyone who was interested enhancing the lives of inner-city children.. Washingtonian Magazine named me “Washingtonian of the Year” making me the first sports media personality honored.

James’ closest encounter with pro sports, he got cut by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA!

Let the games start, he returns home to work as a sales rep for the Xerox Corporation.

James was like Howard White (Nike) and Glen Harris (WHUR Radio), hanging out at my community events and trying to enhance their careers. James convinced me to let him model in one of my celebrity fashion shows.

CELEBRITY TENNIS: Standing L-R Bob Ferry (NBA)-Fred Scott (NFL)-Bad News Barnes (NBA) TV 4 Weatherman-Donnie Simpson (BET)-Jim Vance (TV 4 Anchor)-Ken Beatrice (WMAL Sports)-Kneeling L-R H Bell-Bob Zuflur (NBA)-George Solomo (Washington Post) and Howard White (University of MD)

My tennis partner, television anchor Jim Vance told me that TV 4 was looking for a weekend sports anchor. I told him I was not interested. He reminded me there was a story in the Washington Post about a lack of black television sportscasters, and I should think about it.

SPEAKING OUT: “BLACK SPORTS CASTERS” LACK OF JOBS IN DC MARKET (1989)

I did the audition and it was a disaster. The producers sat me down at a desk in the newsroom in front of a teleprompter to read an introduction. I had no clue which camera I was to look into. I was glad when it was over.

Several days later I called Jim and said, “Thanks for nothing!” He asked me, if I had alerted James Brown to the audition and I said, ‘No.’

James had somehow found out about the audition and shown up at the TV 4 studio. He also failed!

In the meantime, he became interested in a sports media career, and I thought it was great. Chuck Taylor a black brother had just been hired by the NBA Washington Bullets as a television color analyst. Chuck’s background included teaching and coaching high school basketball in the DMV.

He was knowledgeable and had a great personality. We were all rooting for his success. The next thing I knew, Chuck was gone and James Brown had replaced him. It seemed like everyone thought I knew what had happened. I had no clue!

I called Bullet owner Abe Polin’s right-hand man, Community Advisor, Hymie Perlo. Nothing moved around Capitol Centre without Hymie knowing. When I spoke to Hymie, he asked me to come out to the arena so we could talk about the situation regarding Chuck. I did not like the way he sounded.

I learned that James Brown had gone to Bullet Captain Wes Unseld and asked Wes if he could put in a “Good word for him to Abe about replacing Chuck Taylor.” James Brown showed his true colors early in his career, “Success by any means necessary!”

JB’s NEXT MEDIA STOPS: WETM Sports Talk Radio-WUSA TV 9 weekend sports-BLack American Forum-1995 HBO & REAL SPORTS/INSIDE SPORTS as Bryant Gumbel’s correspondent. He hid in the closet pretending he had no clue. The show won 37 Emmy Awards copying the Inside Sports format. He and Gumbel left footprints that Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder could follow.

There are hundreds of Bryant Gumbel photos with guests, and celebrity participants on the show but no photos of him and James Brown! I Googled James Brown and HBO and, found one photo of him and Gumbel. What were they hiding for 29 years? When I asked James why he never invited me on the show his response, “I have nothing to do with the scheduling.” I finally got his message.

Having me as a guest on ‘Real Sports’ would blow their cover caught using my Inside Sports format-awarded 37 Emmys!

I remember in 1974, my colleague Frank Pastor and I were standing at the top of the Washington Bullets Arena waiting for a pause in the action so that we could return to our seats. I said, “Frank do you see what I see downstairs at the press table?” His response was, “What are you talking about Harold Bell?”

The Bullets PR Department had divided the press table at the half-court line of the arena. The white media sat on the left of the line and blacks sat on the right.

We ended the misguided PR Department’s attempt to divide and conquer, without an angry word or a poster reading “Boycott.” Frank and I switched seats at the table. The next home game the table was fully integrated. James Brown would benefit from Frank Pastor and me switching seats at the Bullets press table in 1974.

The late WHUR Radio personality and talk show host Ron Sutton and I sat on the black side of the half-court at a Washington Bullet’s game. The photo is worth a thousand words, look to my left.

REAL SPORTS-‘THE USUAL SUSPECTS

JB & THE NEXT LEVEL: NFL Studio Host FOX Network-NFL Studio Host CBS-Ministry Pimp in the Pulpit-The Great Pretender (Minority owner MLB Washington Nationals)-Community Advocate-AARP Senior Ambassador.

In the 1970s DC homeboy NFL and Green Bay Packer great Willie Wood was an Assistant Coach with the San Diego Chargers’ football team. He exposed drug use among the players. He was blackballed and banished to the Canadian and World Football Leagues to find work in pro football. Ironically, he became the first Black Head Coach in both leagues. Willie Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro. He played in six NFL Championship games and was a winner in five.

In Willie’s later years, his health began to fail, and his induction into the “NFL’s Pro Football Hall” did not look promising. Time was running out when he asked me for help. I turned to our friend the legendary DC sports columnist, Dick Heller of the Washington Times. I called USA Today’s newspaper NFL Editor, Jarrett Bell for support. His response was, “I am on vacation!” Bell was, also claimed he was on vacation when I called to tell him Willie had died in February 2019. The paper USA Today never covered his death.

Willie Wood is one the greatest safety’s to ever play in the NFL, He was selected to the John Madden 10th Anniversary All-Pro team. He played on five NFL Championship teams. He was named to five All-Pro teams, and nine Pro Bowl teams during his 12-year NFL career, but Jarett Bell was on “Vacation?”

The last call was to NFL Studio Host, James Brown. I got just what I deserved, Brown promised to visit Willie in his Assisted Living facility in NW DC and write him a check to help pay his bills, it never happened.

Comcast Spotlight on Sports Host, George Johnson and media guest talk college football bowl selections L-R HBell-George Johnson-Dave Elfin (Washington Times) and newcomer Jarret Bell. He has successfully been, “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” for three decades at U. S.A. Today supporting CRT!

Willie Wood after his 1989 NFL Hall of Fame induction, says thanks to Dick Heller and me for our support.

Despite, James Brown and Jarret Bell’s lies and politics, I held out hope they would eventually use their influence to try to help someone in need beside themselves.

In 1999, Earl Lloyd the first Black to play in the NBA asked me, “If I would start a campaign similar to the Willie Wood campaign for him.” Earl grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, it was a 15-minute drive across the NW 14th Street bridge. I considered him a friend and homeboy.

I was a glutton for punishment, the first call was to James Brown to suggest we have lunch at Union Station with Sam Jones (NBA), Andrew Dyer, and Christie Winters-Scott, (The Round Ball Report), the late radio sports talk show host, Butch McAdams and my wife Hattie. I tried to be a mentor to other young adults interested in sports media and invited them to participate in my community endeavors.

During lunch, I suggested we organize an Earl Lloyd Day during NBA All-Star Weekend. The plan, on Saturday morning there would be a basketball clinic in Earl’s honor at the Charles Houston Rec Center. A tribute would close out the festivities in his honor at the historic jazz club, the Bohemian Caverns on the U Street corridor once known as Black Broadway.

James and Sam agreed to co-host the weekend. As we were leaving the restaurant James asked me, “Harold did you check with Abe Polin?” I took a deep breath, and said, “JB, I don’t work for Abe Polin.” James Brown was a no-show for the weekend.

I contacted Red Auerbach and Congressman John Lewis to join the KIT Team and they accepted.

Congressman Lewis’ congratulations letter to Earl Lloyd

Kids In Trouble youth are on a tour of a statue of Earl Lloyd, now on display at the Charles Houston Rec Center in Alexandria, Virginia, Lloyd’s hometown. West Virginia State University, Lloyd’s alma mater, has a similar statue on display.

In 1978 I was the Nike Shoe rep on the East Coast, I traveled to New York City with Nike NBA rep John Phillips to meet with NBA former player and now head of NBA Personell, Rod Thorn, Chief Counsel, Gary Bettman and Security Chief Horace Broaneck.

The meeting was called to get a better understanding of why the NBA was against a Nike sponsored All-Star Team going to the Nassau Bahammas, the Island home of LA Laker player Myhcal Thompson. The players would articipate in a charity game for the Island. Myhcal and several other NBA players had played in a similar game the year before without incident.

The meeting did not go well, it was ‘Smiling Faces Telling Lies.’ It got heated when Bettman claimed the players would not be allowed to participate because the NBA owned them, all hell broke loose in the room when he said, “Owned the players!”

My response was, “Was the NBA a Plantation”, the room erupted again, and Ron Thorn called a ‘Time Out’ for lunch for cooler heads. We were to meet back in the room at 1:00 pm. The NBA never came back.

The players who were to participate disappeared and changed their numbers. I have been on the NBA’s ‘Hit List’ ever since. John and I figured out the problem, it was all about control, and the NBA had the upper hand.

Note Worthy: Gary Bettman would become Commissioner of the National Hockey League. A post he has held since February 1, 1993. His longevity of 31 years has made him the longest running commissioner of a pro sports franchise in North America.

When I think of Gary Bettman, I think of those words he uttered in that NBA Conference Room in New York City in 1978. “We Owned the Players.” Now that he is the Commissioner of the NHL in 2025, the one thing he has never to worry about is owning the black players in the NHL, he would be bankrupt. Blacks make up only 3% of the league.

Washington Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly sat in the penalty box during a game at Chicago’s United Center in February 2018, he listened as a group of white fans chanted, “Basketball, Basketball, Basketball” in his direction. The Blackhawks fans taunting Smith-Pelly, who is Black, were making their position clear: “Hockey isn’t for everyone, and it’s especially not for Black people.”

Google, this story is a must-read! It is bad enough we have racism like the fans in Chicago, and other places in the U. S., still we have to look over our shoulders for James Brown, Howard White, Jarett Bell, Mike Wilbon, and the beat goes on and on.. The TRUTH-it is not just whites, some blacks are killing us softly.

The Roundball Report a cable TV talk show in Prince George’s County was denied press credentials to attend the Washington Wizards’ home games by various members of their PR Department. Andrew Dyer the Roundball Report producer did not call ‘Ghost Busters’, he called Harold Bell to intervene.

I remember the Roundball Report crew was on the outside looking in at the Wizards game in Washington, DC. before I was asked to be their ‘Trouble Shooter.’ Seated L-R HBell-Monica McNutt-Andrew Dyer and Christie Winters-Scott. Not in the photo Jemel Hill (Emmy Award winner), Scott, and McNutt among others went to the next level, (ESPN and beyond). Like most benefactors of Inside Sports and Kids In Trouble-they forgot!

Dave Aldridge was the exception-he reached back until it hurt!

Congressman John Lewis said, “If you are going to make trouble, make good trouble.” I agree!

This brings me back to James Brown, he was a no-show for the Earl Lloyd tribute. Red Auerbach made the tribute to Earl Lloyd the only event he would attend that weekend.

Lloyd would be inducted into “The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame” in 2003. NBA All-Star Weekend 2001 will be the year Harold Bell crashed the NBA All-Star Game party with the historic tribute to Earl Lloyd in Washington, DC.

THE TRAILBLAZING TALK SHOW HOST WHO REFUSED TO SHUT UP AND DRIBBLE!

BENEFACTORS-Cathy Hughes-James Brown-Bill Rhoden-Mike Wilbon-Dave Aldridge-Kevin Blackistone

THE CITY PAPER / WASHINGTON, DC

HAROLD BELL: BLACK HISTORY MOUTH

This DC sports legend won’t kiss your jackass / Dave McKenna 2010

How the Washington Post discovered INSIDE SPORTS, was similar to how George Washington discovered America. The trailblazing show had been on the airwaves for almost a decade. Still, owners, Catherine and son, Donald Graham decided to just take INSIDE SPORTS. It did not matter sports editor George Solomon and writers Dave Dupree, Michael Wilbon, Byron Rosen, Tom Callahan, and Dave Aldridge were in the W-U-ST studios talking sports and politics.

In 1978 the Grahams arrived in the ‘Big Apple’ to publish their newfound magazine INSIDE SPORTS, only to discover they were in over their heads. Google “The Sunday Long Read” for the Albert and Costello ‘Whose On First’ comedy skit of Inside Sports Magazine in New York City.

In 1980 they returned to DC after losing several million dollars never really figuring out why they failed.

The failure was because their writers and braintrust could not figure out how to put my successful radio sports talk show to pen and paper. They thought they needed only their Ivy League and Harvard degrees, and it was New York here we come! They lacked creativity, common sense, and street sense for print media success, especially in New York City, the Media Capitol of America.

Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns were the cover boys for Inside Sports Magazine for their second fight in Las Vegas in June 1989. Their first fight was in Vegas in 1981 when Sugar had to rally from behind to KO the “Hit Man” in the 14th round to win the Welterweight Championship of the World! Sugar Ray now “The Cash Cow” of boxing avoided Hearns for eight years, the second fight was billed as “The War.”

The irony, the two ducked the most dangerous man in their weight class, Aaron “The Hawk’ Pryor. I watched Aaron beat Thomas in a Golden Glove Championship (on YouTube) in 1976.

After failing in New York City the Washington Post tried covering their tracks unsuccessfully. Bill Rasmussen the founder of ESPN had a better idea. Why not copy the Inside Sports format and make it a television magazine show? ESPN became the worldwide leader in sports reporting.

After decades of success, ESPN’s bottom line was not keeping up with the times and the Inside Sports format. Politicians did not like having their names hollered and screamed out on the morning and evening news. Sports and politics had suddenly become strange bedfellows.

ESPN’s new President, Jimmy Pitaro sent a memo to all broadcasters operating under the ESPN banner, it read, “JUST STICK TO SPORTS.” Freedom of speech will no longer be practiced on the ESPN Network.

The Washington Post hijacked the INSIDE SPORTS tag to New York City in 1978. The magazine failed and the hijackers returned home two years later. The staff with immunity and ‘White Privilege’ as their guilds penned a blog story in THE SUNDAY LONG READ titled, INSIDE SPORTS: THE ORAL HISTORY. Owner Donald Graham wrote me a check asking for ‘Anonymity.’

His note left me not quite understanding his request for anonymity, especially, since he allowed members of his staff to write a blog story, documenting how he and the Washington Post just took my tag Inside Sports and were making a joke out of my career as a trailblazing and pioneering sports talk show host.

The beat will go on according to Dr. Harry Edwards. We will have to wait until women can lead us out of this mess! The one percent will never give up Power or Money to level the Playing Field (remember 40 Acres and a Mule).

Dr. Edwards as we head into the NEW YEAR 2025 I disagree with “NO FINAL VICTORIES.” God is still in charge. There will be more victories long after we both are gone-I am confident, the children will have the FINAL VICTORY & FINAL VOTE.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THANK YOU DR. HARRY EDWARDS!

photo credits: Chuck Akins-Don Baker, King Shabazz & Fred Shepard

BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER: STENY HOYER AND MY FRIEND THE LATE JOHN LEWIS WALKING HAND IN HAND.

My 50+ years working with at-risk youth and my trailblazing sports talk radio and television careers, allowed me to cross the aisle. I learned there were some politicians regardless of their political party or the color of their skin never talked out of both sides of their mouths-meet Steny Hoyer and John Lewis.

If they gave you their word you could take it to the bank!

I met Congressman John Lewis at a Congressional Black Caucus Weekend in 1989. I was introduced by my friend Congressman Lou Stokes (D-Ohio). Congressman Stokes became the first politician to enter my name into the Congressional Record on the House Floor in December 1974. He cited my work with youth gangs and at-risk children in the inner city. Walter Fauntroy, Bob Dole, and Eleanor Holmes Norton also submitted my name.

When NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd was blackballed by the NBA, he asked me to campaign for his induction. Richard Evans contacted his friend John Lewis and set up a meeting. Lloyd was inducted in 2003.

This is the letter Congressman Lewis wrote to Lloyd advising him he was a part of the Kids In Trouble team campaigning for his NBA Hall of Fame induction.

I am giving KIT youth a history tour of NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd’s statue at the Charles Houston Rec Center in Alexandria, Virginia. There is also a statue of Lloyd at his West Virginia State College, thanks to my team of John Lewis, Red Auerbach, and Washington Times sports columnist Dick Heller.

I moved to Prince Georges’ County in the 70s shortly after Steny Hoyer became the Congressman for the 5th District of Maryland.

I met Congressman Hoyer in the late 1970s. My mentor, Senator Decatur Trotter, introduced us at the State House in Annapolis. Trotter and I were going to lunch when he spotted the Congressman walking off the elevator. He took me over and introduced the two of us. I remember Trotter saying, “The Silver Fox is a good brother, a good man to know.” The good brother stuck with me!

Trotter and I grew up in the same NE community. He was a great athlete at Armstrong High School in DC, and the young guys in the neighborhood looked up to him.

Boxing Champion Jamal Hilton receives the “KIT Man of the Year Award” for his Reach-Back efforts in the inner city, Senator Trotter makes the presentation.

Thanks to Trotter, in 1975, I was the first independent minority radio personality awarded a Maryland Lottery contract. The contract made me the highest-paid minority media personality in DC, bar none.

My Monday through Friday radio work hours were two five-minute morning and evening drive-time shows and a one-hour talk show on Saturdays-two-hours a week.

Trahan-Burden and Charles were the marketing arm for the Maryland State Lottery. Lottery checks were payable to HB Sports and Marketing.

In that same trailblazing era, I was named the first East Coast marketing and promotions Rep for Nike Shoes. Anheuser Busch asked me to write my job description to represent them in the DC market and NFL legend Jim Brown convinced Coca-Cola to sponsor Inside Sports. My sponsors were Corporate America.

The Neilson Ratings did not apply to me. They controlled how sponsors spent advertising dollars on black-oriented radio stations in the DC market and elsewhere nationwide. Inside Sports was off the charts (untouchable). The show changed how we talked and reported sports in the DC market, and beyond. I paid the radio stations, not vice versa (unheard of)

The youth associated with my non-profit Kids In Trouble, Inc. traveled around the East Coast, to basketball camps such as The John Chaney/Sonny Hill, Spencer Haywood, and Bighouse Gaines/Earl Monroe camps in Philadephia, New Jersey, and Winston-Salem, NC.

There were tickets for Redskins (NFL), Bullets (NBA) and Washington Nationals (MLB) games at my expense. The Kids In Trouble participants included Cathy Hughes’ baby boy, Alfred Liggins. My money went back into the community, NO REGRETS.

Senator Trotter’s health started to fail him in the early 2000s, he died in 2004. Suddenly, my sponsors reneged on written contracts. I was pushed off the airwaves.

The next two decades would be difficult but I managed to survive because I never forgot who I was and where I came from. More important, I never forgot Senator Trotter saying, “The Silver Fox is a good brother, and a good man to know.”

When things got rough I turned to Congressman Steny Hoyer. He answered my calls. Congressman Hoyer introduced me to his Constituent Service Representative, Daryl Pennington. She became my guardian Angel, and dozens of seniors felt the same way!

We were having a problem with the Social Security Administration, Landlord, and later a problem with a local bank.

First, Congressman Hoyer made an inquiry by letter to Social Security (problem solved). Daryl, called the local bank ( problem solved). What made Daryl so special to me was sometimes weeks would go by and you would think she had forgotten and she would call and say, “Mr. Bell, I am on top of it.” I can imagine her caseload was off the charts, but she always found time to reach out and reach back.

It took me 45 years to edit an exclusive one on one exclusive 1974 interview (Rumble in the Jungle) with the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, Muhammad Ali.

I finally arranged to debut the documentary/interview on the big screen at the Miracle Theatre on Capitol Hill in NE Washington, DC, I invited Gloria Gaddy and Daryl to my coming out party with a tribute to Muhammad Ali.

In the meantime, Daryl brought my Ali project to the attention of Congressman Hoyer. On Sunday, November 24, 2019, she read a proclamation from the stage of the theatre from the Congressman congratulating Hattie and me on our historical accomplishment.

Daryl reads a tribute to Muhammad Ali from Congressman Steny Hoyer at the Miracle Theater on November 24, 2019, marking the 45th Anniversary of the Rumble in the Junge. Hattie and I look on.

Congressman Steny Hoyer went to the House floor on Wednesday September 16, 2020, to disclose his friend and trusted community advocate for Prince Georges County’s 5th District, Daryl Pennington was called home to be with the Lord. Washington DC, Prince Georges County and the country lost a true public servant.

Press Secretary, Meg Spencer for Congressman Hoyer was the next Team Member up for Kids In Trouble. It has been 5 years since Daryl went home to be with the Lord. Thanks to Meg the true spirit of Constituent Service is alive and well in the 5th Congressional District of Prince Georges County.

In February of 2024, Kids In Trouble celebrated Black History Month at the Miracle Theater on Capitol Hill. The day of the celebration, Meg took the subway from her Capitol Hill office and brought a Proclamation from Congressman Steny Hoyer to the theater. The Reach Out and Reach Back continues.

2024 marked 45 years of politics for Congressman Steny Hoyer, hopefully we have him back in 2025 to continue to be the true Godfather of politicians in Prince Georges County.

If Congressman Hoyer decides to step away from the bumps and grind of political life, I would not blame him. Hopefully, he will remain only a telephone call away from Maryland’s new Senator Angela Alsobrooks. She will need a veteran like Hoyer to help usher her through the first year on Capitol Hill. She could not ask for a better political mentor. Congressman Steny Hoyer will be a tough act to follow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

“35 million households have guns and one-third store them loaded or unlocked, we must remind parents that this is dangerous and deadly.”

These were the words of the first lady Hillary Clinton. The words were spoken 25 years ago during an appearance on CNN with Larry King.

Mrs. Clinton was also the host of a Mother’s Day ceremony at the White House to honor mothers and families to highlight the importance of keeping children safe from guns.

Mrs. Clinton issued a Mother’s Day pledge that she hoped all parents would follow.

The pledge read, “I will not give my child unsupervised access to a firearm. I will not allow my child to play in a home where guns are improperly stored. If I own a gun, I will unload it, lock it up, and store the ammunition separately and securely. I will urge others, including my community leaders and political leaders, to do everything in their power to protect our children from guns.”

Twenty-five years later, the First Lady’s pledge has gone unheeded. Three people are dead after a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School a Madison, Wisconsin, campus for grades through K-12.

A 15-year-old student shot and killed a teacher and two other children. A teacher and three others have non-life-threatening injuries. The only difference between this mass shooting and the others is that the shooter is female and she is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A courageous second grader called 911 for help. My question again is, “When is enough enough?”

In Washington, DC one day later in SW DC on Galveston Street, a mother left a friend to watch her two children while she ran errands. The friend had a loaded gun and the 3-year-old brother accidentally shot his 5-year-old sister. She is fighting for her life.

The guns in the household have doubled with one in the car!

I have spent 6 decades working with youth gangs and at-risk children in DC, from Mt. Pleasant, U Street Corridor, Potomac Gardens, Barry Farms, and Simple City. In Alexandria, Va. schools, Charles Houston Rec Center, and Suitland, Maryland’s, Homer Avenue.

Many times, fingers are pointed at our children. The biggest problems are the non-leadership in their home, school, and peer pressure. Add unsupervised computer games, cell phones, and television news.

Our schools have become slippery slopes, “The teachers are scared of the principal, the principal is scared of the superintendent, the superintendent is scared of the parents, the parents are scared of the children, and the children ain’t scared of nobody.” It sounds like it might be possible but it is not quite true, teachers are underpaid and underappreciated and we are getting what we pay for. A high school graduate who can barely read above the third-grade level.

Teachers should be paid for their performance and not their longevity. A public school student costs $18.000, and a teacher’s salary is $63,000-$90,000. The children and the teacher are coming up short.

Jack Ciattarelli is the President of the NJ teachers’ union, his salary, is $752, 000 a year! Meanwhile, the average salary for a NJ public school teacher is $76,000. That same teacher pays $1400 in dues to help pay the union president’s salary. Where is the equality-who is zooming who?

New Jersey must be leading the country in test scores, reading, writing, and arithmetic. This sounds like a Mob Job!

We must never forget our children did not come out of their mother’s womb with an AK47, selling drugs, wearing a KKK Robe, and using the N and MF words. This is all learned behavior. They are watching us.

Black youth are not aware their ancestors were Kings and Queens and not hoodlums and thugs.

The question is, who sabotages teaching Black History–Ken Burns & PBS-Gov. Youngkin & DeSantis!

What makes it worse, CNN Commentator Van Jones says Trump is smarter than all of us. Does this mean money makes you smart or being elected President of the United States after 34 felony convictions!

Billionaire and owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos gave Jones and CEO of the World Kitchen Jose Andres, one-100 million dollars each for their favorite charities.

It looks like Van Jones thinks 100 million dollars gives him the right to sound stupid and get away with it.

I have broken bread and interviewed some of the greatest politicians of the 20th and 21st Centuries, but all of them were not smart, shrew maybe but definitely not smart.

The First Lady’s 1999 interview on CNN with Larry King was outstanding and, thought-provoking.

Is that the reason so much corruption is going on in politics “Money Honey!” I predicted in 2010 after The Supreme Court passed a no-cash limit for political run campaigns, the poor would remain poor for a long, long time in America.

“40 Acres and a Mule was dead, an Even Playing Field was never to be, Biden made a promise to the Black Farmers to help save their land was never kept, Colin Kaepernick came close in the NFL, but close only counts in horseshoes. For blacks in America, it is back to Square One.

NFL great Jim Brown ran across the aisle without a football and got 50 million dollars from Trump! Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass gave us “What’s Going On and Wake Up Everybody” and we still missed the boat thanks to a Crabs in the Barrel mentality.

Jose Andres looks like he is feeding people around the World, it is hard to tell whether Van Jones has reached out to any Black Farmers. You can bet one thing he will not be a Secret Santa in our community.

These are some of the politicians who helped me cross the aisle to make “Children First.” There was only one fraud among them.

Jeff Bezos and Van Jones, “I love you, my brother. Take this one-100 million and go help your people.”

I want to give Hillary Clinton the last word. She was the “FIRST” First Lady to address violence in our communities across America when she said, “Enough is Enough.”

She was talking about the murder wave sweeping Washington, DC, and the entire nation. If I had not known better, I would have sworn the First Lady had been listening to my radio talk shows, Inside Sports on WPFW or at W-U-S-T Radio.

Mrs. Clinton said, and I quote, “To think that here, at the seat of Government and just blocks from where we sit, children are shot in driveby shootings. People cannot venture out of their homes, and live behind 10 deadbolts on their doors. It’s an outrage.” As I have said on Inside Sports, she laid the blame at the door of the local Government, police departments, parents, and last but not least, the media.

The First Lady said, “The media has played a role in glorifying and giving too much credence, to the kind of overly impulsive and aggressive solving of our problems. And there is too much on television that our children watch for too many hours, which seems to suggest that violence is the answer.

Mrs. Clinton also said, “The inability of local governments to deal with crime has cut deeply into the rights of all Americans. We have undermined the basic freedom and right to liberty of literally millions of people by refusing or failing to deal with the violence that stalks our cities. I just cannot stand it anymore. I cannot bear to pick up another newspaper and read another baby shot.”

She was referring to four-year-old Launise Smith who was funeralized after being hit by a bullet fired into a crowd at a pickup neighborhood football game at Weatherless Elementary School in SE DC (25 years later gun violence raises its ugly head in SW DC a three-year-old shoots his 5-year-old sister in the chest).

After finishing work on President Clinton’s Health Care Plan, the First Lady is seriously considering turning her attention to an anti-crime initiative. I hope and pray that the President’s plan passes swiftly through Congress. I know that is wishful thinking on my part (it was).

She closed, “We cannot afford another year or even one more day of indecisiveness and a lack of leadership from local politicians.” (25 years later the beat goes on).

If there is a formula to save our children and our cities, the First Lady must find a way to expedite the President’s Health Care Plan successfully despite the obstacles ahead:

I applaud the First Lady’s strong words and stand on a problem that has paralyzed certain sections of our city. The inept, incompetent, and irresponsible actions of so-called leadership, enough is enough.

Washington, DC was recently voted “The Worst Run City in America.” It did not help, that the city had 4 different Police Chiefs during Mayor Muriel Bowser’s tour of duty.

It is so refreshing to see and hear someone stand up like a man, even if that someone happens to be–our First Lady.

INSIDE SPORTS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SPORTS TALK SHOW OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES. LEAVING FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND FOR OTHERS TO TRY TO FOLLOW!

NFL DISCOVER “MY CAUSE-MY CLEATS” 54 YEARS AFTER WILLIE WOOD AND LARRY BROWN WERE THE FACES OF THE NFL IN THE DC COMMUNITY.

November and December of each year, the holiday spirit is abundantly clear among the 1% of America’s rich and famous. For Example; NFL owners, suddenly, become the most generous philanthropists in America with turkeys at Thanksgiving and toys at Christmas for our homeless, lost, and forgotten children.

My question is, “Where were they hiding from January through October?” How about, they were looking for another gimmick to showcase, “We Care” about the children using the players as ‘Poster Boys.’ Has anyone seen Colin Kaepernick or American Black Ownership in the NFL? Please don’t take a knee!

The players are the poster boys for their latest campaign for the homeless and downtrodden. They have added to their “Man of the Year”, the Walter Payton Award in honor of the great running back of the Chicago Bears. This award is bestowed on the team player who has reached back and given the most to his community. The latest ‘Look at Us Now’ is ‘MY CAUSE My Cleats!’

According to an NFL press release, “My Cause My Cleats” participants are NFL players who wear custom cleats during a DESIGNATED game (more than likely NATIONALLY TELEVISED) to raise awareness for a charitable cause. Each player chooses his own cause and designs their cleats to represent it. All NFL player can participate in the initiative by selecting a cause and designing their cleats to showcase it.

Don’t ask about Black American ownership, (NFL-NBA-MLB-NHL) equal and civil rights are non-eligible causes!

I would guess NFL owners are asking, “What more do we want, despite the failure of “The Rooney Rule” you have almost double digits, head coaches, almost every team has a black QB and some have two. You now have black starting QBs in Kansas City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Green Bay, Dallas (Dak on IRS), Baltimore, Houston, and the Nation’s Capitol, come on man?”

In 1967 NFL All-Time great safety, Willie Wood and I worked together in the mean streets of Washington, DC for the DC Department of Recreation & Parks. We were assigned to work with the department’s elite, Roving Leader Program (youth gangs and at-risk children). This was 56 years before the NFL decided to give something back, other than a piece of the American Pie (ownership).

Willie and I were native Washingtonians and products of the DC Public School system. Willie played 12 years with the NFL Green Bay Packers led by legendary Coach Vince Lombardi. He was voted All-Pro nine times and played in the Pro Bowl six times.

Willie led the league in punt returns and interceptions. Lombardi said, “Willie is my coach on the field.” He played in 6 NFL Championship games, winning 5, and played in Super Bowls, 1 and 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. The Green Bay Packers won both Super Bowls.

The NFL blackballed Willie after he spoke out against the drug use by players on the San Diego Chargers. He was an assistant coach.

After being blackballed he had to go to Canada to find a job as a coach. Willie was named the first black head coach of the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League. Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League named him the first black head coach two-years later.

Despite, legendary Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi anointed him as his coach on the field, and Legendary coach and NFL broadcaster, John Madden named him to his 1991 Silver Anniversary All-NFL Team. NFL voters blackballed him from the Hall of Fame.

He was finally voted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1989. Thanks to a media campaign led by legendary DC sports columnist Dick Heller and yours truly.

DICK HELLER RECEIVES THE KIT “MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD” FROM WILLIE WOOD FOR HIS SUPPORT IN GETTING HIM INDUCTED INTO NFL HALL OF FAME. WILLIE NEVER FORGOT.

MEMBERS OF THE NFL GREEN BAY PACKERS 1991 ALL-MADDEN SILVER ANNIVERSARY TEAM-HERB ADDERLY-JERRY KRAMER AND WILLIE WOOD.

I knew Willie from his high school days at Armstrong. He and my older brother Bobby were baseball teammates. They were the double-play combination, Willie played second base, and Bobby played shortstop.

Willie was a great all-around high school athlete, he played baseball, football and basketball.

In 1955 my freshman year in high school, I had a front-row seat on the bench when Spingarn upset the great Willie Wood and his Armstrong team for the East Division Championship at Cardozo High School 13-7. We won the right to play Cardozo for the DC Public High School Championship at the legendary Griffin Baseball Stadium.

Spingarn and Cardozo played to a 0-0 tie. Despite the tie, Cardozo earned the right to play the Catholic League Champion, St. Johns. Simply, because they crossed our 50-yard line twice to our one time. It would have been much fairer to have flipped a coin.

During the NFL off-season, Willie taught in the DC Public Schools. In 1967, we joined the DC Department of Recreation and Park’s elite Roving Leader Program. Our job description read working with youth gangs, and at-risk children. We spend most of our time in juvenile Court.

In 1967 I joined Petey Greene on his Sunday radio talk show on W-O-L, Petey Greene’s Washington. I had a 5-minute time slot to talk sports. As we headed into the Thanksgiving holidays a white businessman and friend of the show called and donated 50 turkeys for a turkey away for our listeners.

The friend of the show owned a supermarket in the NE 6th Street Business Mall. This was the first community turkey giveaway in the DMV. Thanks to Petey Greene in 2024, everyone wants a piece of the turkey giveaway. The DC Central Kitchen is the leader on Thanksgiving Day. The kitchen feeds thousands in the DMV.

My wife Hattie and I recently met Mike Curtin, the CEO of the DC Central Kitchell in SW Washington. I met Mike at the Miracle Theater on October 30th during a tribute to Muhammad Ali. It was a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle.

Our non-profit organization honored several young men who were the benefactors of the Kids In Trouble Program, James Young, a successful DC businessman, my favorite student/athlete as a football coach at Cardozo High School. Billy ‘Buck’ Johnson is a ten-year employee of the DC Central Kitchen. Billy invited his boss, Mike Curtin. Hattie missed the tribute, she was in the hospital recovering from surgery.

BILLY BUCK AND CEO MIKE CURTIN HANGING OUT AT THE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN

On Monday, December 2, 2024, Hattie and I were invited to the DC Central Kitchen to meet Mike, Thanks to Billy. Things were rather hectic at the Miracle Theater and we never got to introduce ourselves.

Hattie T just arrived back in DC on Saturday, November 30th. She spent the Thanksgiving holiday with her family in Atlanta-it was our 56th wedding anniversary. We celebrated with pizza and a glass of wine.

The DC Central Kitchen is located at 2121 First Street, SW, and was in a part of SW I never knew existed in the new DC. The Army Base Fort McNair was on this side of M Street SW. I remembered from back in the day. The community was known as “Buzzard Point.”

We had visited the SW neighborhood only for a play at the Arena Stage, a ball game at Nationals’ Park, lunch at the Wharf, and Jazz at the Presbyterian Church on Friday evenings hanging out with my friend Dick Smith.

When I finally found my way to the DC Central Kitchen it was an eye-opening experience. The building took up the whole block. One entrance and exit served everyone. We met Mike in front of his office near the entrance and sat down for a chat. Billy was on vacation for the Thanksgiving holidays.

I introduced Hattie, she arrived back home on Saturday. We celebrated our 56th wedding anniversary on her arrival. I rambled on for several minutes about being a native Washingtonian, Kids In Trouble, Billy Buck, and the Hillcrest Saturday Program. Mike finally jumped in and said, “Let me tell you my story!” And what a story!

He is also a native Washingtonian, a graduate of Gonzaga High School and the College of William & Mary.

This was common ground, Gonzaga High School is one block north of Mount Airy Baptist Church. My Great-grandfather, the Rev. Alfred Tyler laid the first brick to build the church in 1893. The Tyler House a senior residence two blocks north of the church, is named after my Great-Uncle, the Rev. Earl Tyler.

Once we are settled in, Mike takes us on a tour of the facility. We can see classes being taught. In some classes, former students are the teachers. We saw an assembly line of how food is prepared and shipped to the different clients of the DC Kitchen. It was an all-business environment, 90% of the students were black and neatly dressed. No pants were hanging below the beltline, and their hair was neatly groomed.

In my travels in and out of today’s public schools in the DMV, it is difficult to distinguish the students from the teachers. DC Kitchen is preparing its students for the ‘Real World’ of work.

Mike’s journey to SW DC is a story for “Believe It or Not.” He tells how he spent over a decade at the shelter on 2nd and D Streets, NW feeding the homeless.

It was the domain of ‘Homeless Advocate’ the late Mitch Snyder. In 1984 Snyder convinced President Ronald Reagan to give him government funds to run a shelter for the homeless-enter Mike Curtin.

In the 90s the shelter’s reputation suffered. Some homeless felt it was safer to sleep on the cold mean streets of DC than a homeless shelter. Mike, would use this opportunity to make his exit to a vacant lot on the corner of First Street, SW and he has never looked back.

Twenty years later, the DC Kitchen has become a landmark of hope for DC residents. The kitchen is open 365 days a year. America would be a better place for everyone if the 1% and NFL owners followed in the footsteps of Mike Curtin (wishful thinking). Mike Curtin does not just talk the talk, he walks the walk!

Many use TRANSPARENCY describing themselves and the people they serve (politicians). If you want to see the definition of TRANSPARENCY, meet Mike Curtin at the DC Central Kitchen.

There are two floors when you enter the building which covers the whole block of First Street, the VIPs, the staff, and the everyday people who visit will find his office on the first floor. It is in full view and enclosed with a glass window (no tint). He sees everyone coming, and going, and everyone sees him.

The only celebrities I can compare Mike to are Red Auerbach (NBA) and Jim Brown (NFL). Red and Jim had their telephone numbers listed and no answering service to take messages-they answered their own phones. Now that is the true definition of TRANSPARENCY!

We saw a wall of honors with the names of people who inspired him to be all that he could be.

Mike Curtin, has proven you cannot judge a man’s home or place of business by the company he keeps!

On April 4, 1968, Willie Wood and I had just finished having lunch at Che Maurice Restaurant, a hang-out of the DC in-crowd. I remember we were standing on the corner of 9th & U Street on a bright sun shiny spring day Harvey Cooper aka ‘The Oldest Teenager’ hollered out of a passing car, “Hey Harold, they just shot Dr. King in Memphis, Tennesee.”

We looked at each other and Willie asked, “What did he just say?” I repeated in disbelief what I thought Harvey had yelled at us. Suddenly, people were coming out of the restaurant yelling and screaming, “Dr. King is dead!”

Willie and I started down the U Street corridor toward Ben’s Chili Bowl. U. S. Marshall in-charged our friend Luke C. Moore got out of a car and walked arm and arm with us. For the next 72 hours, I walked throughout the city with nothing but a DC Police Badge.

“HERE COMES THE JUDGES” LUKE MOORE AND EUGENE HAMILTON.

I was sworn in by the highest-ranking black in the department, Assistant Chief Tilmon O’Bryant. I was expected to help keep the peace without a gun. It was not a walk in the park, I blended in well.

I met FBI undercover agent, Wayne Davis in NE DC and we walked the last night of my tour. Wayne moved on to become a great friend and the first black to be named FBI Agent in charge of the Detroit Office.

He tried to warn “The Mayor For Life” Marion Barry to step back before ‘The bitch set him up!’

In 1991 Marion’s last media interview was heard on Inside Sports on W-U-ST Radio. His last words as he left the studio were, “Harold Bell is always going to tell the truth!”

WAYNE TAKES ME ON A TOUR OF FBI HQ IN DETROIT

In November of 1968 after the riots, I married my fiancee, Hattie Thomas. We founded the Kids In Trouble Hillcrest Children’s Center Saturday Program in December for neighborhood children.

DECEMBER 1968 HATTIE T AND I WERE THE HOST OF OUR FIRST “KIDS IN TROUBLE” CHRISTMAS TOY PARTY FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN.

The first Santa’s Helper was my Virginia Sailor Minor League football teammate, LB George Kelly. I am standing in the back assisting him.

In 1970 Washington Redskins players LB Harold McLinton, RB Larry Brown, WR Roy Jefferson, and DB Ted Vactor joined Willie Wood as Santa’s Helpers. RB/WR Lenny Moore (Baltimore Colts) and DB Johnny Sample (NY Jets) later joined the KIT team. Fifty-four years later the NFL discovered, “MY CAUSE My Cleats” better late than never.

KIT was the host for 45 straight years of Christmas toy parties for elementary school children in the DMV. Children in the DMV were the benefactors, no child was left behind.

We helped thousands of kids without grants or loans. We stayed off the front pages of the Washington Post for misappropriating toy dollars for kids. We never would have been given a pardon or second chance.

HAROLD McLINTON IS SANTA’S HELPER DURING ONE OF OUR ANNUAL TOY PARTIES.

NFL FILMS VIDEO TAPED LARRY AND HAROLD TEACHING WATER SAFETY TO INNER-CITY CHILDREN AT THE KIDS IN TROUBLE HILLCREST SATURDAY PROGRAM IN 1971. THIS WAS NFL FILMS’ FIRST COMMUNITY PROMO FOR NATIONAL TV.

NFL ALL-PRO WR ROY JEFFERSON UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL AS SANTA’S HELPER FOR THE ANNUAL KIDS IN TROUBLE TOY PARTY.

Afro-American NewspaperAugust 1969

In 1969 the white students seen above were bussed in from Takoma Park High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. For two hours every Saturday, the Hillcrest Saturday Program elementary school students were the benefactors of the tutors.

There were no black students at Howard University or DC Teacher Colleges available. The Hillcrest Saturday Program tutors were the trailblazers of why today’s high school students are getting college credits for volunteering in their communities nationwide.

DC SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES, TED NEWMAN, HARRY ALEXANDER AND EUGENE HAMILTON HONOR LARRY DURING A KIDS IN TROUBLE BENEFIT BASKETBALL GAME AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

SANTA’S HELPER HAROLD McLINTON RECEIVED A THANK YOU FROM JUDGE HARRY ALEXANDER FOR HIS COMMUNITY SERVICE

LARRY, HAROLD, AND JUDGE HAMILTON PARTICIPATE IN THE KIDS IN TROUBLE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TOY PARTY AT BOLLING AIR FORCE BASE IN SE DC.

THE NFL ALL-PRO PLAYERS WHO HELP START COMMUNITY REACH-BACK. L-R ROY JEFFERSON-WILLIE WOOD AND JOHNNY SAMPLE.

We are blessed that Willie Wood, Roy Jefferson, Harold McLinton, Ted Vactor, Johnny Sample, Lenny Moore, Jose Andres, and Mike Curtin are not our “Everyday Heroes.” They saw something and did something!

They were and are my, “Super Stars in the most important GAME being played in the World today–it is the GAME called Life!”

RESPECT IS EARNED AND NOT GIVEN: 

Harold Bell’s Black History Mouth

A DC AMERICAN HISTORY FACT–THE PETEY GREENE STORY!

I met Petey Greene in 1957 at the Burning Tree Golf Course in Bethesda a suburb of Maryland. On the weekends I would catch a bus from my NE DC housing project, Parkside, with my mentor Jody Waugh to caddy for the movers and shakers of American politics. They included a President, Vice-President, Senators, Congressmen, actors, and entertainers from Broadway to Hollywood.

No blacks or women were allowed membership. This was a strange phenomenon to me. The black caddies were allowed to play on Mondays, but their white wives never. It was a different World.

Petey and I carried golf bags to earn money. I was there because I was interested in helping my single-parent mother make ends meet financially. Petey came to the golf course to host and organize dice and card games deep in the woods in the evenings.

I was warned by my homeboys to avoid him by any means necessary, he was a cheat. I learned the hard way. It is often said, “Curiosity killed the cat”, one dumb evening I was the cat!

He broke me and then gave me two dollars for my bus fare and to buy 10 cents Little Tavern Hamburgers for the ride home. I thought he was being really generous until he said, “You owe me four dollars next week.” He was also a “Loan Shark.”

As I was trying to leave the golf course before my homeboys discovered I had lost all my money, the golf pro, Max Elbin called out to me to return to the caddy shack. He had two golfers who were interested in playing nine holes and he wanted me to be their caddy. It was a no-brainer, I could recoup some of the money I lost to Petey.

As I walked to the first tee, a voice yelled, “Harold are you ready for an adventure?” I turned to see who was calling out to me, and to my surprise, it was Vice-President Richard Nixon. He would change my life.

Petey and I would become great friends after I paid him his four dollars, never to gamble with him again.

My mom was born and raised in Sumpter, SC, and she was a graduate of Cardozo High School in NW DC. My father was a Dead-Beat Dad in every sense of the word.

My mother’s parents were educators in Sumpter. My father was a native Washingtonian. His parents were church founders, my great-grandfather laid the first brick to help build Mt. Airy Baptist Church in 1893.

The church is located in the shadows of the Nation’s Capitol at North Capitol and L Streets NW. Two blocks north of the church is a senior residence, The Tyler House named after my great uncle, the Rev. Earl Tyler.

When my mother graduated high school, she was hired as a clerk typist at the Water Department in downtown DC. The new job helped her to qualify for SECTION 8 Housing and move us from Grandma Bell’s house to the housing project named, Parkside. Two years later she was unemployed. It seemed to her, that there was an unwritten code in the government for blacks, the last hired would be the first fired!

She grudgingly applied for welfare, my two brothers and I needed to be fed and clothed. I felt it was my duty to help her financially. My grandmother and hero Amy Tyler Bell raised my older brother, Bobby.

In 1958 Nixon was leaving for a tour around the World, starting with the Soviet Union. I was hopefully headed to college. He made me promise I would graduate and go to college. He loved talking about sports but thought education was more important. He was right, I would learned the hard way.

I thought I was the straw that stirred the drink as a high school athlete. My attitude got me kicked off two of the three teams I played. For the third team, I was locked on the school bus at half-time as the football team won without me. I was on the way to hell in a hurry, until Coach Brown suggested I apologize to my teammates and I did.

I still got kicked to the curve on the basketball team for my selfish behavior. Mad at the World I transferred to our rival Eastern High School to finish the season, but a protest against me killed that move.

My former coach Dave Brown found me hanging out in the pool hall and convinced me to finish my senior year in Prince George’s County. In the summer of 1959, Nixon went to the Soviet Union, I went to college and Petey went to jail for armed robbery.

In 1965 Petey, singer Marvin Gaye, and I returned to DC around the same time. Marvin had joined the Air Force in 1956. He had been singing with several do-wop groups since his discharge in 1957. The three of us met by coincidence in front of a DC landmark, the Howard Theater. We spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out our next move.

It did not take Marvin long to make up his mind, He wanted out of DC fast and in a hurry. Petey and I wished him luck, kissed, hugged and he was gone.

I needed a job, and Petey introduced me to Mr. Jim Banks CEO of the United Planning Organization.  The organization was a self-help entity in the NW Shaw-Cardozo Community.

Mr. Banks hired Petey and me as Neighborhood Workers. This was my first job after dropping out of college to chase my dream of playing in the NFL.

Our job descriptions read: Work in the schools and on the playgrounds with at-risk children and youth gangs.  We spent as much time in the DC Superior Courts as we did in the schools.

In 1967 UPO gave a grant to the DC Recreation Department. The grant was to hire Roving Leaders to help fight youth violence in our schools and in the DC community. The stipulation, the department had to hire me.  Petey chose to stay behind with Mr. Banks and UPO.

In the summer of 1967, I was meeting Petey for lunch at Bens’ Chili Bowl. When I arrived, he told me that Muhammad Ali was on the campus of Howard University.  I left him immediately with my sights on Howard University to meet The Greatest.  It was the most important journey I had made since the Burning Tree Golf Course in 1957.

1967 was a good year, Petey Greene’s Washington radio talk show made its debut on WOL Radio.  He gave me 5  minutes to talk about sports every Sunday evening. Petey Greene’s Washington led to my trailblazing pioneering sports talk show, “INSIDE SPORTS.”  

Thanks to Petey and Muhammad Ali, they opened doors in sports media I never thought possible.  Inside Sports changed the way we talk and report sports in America and beyond.

In November 1967 a white fan, listener, and businessman at the Eastern Market in NE DC called Petey and donated 50 turkeys for the needy.  We could not believe our ears.

Petey gave me 10 turkeys for family and friends. He and his friend “Mego” borrowed a van from Capitol Caddilac and delivered turkeys to the needy callers on his Sunday talk show. 

Today’s media Thanksgiving turkey giveaways started with Petey Greene.  He is the footprint in the sand for Inside Sports and the turkey giveaways adopted by radio and television stations in the DMV. 

Petey and I became the Pied Pipers regarding REACH-BACK into the community. Petey Greene’s Washington and the turkey giveaways became his signature landmarks, Kids In Trouble’s annual Christmas Toy Parties for elementary school children and Inside Sports became my signature landmarks. Many have followed our lead, and our community reach-back efforts have been copied but never duplicated.

The Kids In Trouble’s first Christmas toy party December 1968. My Virginia Sailor football teammate, Linebacker George Kelly was Santa’s Helper. I am seen in the background assisting him.

Petey won two Emmy Awards for “Petey Green’s Washington.”

1972 Super Bowl in L. A. Sylvia, Jean, HB, Petey, Judy, and Hattie T,

Washington Post columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner, Bill Raspberry, Dewey Hughes, and Ollie Johnson join me for a Kids In Trouble basketball fundraiser at GT University against the NFL Washington Redskins.

Fatty Taylor (NBA), Larry Brown (NFL-MVP 1972 ) & Petey hanging out with me at a Hillcrest Saturday Program’s community outing.

“Talk To Me”, the Petey Greene movie was a fraud. It was the Dewey Hughes story. The story never involved Petey’s wife Judy or their two children, Petrie and Pine. The movie was shot in Canada to avoid family and friends in DC who really knew the late Petey Greene. Petey would always remind me to never trust Dewey and Cathy Hughes. He was preaching to the choir.

Dewey misled actor Don Cheadle and Hollywood that he was the know it all behind Petey’s success. He never sought out Emmy Award winner, broadway, and movie star Robert Hooks. Petey and Hooks grew up together in Foggy Bottom in Georgetown.

There was no DC premier of the movie, unless it was held underground. When the movie made its way to the Magic Johnson theater in Landover Mall, I took my wife Hattie and my mother-in-law, Mommy T to check it out. Petey, use to hang out with me at Mommy T’s house in Suitland, Maryland. He kept her laughing, she loved him.

When the lights were turned on and the movie was over, we made our way out to the parking lot, Hattie and Mommy T were very quiet. I never muttered a word. Suddenly, Mommy T often soft spoken yelled, “That was not the Petey Greene I knew!”

Hattie, looked at me and asked, “Where was Judy, Petrie and Pine, and where were you?”

Every time I see Dewey or Cathy at a DC function and try to get an update, they disappear before I can work my way across the room.

THE BIG LIE AND DEWEY HUGHES.

Meet the Thanksgiving Turkey Dewey Hughes, sometimes turkeys dress in dark glasses and Hollywood white!

Richard M. Nixon was the Vice-President of the United States when we first bonded at the Burning Tree Golf Course in 1957. Burning Tree was an exclusive all male and all white private club located in a suburb of Maryland in Washington, DC.

I was a caddy there in the late 50s working on the weekends to help my single parent mother to help make ends meet financially. I lived in a housing project in NE Washington, DC–it was two different worlds.

One late Saturday evening the Club pro, Max Elbin hollered out to me as I was making my way to the parking lot to look for a ride into DC. This was a ritual the caddies often use to catch our bus back home, whether we lived in Foggy Bottom in Georgetown DC, Cabin John in Maryland or my housing project in NE DC. The white members were often our mold of transportation back into DC.

On that particular Saturday evening, I was in the right place at the right time. I had just lost my day’s earnings on the golf course to the notorius, Petey Greene. My homeboys had warned me to avoid the crap and cards games organized by Petey in the evenings. I was a knucklehead and did not take their advice.

I ended up dead broke. Petey, lend me two dollars for my bus fare and Little Tavern Hamburgers (10 cents each) for the ride back to the ghetto. He charged a dollar on a dollar–he was also a loan shark.

As I approached, Mr. Elbin, he explained he had two bags for me to carry and the players were only going play nine-holes–that was music to my ears, darkness was fast approaching.

As I starting to walk to the tee, I heard a voice yell, “Harold are you ready for an adventure?” I turned to see where the voice was coming from, to my surprise, it was the Vice-President of the United States, Richard Nixon. There was a smiling face walking beside him, he would later introduce himself as Bill Rogers (Attorney General). He was an excellent golfer, he was teaching the Vice-President how to play.

It would take me only two holes to discover what the adventure Mr. Nixon was talking about. His ball spent more time in the woods and trees then, the birds and bees. On top of that it was a hot evening sun bearing down on every hole. Mr. Rogers was a class act and a very patience man.

When we arrived at the ninth and final hole, Mr. Nixon hit another ball in the woods, and when he emerged, he called out to Mr. Rogers, “Hey Bill, lets go nine more.”, I could believe my ears!

Those nine more holes and the ride to Westmoreland Circle to catch my bus would change my life forever.

During the adventures on the golf course and the rides to the bus stop turned into discussions of my prowness as an athlete and the games of life. He stressed that I should pay more attention to my books than, balls and strikes. He reminded me, that my education would pay more dividends than, football, basketball or baseball.

We went our separate ways in 1958, he would be heading to South America and other countries to talk with World Leaders.

Mr. Nixon would become the President of the United States in 1969. I also believe he would have been a great sports writer or a sports talk show host.

In the summer of 1969 our paths would cross again, this time it would not be on a golf course, but on the streets of Shaw/Cardozo. The President was touring the riot area of 1968. I was working as a Roving Leader for the DC Department of Parks and Recreation. My assignment, working with at-risk children and youth gangs. This encounter would lead to a Presidential appointment for me.

Antonio Logan-El at the age age of 10 leading the way making sure we leave no child behind.

Every election cycle the favorite cry of a politician, “Make Children First.” It never happens.

Former Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was recently seen on comedian Bill Maher’s cable television show, CNN. She was promoting her new book. The discussion centered around the danger of being a politician in America.

Pelosi said, “This is what I signed up for.” Maher’s response, “Are you sure.” Pelosi quoted President Teddy Roosevelt, “He said, you are no longer a spectator when you are in the public arena. You have to be ready to take a punch and throw a punch for the children.”

I watched in disbelief, when those words came out of her mouth! I have yet to hear a politician utter those words, and carry them to Capitol Hill.

No punches were throwed for the two children and two teachers at Wider High School in Georgia on September 2, 2024. This was just weeks after the new school year had started.

Since December 1968 Kids In Trouble has tried to make thousands of children FIRST. The benefactors of Kids In Trouble and Inside Sports who tried to help me make children FIRST read like a WHO’S WHO.

WASHINGTON STAR-NEWS DECEMBER I, 1974

ROBIN ‘SUGAR’ WILLIAMS

photo / Fred Sheperd

(top photo) Robin sings the classic “Hero” at the Grand Hyatt in DC. The occasion, annual KIT toy party. ‘We Remember Muhammad Ali’ at the Miracle Theatre on Capitol Hill (2019)

Robin is a native Washingtonian and a product of the DC Public Schools. Eastern High School choir Director with Robin were considered the No. I high school choir in the nation. She is a graduate of Howard University and came back to teach music in the DC Public Schools.

Robin has traveled the World as a gospel artist and performed at the White House. Her work and contributions to Kids In Trouble are legendary. She reached back with the late NFL greats, Jim Brown and Duane Thomas, and dozens of pro athletes, Judges, and media personalities. Their support helped me try to enhance the lives of thousands of inner-city children across the DMV, Atlanta (John Hollins) and Philadelphia (Sonny Hill).

MILES CLARKE

I met Miles when he was three years old hanging out in a Bowie Senior Residence with his General Manager Grandmother, Gloria Gaddy. One day he followed me to the elevator and we have been friends ever since. I watched him go from Pee Wee football to high school football and band to the Bowie State College band and on to co-hosting a campus radio talk show. He can now be found in the new state-of-the-art studios of the Bowie Department of Communications. Miles Clarke is now a junior with his eyes on the prize.

ANTONIO LOGAN-EL

ANTONIO LOGAN-EL went from sitting on a baby Grand Piano in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown DC to being named to the National High School All-American football team. He is a graduate of Towson State College, he returned to serve elementary school children pizza and hotdogs at the annual KIT toy party at the Marriott Hotel in Greenbelt, Maryland.

ROBERT GLEN went from shooting hoops with me to become a Moorehouse Man. There he met billionaire Robert Smith, Mr. Smith paid the tuition of Robert Glen’s entire class.

YOU WIN SOME AND YOU LOSE SOME-MEET WILLIAM WALKER, JR

William Walker, Sr. and I had been friends for over 3 decades. I remember when William Walker, Jr. was born. William senior showed up at a gathering place in SE DC called The Little White House, it was a hangout place for community advocates and wannabes. Every Thursday morning breakfast was served with expert advice on how to save our children and our community. They are still trying to figure it out!

After breakfast William passed out cigars. I didn’t smoke and did not take one. He insisted I take one anyway in appreciation of his first born. I kept that cigar for about 5 years until it just disappeared.

William was a man’s man and we sometimes disagreed and fell in and out of love. We would go for months without speaking while sharing the same space in the community.

He would show up at my community events with little William and smile like everything was cool and it was as far as I was concerned. The one thing that kept us together, we both wanted what was best for our children. And if there was a serious disagreement, we would pick up the telephone and make the call. Unlike most player-haters and naysayers in the DMV, we never talked behind each other’s backs. The arrival of little William I think made that more important.

Like those of us who were not hustling the children, he became disenchanted with leadership in the community from top to bottom, especially the hustlers who pretended it was all about the children, when it was all about “The Bemjamins.”

William Sr. was a Navy veteran, he served his country. He was also a multi-talented writer, actor, and producer in front and behind the camera.

William Walker and I had different opinions over the years on how to monetize my exclusive one-on-one of a kind Muhammad Ali interview. We kept hitting and missing.

We would talk about little William’s basketball skills as a ‘Little Big Man’ in a sport of giants. He was barely over five feet tall; he was a great little ball-handler, ball hawk and leader on the floor. I would attend practices at Woodson Middle School on Minnesota Avenue in NE DC. There were times I would attend games to watch him in action to check out his progress.

Walker’s main concern was little William who was now a teenager (Red Flag) and his mother’s health. A consistent income had become a problem. He saw no future with Chappelle.

Despite, “Now you see me and now you don’t” frauds in our community, there was some light at the end of the tunnel. Little William’s future was looking bright, and the 50th Anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle was on the horizon. We could plan on getting little William a basketball scholarship if his academics were up to par. Walker convinced me he had a game plan to keep little William focused and how to help me put the finishing touches on my Ali project.

I was already working with an experienced editor; he was keeping hope alive with my classic one-of-a-kind interviews with some of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Ali was the jewel in the crown.

After a meeting of the minds, Walker and I went to meet my editor for an introduction. They were aware of each other’s work. In June 2022 the decision was made for the three of us to work together to make the project a reality.

July 11, 2022 William Walker, Sr. was called home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He died suddenly of a heart attack. He was 65 years old and left behind his mother and a teenage son William.

William Walker, Sr. unexpected passing left me wondering what was to become of his only son, and his ailing mother. I had never met his mother or any other member of his family, only William, Jr.

He did introduce me to a close old friend, and homeboy, O. J. McKee. O. J. was living in Raleigh, N. C. and teaching at the University of North Carolina. William introduced us via telephone conference call a year before he passed, their common denominator, film production.

I had no clue who to contact about his final arrangements until O. J. called with an update. William’s homegoing service was held at Jenkins Funeral Home in Landover, Maryland. O. J. drove from North Carolina to the funeral and we met face to face for the first time.

On my arrival at Jenkins Funeral Home, I was shocked to see William, Jr and O. J. were the only familiar faces I recognized in attendance. It didn’t take long for me to understand why there were so few friends of William’s in attendance. Felicia Chappelle from Cleveland, Ohio, had taken charge of the homegoing service.

I found it strange there was no one from The Little White House in attendance. He was a regular at the breakfast for years and this was the last place I saw Felecia Chappelle. I let go and let God and kept my distant as I did the last time I saw her at The Little White House.. Maybe she and brother Dave were a blessing in disguise for the Walker family.

O. J. would be driving back to North Carolina in the morning, we shook hands and promised to stay in touch and keep an eye on little William. If only we had known where this journey would lead us!

Thanks to O. J.’s uncle befriending little William at the homegoing service, there was a contact number for him. O. J. led the way and had little William to call me for a follow-up.

Little William called and we talked about his plans for the future, William Sr. would be happy to hear college was on his drawing board. His college of choice would be Central State in Wilberforce, Ohio.

One of the things he mentioned, “I need a job to help me earn enough money to buy a car to drive to school.” It sounded reasonable, but this was August heading into September, some young folks were already on their campuses. He made it clear, he needed something that paid better than McDonald’s.

I called a friend Bob Lewis; he was the manager of the Giant Food Store when I was living in Bowie. He had been a great supporter of Kids In Trouble when I was living there. William was a kid in trouble.

Bob was out the door and into retirement when I caught him at home. I told him the story of little William. He promised to check around and see what he could find if anything at this late date.

It took a few days but Bob came through with flying colors. He found William a job in a Giant Warehouse making Top Dollar. William went online and successfully filled out the application. He was given a reporting date to start work–he was a no-show. Bob called me with the bad news and I was at a loss for words. He said, “HOWARD, I would do it again if you called, because it is what you do.”

I never tried to reach out to little William again. I called O. J. to tell him what had happened with the job at Giant. He said, “Man you tried, I heard he is in Ohio looking for a job so he can enroll in school and Felicia is trying to help him.” I was happy and disappointed all at the same time. I had to let go and let God.

My birthday falls on May 21st and on May 21st 2024, I had a rude awaking. Instead of celebrating my birthday with a bowl of Cherrios and some fruit, I was confronted with the morning news of a car chase across the DC-Maryland lines with police cars from DC and PG County in hot pursuit.

The occupants of the vehicle being chased had taken shots at an off-duty DC Police Captain while driving recklessly through DC streets. They resented the officer taking a video of their reckless driving, and the chase was on.

They finally wrecked the automobile and were pulled from the wreckage. The young man I thought was in school in Ohio, William Walker, Jr I saw in handcuffs sitting on the curb with two cops standing over him. My first thoughts were, “What is he doing home and how did I fail this young man?”

William Walker, Jr in handcuffs and wearing braids with conspirator. They both were arrested for reckless driving and, attempted murder of a police officer.

I immediately called O. J. McKee, when I told him the bad news, he was also in disbelief. He said, “I thought he was still in Ohio preparing for the next school year. I was under the impression he was working and doing well. I would have never known if you had not called me.”

LOOKING BACK:

Little William was a problem child when his father was living. DC court records revealed he had been arrested for two illegal gun possessions. His father, being a protective dad, covered up for him trying to keep hope alive for his only child.

He lived with an uncle/friend of his father’s before heading to Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. According to the uncle/friend little William was very disrespectful.

There was a warrant for his arrest when he left Central State University.

I remember the late NFL great Jim Brown’s thoughts after I spoke out regarding a brutal act by a cop trying to discipline a female student in a classroom. He threw her across the classroom and then dragged the child across floor by her hair. His response, “Harold, children don’t vote.” From all indications there are many politicians who feel that exact same way.

There are two exceptions I know: They care about children

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2024

PG COUNTY EXECUTIVE ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D-MD)—CONGRESSMAN STENY HOYER (D-MD)

NOVEMBER 5, 2024 VOTE KAMALA HARRIS & ANGELA ALSOBROOKS

KAMALA AND ANGELA: SISTERS IN BLACK AND WHITE

State Farm has nothing on Kamala Harris and Angela Alsobrooks when it comes to “Good Neighbors.” From Angie’s house in Prince Georges County, Maryland to Kamala’s White House in Washington, DC, it only takes minutes and not hours.

Where and how did these two dynamic women become “Good Neighbors and Good Friends” with one living on the East Coast and the other living on the West Coast?

The story goes according to WTOP Radio, “Alsobrooks won her election in 2010 — the same year Harris elevated her profile by winning the race to become California attorney general. One of the first calls Alsobrooks received after the election was from Harris.

“Congratulations,” Harris told her. “How can I help you?”

Despite the old saying that has been floating around in our community for decades, “Crabs in the Barrel”, Kamala Harris decided she was not going to play that game and pulled a Diana Ross. She reached out and touched Angela Alsobrooks, unheard of in our community especially, among black men.

In 1970 Diana Ross, had just left the Supremes after a decade as the group’s lead singer. She went through difficult times trying to piece a solo album together, with Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson writing  and producing for her.

Ross recorded “Reach Out and Touch”, which carried a heavy gospel influence, and was one of the few songs the singer recorded to express her social conscience, previously experimented with the Supreme’ s singles such as “Love Child” and “I’m Living in Shame.” While the song’s initial success fell short of expectations, “Reach Out and Touch” became one of Ross’ most popular and notable songs.

During her concert performances of the song, Ross often had the whole crowd turn to their neighbors, and “Reach out and touch hands.”

“Angela said, “I was totally floored, “I didn’t know this woman when she reached out to touch me!”

From that point on, they kept in regular touch, Alsobrooks said. Frequently, when Harris came to Washington, D.C. for official business and for political fundraisers, the two would get together.

“It’s been a mutually supportive relationship ever since,” Alsobrooks said.

On the weekend before the 2016 California primary, Alsobrooks traveled to Golden State to stump for her friend, who was competing in the race for U.S. Senate. She toured the state by bus with a group that included Harris, her husband, Douglas Emhoff, and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), visiting businesses, churches and community meetings.

To Alsobrooks’ surprise, Harris invited her to sit next to her on the bus between every stop, but instead of talking about the California race, “she really grilled me — and I mean grilled — to find out what I was doing here.”

Shortly after Harris was sworn in to the Senate, she and Alsobrooks got together at a Mexican restaurant on Capitol Hill, as Alsobrooks contemplated running for Prince George’s County executive in 2018. Sitting together in a booth, with Harris scribbling on a yellow legal pad, “we sketched out my race, issue by issue,” Alsobrooks said. Throughout that campaign, Harris continued to dispense advice, recommending consultants and talking strategy.

When Harris launched her campaign for president, it was inevitable that Alsobrooks — now county executive — would help her. She traveled to Detroit to lend moral support during one of the televised presidential debates last winter, bringing her teenage daughter along. This is what friends are for!

“When I see her out there, people have no idea” how supportive Harris can be for her friends. “She’s very focused on helping women — especially minority women in elected leadership.”

OUR HOPE-SISTER TO SISTER IN THE STRUGGLE TO WIN IN 2024

Alsobrooks said she is now ready to be dispatched wherever Harris, whom she describes as “the quintessential big sister,” needs her. But it may turn out that she’s needed at home.

Every presidential election year, it’s assumed that Democrats in Maryland, a Democratic stronghold in federal elections, will be traveling out of state to help their nominee. This time, Alsobrooks isn’t so sure.

She’s been publicly critical of Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s decision to hold a facsimile of a standard election this fall — “I’m very irate about it,” she says — instead of sending ballots to every voter’s home. And with questions being raised about the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to deliver completed ballots to elections officials on time, Alsobrooks believes leading Maryland Democrats need to be vigilant and work to ensure that their constituents vote.

“We have to make sure we oversee a fair election, here in Prince George’s County, here in Maryland,” she said. “This time it’s a real thing, it’s not a ceremony.”

Angela while making her national debut at the DNC Convention. As a speaker during the convention she repeated how the surprised telephone call from Kamala asking, “How can I help?”

The call is similar to the one I received from the Heavyweight Champion of the World late one night in 1974, Muhammad Ali. The question, “Do you still want to do that interview?” Sounds like, how can I help!

Prince George County Executive Angela Alsobrooks at Q Ball’s Pool Room on Central Avenue in District Heights, Md. Looking on as she takes aim, L-R ?-Toya Blake-HBell and proprietor Larry Steele. She is no stranger to a pool room. She was hanging out in the poolroom on Benning Road in NE DC with her father at the age of 7.

Angela Alsobrooks has roots in ‘The Hood,’ her father, James ‘Mac’ Alsobrooks grew up in Langston Terrace in NE DC.

Langston Terrace Dwellings opened in 1938 as one of the nation’s earliest federally funded public housing projects for lower income residents and only the second one to be built for African Americans. Planned during the Depression, with its housing shortages,

Langston Terrace offered working-class families a decent and affordable place to live at a time when the federal government, court system, real estate industry, and banks all denied African Americans equal opportunities in housing. Barry Farms in SE DC was built in 1941 and Parkside was built in 1943.

The common denominator for Mac and me, I grew up in Parkside in NE DC, both were historical housing projects built off of Benning Road with the Anacostia River separating the two. The only difference, there is no history that Parkside ever existed in the 1940s.

You GOOGLE Mayfair Mansions it reads, “Mayfair Mansions is an apartment complex in Washington, DC that was built between 1942 and 1946 and is considered a significant development in fair housing for African Americans. The complex was designed by Albert I. Cassell, one of Washington’s first professionally trained African American architects, in the Colonial Revival style. 

The 17 three-story buildings are arranged around a central mall space on 28 acres of land, with the remaining space dedicated to landscaped areas, courts, and play areas. Mayfair Mansions was one of the first federally subsidized housing projects for African Americans in the United States and was built on the site of the former Benning Race Track.  Mayfair Mansions was not a Federal Funded Subsidized Housing Project.

When my mother and my brother Earl left Grandma Bell’s house in 1945 for the Parkside Housing Project, there was no Mayfair Manions in sight. I remember Hayes Street leading into Parkside was a dirt road. It was built on a former race track in the middle of a dump. If you are looking for a history essay for Parkside there is none. The only reminder is Naval Thomas Elementary School. How does one lose the history of entire community? In 1945 there was no Mayfair Mansions until around 1948.

The question, who is writing our history, middle class Black Americans were living in my Parkside Housing neighborhood before Mayfair was built?

I remember the architect for Mayfair Mansion, Mr. Cassell riding around the community in his chauffeur driven black limosine. His driver’s name was “Peanuts.” We gave him the name, he often shared his peanuts with the kids, while Mr. Cassell was taking care of the business of building Mayfair Mansions.

Sudsidizing housing like Parkside gave the city the great Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He revolutionize MLB in the 60s and 70s with the stolen base, he made the homerun obselete, while leading the Dodgers to the World series. He was named the MVP in 1962. He stole a record 104 bases to break the old modern era mark of 96, set by Ty Cobb in 1915.

He has been “Blackballed” from MLB Hall of Fame along with Curt Flood, Dick Allen, and Barry Bonds. Detroit sports talk show host, Rod Parker was recently given a “Seat at the Table” on the Basebal Hall of Fame Election Committee. It is the only sports hall of fame committee that votes by “Secret Ballot?”

The question, does Rod Parker become a part of this “Politics as Usual Mentality” while pioneers like Wills, Flood, Allen, and Bonds remain on the outside looking in?

Bannecker Field is now named Maury Wills Field

Parkside also gave us a trailblazing radio sports talk show pioneer, Harold Bell. Inside Sports changed the way we report and talk sports world-wide. Muhammad Ali made him “The Chosen One” in sports media.

Dave Chappelle and his mother, Yvonne during a tribute to comedian Dick Gregory.

Mayfair Mansions gave us his father my friend, William Chappelle. William is a graduate of Spingarn High School class of 1957. William and his wife Yvonne were educators much like Williams’ father. William Chappelle lll, was the President of Allen University in Orangeburg, SC. Dave broke the mold and became a comedian.

William was a nerd and the bullies in the Parkside neighborhood would try to pick fights with him on the bus ride to school in the mornings-until I stepped in.

Federal subsidizing housing like Langston Terrace, Barry Farms and Parkside has produced residents who have made a difference in the way we walk and talk in America.

In Parkside there were teachers, postal workers, lawyers, government workers living next door to many of us. My mother after losing her good government job, she iron clothes for one of my teachers, Ms. Margaret Selden. She later became a member of the DC Board of Education.

We owe many thanks to the DC Recreation Department, it was housed in Naval Thomas. The Playground/Rec Directors, Bootsey Harris, Nick Turner, Walter Brooks and Jaky Mathews were excellent coaches. We traveled in and out of Langston, playing 12 and under and 13 and 14 baseball.

After graduating from Naval Thomas, I attended Brown Middle and Spingarn High SchoolS in the Langston Terrace neighborhood.

“The Hill” was the most unique education plot of land in America. No other city could claim they had four public schools in walking distance of each other. Spingarn High School was located at the bottom of 24th and Benning Road, Phelps Vocational High School was in the back of Charles Young Elementary and Brown Middle School was the anchor of the “Big Four.” The outdoor basketball court across from Brown was the home of legends.

Some of my life-time friends and teammates came out of Langston Terrace, Andrew Johnson, John Edwards, Irving Brown, Teddy Atcherson, Mickey Freeman, Hobo, Jimmy Reid, and Rhoma Battle to name a few. There were older guys who led the way and kept the peace on the basketball court, like Chester Beck, Sandy Freeman, Bob Grier, Earl Richards, Henry Gill, Glasses, Louie Carroll and Gerald ‘Tapole’ Little.

James ‘Mac’ Alsobrooks, was one of younger guys who would hangout around the basketball court and baseball diamond–he understood it was okay to be seen and not heard.

He came out of LangstonTerrace. I remember him as a teenager, his mentor Henry ‘Dog’ Haywood was was the bagman for Rips’ Poolroom. He was like a big brother to me. ‘The pool room was a popular hangout for Spingarn and Phelps students. It was adjacent to Langston Terrace and “The Hill.”

Mac, hungout with some knuckleheads, but he managed to stay above the fray, thanks to ‘Dog’ and a concerned look and kind word from me. I never knew until years later I played a small role in his young life.

The lessons he learned growing up in Langston Terrace and hanging out in the pool room served him well in The Game Called Life. Mac, worked for the Washington Post for a couple decades as a distributor.

The time he spend in the trenches in Langston Terrace, in the pool room on Benning Road and as a distributor in the different corridors of the city prepared him for his most important role to date, helping guild his daughter Angela through the turbalent political waters in her campaign for the U. S. Senate.

His legendary role as a member “The Alliance of Concerned Black Men” is known and respected through out the DMV. He and Pat give Angela the upper-hand when comes to reaching out and back into the grassroots community.

We need to wake up and smell the flowers. Do we understand the November 2024 election is a matter of life and death in our community. Donald Trump and Larry Hogan are not options.

For example, if Larry Hogan wins who will he turn to when there is a crisis in our community and there will be times when there will be a crisis. How great it will be to know we can look to Kamala Harris, Governor Wes Moore, Angela Alsobrooks and Steny Hoyer on “The Hill” to make sure there is Justice and not Just-Us.. Kamala pointed out in her acceptance speech, there will be no “Guard Rails” when it comes to people of color in a Larry Hogan and Trump Administration.

There have been times that Mac and I were like passing ships in the night, we would blow our horns. We have not always been on the same page when it came to trying to curve youth violence. Still we were never too busy to reach out via a late night phone call to talk shop when it came to our children.

We must remember, no one is playing fair but us, especially the Republicans, and Larry Hogan is a Republica sitting on the fence pretending to be a Democrat.

There are times in our community when we cannot “See the Forest For The Trees.” For example, the problems we are having with our children, starts and stops in our homes.

I remember in the 1970s I had NBA Hall of Fame player, Spencer Haywood on my Inside Sports talk radio show. The discussion centered around youth gangs and kids in trouble.

He said, “If a child has to look beyond their dinner table for their heroes and sheroes, you can bet they are going to be kids in trouble.”

Angela Alsobrooks did not have to look beyond her dinner table, when she stumbled and fell as a child or as a young woman, her parents sat across the dinner table in front of her–sometimes with Hard Truths.

The proud family of Angela Alsobrooks, Mac,Pat and Alex.

It was Easter Sunday and Hattie was traveling south to have dinner with her family. Mac called to wish us a Happy Easter. I told him I was home alone and I was going to have my favorite goumet meal-hot dogs and beans. He said, “No way, come and join us for dinner,” I tried to take a ‘Rain Check’ he insisted. I joined him, Pat, Angela, Alex and several other friends and family. It was an enjoyable and relaxing evening. What I enjoyed most, was watching Angela relaxing on the floor and playing with a friend’s baby. It was great to know during stressful times, her family would be just across the table.

Hogan during stressful times will have his family sitting across the table. None of them will look like us and none has ever walked in our shoes.

I remember Larry Hogan well, on September 10, 2015, I wrote the Governor requesting help with “Cowboy Cops” patroling the streets of Suitland, Maryland. In broad daylight they could be seen harassing people of color. Sometimes there were two cars and other times three.

I have been living in Prince George County for 50+ years and I have never seen a county cop stop and pull over a white driver until three years ago. It was on Suitland Road on a hot summer day. The guy was on the ground in handcuffs and one of the officers was giving him a cold drink of water, it was that hot.

Several days later I am in the McDonald’s on Silver Hill Road ordering hotcakes for breakfast when I heard a customer shout, “There goes those cowboy cops again.” There were two cars in front of the 7-11 with a black motorist pulled over. I asked the customer why he called them “Cowboys?” He said, “This what they do when they get bored. They have gotten bolder, harassment is no longer a nightime thing.”

One week later, I stop at the Esso Gas Station on the corner of Silver Hill and Suitland, Road to check my tires out for air. I notice there were two cop cars and they had pulled over a black man in the station. The brother did not seem stressed and the officers were not out of line from my advantage point.

They got my undivided attention when they open the trunk of his car. I was not sure the driver had given them permission to search his car. I pulled out my cell phone and started to record the incident.

The manager of the station came over and told me, if I did not watch myself they would arrest me. I kept recording and one of the officers pulled out his cell phone and started to record me recording them.

They wrote the brother a ticket and pulled off without incident. I went over and spoke with him, and he told me he was from Mississippi and was visiting family when they pulled him over. It sounded like they had called in his license plate and discovered he had a expired registration. The ticket was $140.00.

Prince Georges County cops have a long and brutal police history when it comes to minorities.

The brutality continues, Officer Steven Tucker in 2020 was caught on camera (2024) brutally punching a drunken handcuffed suspect for spitting on him. The suspect was riding in the front seat with the officer. Not good judgement. What happen to paddy wagons to transport prisoners?

I find it difficult to blame the officer, but Tucker has had 37 incidents in the last two years of physical force (Red flag). Tucker’s was fined 5 days without pay. Just when I thought the new Chief, Malik Aziz had things under control-he is avoiding the media-that spells trouble. The media has no clue, what it takes to be a cop, regardless, the chief cannot say one thing and do another.

My Priority Mail letter with a requested signature to Larry Hogan never got a response, I spoke with his PR Department and they confirmed he had received my letter and the Governor would be contacting me sooner than later, famous last words.

The racism was so bad in the department, cops were scared to show their faces and wore mask to protect their ID, just to go on television to discuss how bad the racism was they had to face 24/7.

If police officers with guns and badges are scare of their colleagues-what chance do we have?

Several millions of dollars were paid out for wrongful death at the hands of the cops. Everyone was suing the department within, Blacks, Hispanics and women officers.

County Executive Alsobrooks said, “Enough was enough,” and the problem chief retired.

In November, hopefully we all will be able look back and claim a one of a kind Langston Terrace history. Angela Alsobrooks, becomes the first black female Senator in the state of Maryland. Her father grew up in Langston Terrace. She is the daughter of James and Pat Alsobrooks.

All we need to do is “Reach Out and Touch Someone” and remind them to vote for the dynamic duo of Angela Alsobrooks and Kamala Harris. As we prepare to vote in November, remember who we are and where we came from, too often we have forgotten!

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, the State of Maryland could usher in 2025 with the most dynamac group of politicians representing the state in its history on “The Hill,” Governor Wes Moore, Steny Hoyer, Angela Alsobrooks and Point Guard, President Kamala Harris. I will see you at the polls.

DNC MICHELLE OBAMA IN THE WORDS OF MUHAMMAD ALI 1974 HITS IT OUT OF THE PARK!

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/20/politics/video/michelle-obama-speech-dnc-chicago-digvid

P. S. Steny get well soon.

“WE ARE FAMILY-HAROLD-GENE AND NORMAN.”

NORMAN SMITH-MR. PERSONALITY AND GOLDEN GLOVE CHAMPION

I first met Norman Smith in the 1950s at Turner’s Arena. My cousin and next-door neighbor Sylvester ‘Monk’ Stevens, introduced us at Turner’s Arena. We were in our teens, and would hang out on the weekends on Black Broadway, Turner’s Arena, Howard Theater, Bannecker Field, etc.

Monk later became a professional boxing referee. He is seen here declaring Jerry Ballard the winner as House of Champions CEO, the late Norman Smith proudly looks on. Sylvester ‘Monk’ Stevens belongs in the DC Boxing Hall of Fame.

You could find us at the Howard Theater, Turner’s Arena, or the Bannecker Field on Georgie Avenue across the street from Howard University. Bannecker plaground was the home of great teams and great athletes. There was the Stone Walls AC Football team on the weekends, I could watch my Parkside Housing Project hero and homeboy, Maury ‘Sonny’ Wills play baseball and football on a field that today is named after him.

On the basketball court I could watch future NBA Hall of Fame players like Elgin Baylor and Earl Lloyd trade baskets. For a young teenager like me, I lived for the weekends, Black Broadway, and the Georgia Avenue corridor were popular hangout spots. They could be trouble spots-without guns!

Turner’s Arena was the name given to the 1,800 seat arena, located at 1341 W Street, NW, originally owned by a local wrestling promoter named Joe Turner.  This venue was an early home to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation a precursor to the WWE which was started by Vincent J. McMahon, Sr.  

McMahon in January 1953 took over the arena from Gabe Menendez, who had succeeded Turner after his death in 1947.  In addition, the arena hosted top professional boxing matches promoted by James Dudley (the first black boxing promoter) featuring fighters, Holly Mims, Jimmy Cooper, B.B. Washington, Little Dynamite, Gene Smith, and Sonny Boy West.

It was also the birthplace of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) annual basketball tournament, as well as the host to top country music acts and jazz artist from around the country.

 In 1956 Capitol Wrestling Corporation began broadcasting a syndicated weekly wrestling show from the arena every Thursday night. The arena had several names before it was demolished in 1965. It was Capitol Arena, and Turner’s Arena.

When the arena became so busy, Mr. McMahon hired my mentor James Dudley to become the first black General Manager of a Corporate Arena in America. Mr. Dudley was honored again when Vince McMahon, Jr. personally inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1994, making him the first black inducted.

Holly Mims was one of the most talented and feared fighters to ever come out of DC. He ducked no one. He had 102 pro fights: Record: 68 wins-28 losses and 6 draws. He was stopped only two times. He was so feared, the great Sugar Ray Robinson wished he had avoided him when he thought the 22 year-old would be just a tune-up fight in 1951.

Robinson just had fought a brutal 13 rounds with rival Jake LaMotta to win the middleweight title. Holly Mims would prove to be anything but a tune-up (see story below). Ray spend the rest of his career avoiding Holly Mims (see story below).

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/holley-mims-the-middleweight-who-might-have-beaten-sugar-ray-robinson/174864

Sugar Ray Robinson was a party animal. He would travel anywhere for a good party, avoiding DC, thinking he might run into Mills. Ray never gave Mims a title fight and neither did anyone else in pro boxing.

He died at the young age of 42 of kidney failure in 1970-a lost treasure in the annals of DC boxing history.

The sports media never captured the greatness of Washingtonians like Holly Mims and Gene Smith. The legendary Sam Lacey was the Afro-American Newspaper sports editor, the sports pages were devoted to Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jackie Robinson and, Negro League baseball.

The greatness of fighters of the ‘Sweet Science’ like Mims and, Gene Smith never made it on to the sports pages of the Washington Post, Star News and Afro-American news papers.

In 1972 “INSIDE SPORTS” made its debut on W-O-O-K Radio in Washington, DC, sports reporting and sports talk would never be the same.

Harold Bell takes his seat at the table among sports media boxing legends.

I remember having breakfast one morning at Florida Avenue Grill and Ham Johnson, a Youth Advocate and boxing coach came over and sat down. Ham and I had high school history together-Spingarn and Phelps.

He made me an offer I could not refuse–breakfast was on him. Ham was the leader and Godfather of Ham AC Boxing Club in NE DC. He congratulated me on my new talk show and explained the goal of his boxing club.

The offer included, he wanted to help me save some kids and he needed me to help him save some kids! He made it clear the business of boxing was being neglected in our community and he wanted to use my talk show Inside Sports as a platform to promote boxing in the inner-city.

He said, “I have a couple a of sons, James, and Mark who I think have the potential to be World Champions.” It never got to “Deal or No Deal.” It was a done deal.

No one else in boxing had written anything on the local boxing talent before Inside Sports. James Brown (CBS) worked for Don King, he was a contributor for REAL SPORTS (INSIDE SPORTS) and Bryant Gumble. He never uttered a word about the local boxing talent in his hometown of Washington, DC.

INSIDE SPORTS’ SPOTLIGHT ON DC LEGENDS

INSIDE SPORTS TRIBUTE-DC native and NFL Hall of Fame player Willie Wood

INSIDE SPORTS TRIBUTE TO DC boxing legends-Keith Holmes-Ken Scribling-Jim Finley-James Dudley-Johnny Gant and Mark ‘Too Sharp’ Johnson.

I remember Adrian Davis was preparing to meet the popular Johnny Gant for a fight at the DC Armory. He turned to Ham to train him. I was at ringside when he knocked Johnny out in the 3rd round.

Turner’s Arena, the first home of the WWE, CIAA, boxing and black entertainment in DC

JAMES DUDLEY HANGING OUT WITH ME IN FRONT SAM K’S RECORD STORE ON 7 & T STREETS

Once I became the first black to host and produce my own radio sports talk show on W-O-O-K, Turner’s Arena pioneering promoter and WWE Hall Famer, James Dudley guilded me through the media and the DC community.

He was my first guest. Frauds in the media and the community were a dime a dozen. Dudley and Ham had my back. They could not protect me from all the frauds, I was a sucker for a kid with a sad story.

Sugar Ray Leonard was a kid in trouble in 1976 when I took him under my wing.

The sad stories include Leonard. When he came home with his Gold Medal from the 1976 Olympic Games expecting a ticker-tape parade. The news media made him a front-page story regarding him having a baby out of web-lock with girlfriend Juanita.

Ray hid out in his house thinking he could escape from the glare of the media. He had lost his self-esteem. Janks Morton did not seek out his brothers, head cheerleaders, Juice, J D Brown, Dave Jacobs, Mike Trainor, Charlie Brotman, etc. He came looking for Harold Bell. He found me in Anacostia playing my favorite game-tennis.

I could not believe my ears when Janks told me the reason for his visit. He said, “Ray has lost his self-esteem and won’t come out of the house. I need you to go and talk to him-he will listen to you.”

I got him out of the house and drove him to Harrison Elementary School at 14th and V Streets NW to speak to a group of children. I made him my co-host on Inside Sports and the rest is boxing history-he forgot.

I played no role in Ray signing with Mike Trainer and no role in trying to get him to sign with Don King. Neither one was worth writing home about. Morton, thought, Mike Trainer’s ice was colder!

The media gives Mike Trainer credit for steering Ray away from the Don Kings and Bob Arums to become the “Cash Cow” of boxing. Trainer and cheerleaders like J D Brown and Juice also deserve credit for Ray becoming a drug and domestic violence abuser. They were there every step of the way.

After Janks Morton and Mike Trainer understood I was not going along to get along, they planted stories in the media trying to tarnish my name. Joe Brody, his ‘Best Man’ in his wedding, called me fearing that Ray was going die as a result of a drug overdose.

Ray avoided me, once I was told he was beating up on Juanita, I called him out on Inside Sports. I hoped it would save his life. He left Joe Brody, his best man and best friend in the hospital to die alone–Brody was the only one who really cared.

The Washington Post finally decided to follow my lead and wrote a front-page story on Ray’s drug use and womanizing. The story got national coverage and he finally sought some help. His lies will be much more difficult to overcome. Ray Jr. is now an eye-witness.

He was the only one in the family who refused to sign a non-disclosure Agreement not to discuss anything negative about his fathe’s pro boxing career. Ray, Jr. reminded me, “I am not my father.”

I was exiting from Black Men in America” an online magazine and podcast after 20 years as the No. 1 writer of the most popular read content/blog on the websie for FREE. The founder, Gary Johnson stabbed me in the back as a favor (rumor) to Sugar Ray Leonard, the cost $10,000. Against All Odds, I have survived.

This is a story Janks Morton and Mike Trainer planted in the L A Times after I saw Ray slap Juanita in the back of a Las Vegas hotel before his second fight with Thomas Hearns. I found out later she discovered Ray had his other women sequestered in rooms on the strip.

The story was written by legendary sports columnist Earl Guskey, “Harold Bell was left behind (like I was a member of his entourage), because he asked Ray for a job and a donation to his favorite charity!”

Nothing could be further from the truth; I have never asked Ray for a job or a dollar. Money was the first thing he offered me when he arrived back home after beating Wilfred Benitez for his first title.

He called me live on the air at WYCB during my radio talk show with my co-host, comedian Chris Thomas in studio. He said, “I am the welterweight champion of the World today because you were there when no else was.” When I needed some financial help, he never answered the phone. He is still living that LIE!

It is impossible to ignore his lies because they were written in a national newspaper and read by millions who had no clue who I was, except I was another jealous player-hater. The TRUTH will never be written in the L A Times–Earl Guskey the writer is dead and gone.

Ray Leonard seems to have forgotten when Trainer disrespected his parents during a training session, I pulled him aside and reminded him he should remind Trainer and Janks Morton, those were his parents.

He also seems to have forgotten, when I discovered that Mike Trainer was seeing his checks before he was, I reminded him that should never happen. I suggested that he put his sister Bunny in Trainer’s office to open all of his mail. He followed through on my suggestion, Bunny had an accounting background.

My wife Hattie, Bunny Leonard and I together in the Bowie Town Center Mall. She and brother Kenny were always class acts.

A LIE will change a thousand times–the TRUTH never changes.

Boxing greats, the late Kronk Gym founder, Emanuel Steward, Larry Hazzard, NJ Boxing Commissioner and Jones during my annual Kids In Trouble “MAN OF THE YEAR GALA” at the Grand Hyatt in NW DC.

The frauds are too many to mention in this story but I would be remised if I did not mention a recent one, Discobobulating Jones.

I became a friend in the early stages of his ring announcing career. He was employed by the DC Government as a social worker. I introduced him to all my boxing contacts, reaching out to promoter Don King asking him to consider giving Jones an opportunity to be on his boxing card as an announcer.

Jones and I use to sit around and discuss the naysayers and backstabbers in the business and how difficult it was to get a foot hole. I invited him to all my community endeavors, toy parties, celebrity fashion shows, Police and Community Youth forums. Our families broke bread together!

It was much easier for me to crossover, Inside Sports ruled the sports talk radio ‘NEST’, it changed the way we talked and reported sports in America and beyond.

The active media benefactors read like a Who’s Who, James Brown, Mike Wilbon, Cathy Hughes, Dave Aldridge, Kevin Blackistone, Monica McNutt to name a few.

Inside Sports was a sports talk and political format that had never be used before. I broke the mold. Inside Sports is now copied around the globe.

The only thing Jones brought different to a boxing ring, is a black face and an imitation of Michael Buffer-nothing ORIGINAL.

Sugar Ray Leonard, Janks Morton and Rock Newman, did not lift a finger or good word to support him. They spoke no evil, heard no evil, and saw no evil when it came to Jones’ chosen profession. For whatever reason, Don King, Bob Arum, Mike Trainer and Rock Newman, were all locked into Michael Buffer-his ice was colder!

King, Newman, and Morton could all teach Trainer and Arum lessons in racism. King, had no blacks in position power on his press-relations team for decades. It was not until I confronted him about his racist PR staff, he relented and hired New Amsterdam Newspaper Sports Editor, Howie Evans to run the office.

I am hanging out at the CIAA Basketball Tournament with the great Howie Evans

Howie and I both knew it was not for long, Don would eventually disrespect him with his plantation mentality and Howie would tell him to take the job and shove it.

Boxing historian, Bert Sugar and I had a bet on how long Howie would last. Bert guessed a year, I guessed one week. Howie, did not last the year.

In December 1995 Mike Tyson fought Buster Mathis after returning home from jail at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. I arrived at the hotel on Friday evening the night before the fight. Media colleagues were congratulating me of a story I had written in the program. I had no clue to what they were talking about.

I went to the media press room and found a program for the fight. I could not believe my eyes. There was a story in the program I had written in the Afro-American Newspaper.

The story spoke on the double standard major media was using to write on Don King. Their stories exposed and highlighted his criminal past and nothing about how he had brought a flamboyancy and BIG paydays for himself and sometimes his fighters to boxing. It had never seen or done before. Criminals and the Underworld had always run boxing-Don King was a perfect fit.

As I got on the elevator back to the lobby, there is King. I asked, “DK who gave you permission to add my column from the Afro-American newspaper to the program? He laughed and said, “Harold baby, I did not know you could write like that. My response, “DK I need to be paid” his eyes got big and he asked, “How much I owe you”, I said, “$5,000”, he walked away saying, “I got you baby.”

I am still waiting for my $5,000. DK never made a donation to my non-profit organization, Kids In Trouble, but he would come to DC and make donations to other non-profits.

I think he was waiting for me to kiss his ring and his jackass. Thanks to the late Connie Harper, he is still waiting. She forewarned me to never take any money from him unless I earned it–thank you Connie (RIP).

In 1972 in Cleveland, Ohio, he said similar words, “Harold Bell stick with me baby, we are going places.” Famous last words, I am overjoyed, I never played his ‘Game!’

During that courtship I was seen on national television with Geraldo Rivera, Jack Newfield (author of the Life and Crimes of Don King) and Boxing Historian Bert Sugar. It was three against one, I am on the show defending Don stealing from his fighters. I cannot get over, I was defending his criminal acts.

King would later promote boxing cards in DC and there would be no fighters on the cards from the DMV. I had a problem with that. It was not just Jones being passed over it was the talented Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson among others.

I also went to bat for Adrian Davis. He went from fighter to trainer/manager of local fighters. He came to me to ask if I would speak to Don about money owed to him ($10,000) from a recent Don King Promotion.

I had breakfast with Don after one of his promotions in Landover, Maryland. We met at the Hilton in downtown DC, and after breakfast we went to his room for a sit-down interview. It was after that interview I asked him about the $10,000 Adrian claimed he owe him.

He laughed it off saying, “Harold baby you know I pay-off my debts. These guys come to me during these promotions asking for advances on their salaries. I give them the money, they don’t see me writing anything down, forgetting I was a number backer. I remember everything. Adrian, got it all wrong.”

I met with Adrian later and gave him the bad news. He stop speaking to me for years. Lesson learned, I stayed away from King’s money transactions-exception, my own.

Discobobelating Jones didn’t speak to me for well over a decade, after he made a mistake thinking I had bad-mouthed him in a story written in a community newspaper.

In April of 2024 my wife and I were shopping in a Giant Grocery store in Suitland and we bumped into Jones. We were standing in line together. He paid for the two or three items we had purchased.

On the way out of the store, I mentioned I had seen his son a couple of times in Bowie (we had bonded), but it was a long time no-hear from him. It was then, he dropped a bomb on me. He claimed I had written a negative story on him in a community newspaper 14 years ago. I was stunned.

I said, “Jones you know that ain’t my style. If I had anything to say about you, I would say it to your face first, and then write about it.” He insisted and claimed, “I still have the newspaper.” I bet him a hundred-dollars to one-dollar he was wrong. Two-weeks later we meet back at the Giant and sit-down at a table.

He slides a white evelope across the table to me. I open it and there is a one-hundred-dollar bill.

Fourteen years of player-hating that could have been squashed with a telephone call or “HB can I speak to you for a moment?” This kind of player-hating and back-stabbing, goes on and on in our community.

Unlike others in the media, I was a risk-taker. I led and not followed as a radio sports talk show host, and as a youth advocate. I discovered early, you don’t changes things “Sitting On the Fence” waiting for King, Trump or Larry Hogan to reach out and save you-it ain’t happening.

Voting in November for Angela Alsobrooks and Kamala Harris is not an option! Angela will do the Right Thing-thanks to her “KITCHEN CABINET!” https://studio.youtube.com/video/Fkafk63frbg/edit?o=U

ESPN “The World Wide Leader in Sports” copied my format until the ESPN President of programming emailed the memo heard around the sports media WORLD.

THE ISIDE SPORTS FORMAT FORBIDDEN-COPIED BUT NEVER DUPLICATED.

Jones like many of those seeking my advice, I never mislead them on how dificult it is to progress in the sports media and entertainment fields with a black face. Cheerleader, was the only other alternative!

Trump claims immigrants are taking black jobs, I don’t see any immigrants managing Major League Baseball teams, coaching in the NBA, NFL or NHL and ownership is out of the question.

For example, black ownership in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL is far few, in-between and non-existent in pro sports. Jackie Robinson gone too soon. I often wonder, are the sacrifices he made listening to the N word, black cats released on the field of play all for nothing?

The annual charade on his birthday of all major leaugue players, black and white wearing his number 42. When in reality, in 2024 Black Americans playing Major League Baseball is below 6%. On several teams (32) there are no Black Americans. The immigrants are not our problem. Wake-up everybody!