AL ATTLES AND STEPHAN CURRY SHARE AN NBA WEST TITLE, A LAUGH AND HANDSHAKE

K C Jones and assistant Bernie Bickerstaff are seen on the bench trying to figure out what was going on.  In the meantime, Attles is seen below during a time out telling  Warrior guard Phil Smith “Don’t stop running!”                                                                       Sam Jones  

(NBA) Al Attles, Sam Jones and K C Jones join (NFL player) Roy Jefferson as Santa’s Helpers for the annual Kids In Trouble Christmas toy drive for needy children.

The sweep by the Warriors would cost K. C. Jones his job thanks to the “Monday Morning Quarterbacks” including Pulitzer Prize winning columnist the late Bill Raspberry of the Washington Post.  He was quoted in his column saying, “K. C. Jones and the Washington Bullets were out hustled, out played and out coached!”  Now I have seen Raspberry play basketball up close and personal and I was surprised by his arm chair analysis of a great NBA player and coach.  Bill hardly knew the difference between a left hook and a hook shot. But he got two out of three right.  The Bullets may have been out hustled and out played but never out coached.  It didn’t help that K. C. had an ambitious assistant coach in Bernie Bickerstaff who was stabbing him in the back at every opportunity.  He gave owner Abe Polin and GM Bob Ferry the ammunition needed to fire K. C. the following year.

 HBell (32), Ollie Johnson, Dewy Hughes and Bill Raspberry (24) participate in a charity basketball game for Kids In Trouble at Georgetown University

Bickerstaff was telling everyone that he was the one really calling the shots and making basketball decisions during the season.  Yes, he could be seen during the timeouts giving instructions to the players, but only after conferring with K. C.  There was nothing insecure about K. C. Jones when it came to playing the game or coaching it.  He was a successful all around athlete in college at the University of San Francisco with teammate, Bill Russell. He was drafted by the NFL (defensive back) and the NBA, he chose the NBA where he now resides in the Hall of Fame.  Bernie was not only ambitious but he was also insecure with too many skeletons in his closet.

In 1976 the Bullets brought Dave Bing home from Detroit to see if he could provide a spark to take the Bullets back to the finals, but it didn’t happen. He spend the next two seasons with the Bullets.  He was named to the NBA All-Star game once more in 1976, this time winning the game’s MVP Award.  But he was just a shell of the great Dave Bing I knew.  Dave’s arrival could not save K. C.’s job with the Bullets and from our conversation I am not sure he wanted to.   Shortly after his arrival we were having lunch in his apartment off of Branch Avenue in Prince Georges County, Maryland.  We talked about what was wrong with the Bullets and his observation almost knocked me out of my chair.  He said ” First, K. C. is a drunk!”

My response, “Dave, K. C. has enough respect for you, he would have no problem with sitting down with you to talk about what was needed to improve team play and morale.”  He said, ‘Harold I think it is too late.’  K.C. was fired shortly after.

Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe goes one on one with Bing as a Washington Bullet.  Dave retired as a Boston Celtic in 1978.

Dick Motta was hired and he took the Wizards to the 1978 NBA finals and beat a great Seattle Super Sonic team coached by Lenny Wilkins in seven games.  I wanted to root for the black coach, but I could not, I remembered the sweep by the Golden State Warriors like it was yesterday.

 The owner of the Washington Bullets/Wizards the late Abe Polin hugs Wes Unseld after the Bullets beat the Seattle for the NBA Championship. “The Fat Lady” had finally sung for the organization.

HBell, Red Auerbach and K. C. Jones out on the town 

K. C. Jones is one of the most successful player/coaches in the NBA, second only to teammate Bill Russell.   As a player he help win 8 NBA Championships as a Boston Celtic.  He was an assistant coach on 2 NBA Championship Celtic teams.  And he was the head coach on 2 NBA Championship Celtic teams, 1983-84 and 1985-86 NBA seasons.  He lost in the finals of the 84-85 season.  This was all after he was fired by the Washington Bullets and given a second chance by his former coach and mentor, the great Arnold ‘Red’ Auerbach.

Al Attles longevity with the Golden State Warriors as a player/coach/administrator is second to none.  The best way to describe his NBA longevity is to quote former Warrior coach and now NBA television color analyst Mark Jackson, “Mama there goes that man again.”

NBA Note Worthy Monday Morning QB:

Congratulations to the Washington Wizards for an outstanding season. They were definitely the better team in the East but the injury to starting guard John Wall was definitely a setback.  I think a match-up with Cleveland they would have stood a 50-50 chance of winning the series.  Their only problem in the Atlanta series was not just losing Wall, but their BIG men disappeared, Goitar and Nene.  The Wizards had the deepest and most talented bench in the NBA (Cleveland was a close second), but was Mismanaged by Coach Randy Wittman.  There is no way Chris Humphries their most consistent big man should have been on the bench the entire play-offs.  And I thought the trade of Andre Miller back fired, he could have been the calm during the storm.  Otto Porter’s improvement was off the charts and Paul Pierce for Mayor, “Wait until Next year.”   

JIM VANCE YESTERDAY AND TODAY 

Photo 1) Back to Hollywood salute to actor/producer Robert Hooks Photo 2) Tribute to Ohio State local athletes Cornelius Greene, Lenny Willis and Woodrow Roach.  Special guest Coach Woody Hayes and Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. Photo 3) Washington Bullets star guard Wesley Mathews models as the late great WHUR Radio DJ Melvin Lindsey (The Original Quiet Storm) and Jim Vance co-host KIT fashion show 

Photo 1) Jim Vance and HBell mentor students at the Roy Jefferson NFL Reading Center in NW DC Photo 2) Kids In Trouble annual toy drive, Santa’s Helpers LR: Roy Jefferson, Jim Vance, Tim Baylor, George Nock, Robert Hooks, K. C. Jones, Eldridge Spearman, Derrick Humphries and Willie Wood.  Kneeling, Keith Wade and HBell. Photo 3) Former kid in trouble boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard honors fallen fighter Photo 4) Jim Vance, Hattie T and Washington pro football player the late LB Pete Wysocki.

It was announced in news media outlets that popular NBC WRC-TV 4 news anchor Jim Vance would be retiring from the airwaves after 45 years on the DC news beat.  There were stories in the Washington Post, Washingtonian Magazine, USA Today and every television and radio station in the DVM as it related to his 45 year news media odyssey.

The announcement brought back memories and my Inside Story as it related to the trials and tribulations of Jim Vance.  I remember when he first arrived on the DC scene.  It was 1969 one year after the riots that hit inner-cities around this country, including Washington, DC.  Black television news anchors were none existent and the white news reporters and anchors had no clue.  There were no black contacts to cover the stories (Max Robinson was the exception) they needed in the black community.

I also remember exactly where I was the day that Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.  I was standing on the corner of 9th and U Streets with my co-worker Willie Wood.  We had just finished lunch at the popular restaurant Che Maurice.  Willie is a native Washingtonian who played for the NFL World Champions Green Bay Packers.  But during the off season he would return home and work for either the DC Public School system or the DC Recreation Department.  You must remember, NFL players were not making the kind of asinine money today’s players are making so working during the off-season was a necessity.  On that bright sun shiny day in April 1968 someone drove by and shouted out of a car window, “They just killed Dr. King in Memphis!”  Willie and I were lost for words.   We were asked by our Director of the DC Recreation Department Roving Leader Program, the late Stan Anderson to stay on the streets because of our high profiles, but for us to be careful–that was an understatement.

As Willie and I walked the U Street corridor we were joined by the late U. S. Marshall in charge Luke C. Moore a DC resident.  Luke was the first modern day black to head the U. S. Marshall service.  He had been appointed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Luke, Willie and I walked arm and arm down the U Street corridor.  Once we got to Ben’s Chili Bowl, Luke spotted Ben Ali the owner of the restaurant standing out front with several other businessmen.  He left us to see what was happening and was told by Ben that they had gotten orders via the White House to shut down all businesses.  Luke returned to us and explained their dilemma.  He told us to hang on and he would be right back.  When he returned he had good news.  He had spoken with President Johnson and convinced him to allow Ben’s to remain open because someone had to be open for first respondents, doctors and nurses, law enforcement, fire departments, military personnel and youth advocates like myself, we all would need a place to eat.  Ben’s Chili Bowl would be the only business in the community allowed to stay open during the riots.  The U Street corridor and the neighborhoods in the area suffered damages that would take almost 30 years to recover.

2015 marked 50 years I had been working in the Cardozo/Shaw U Street corridor with youth gangs and at-risk children.  The revolution of black television reporters all started with Max Robinson.  He was the first black to work in local television in Washington, DC.  He was the first black hired at WRC-TV 4 in the early 60s and then he moved over to WTOP TV 9 in 1969.  It was Max who kicked the doors down in local and the national television markets for black brothers like Jim Vance and Lester Holt.  Max was the first black to anchor the evening news at ABC News.  Jim followed Max to WRC-TV 4 after the riots.  My nick name for Max Robinson was “Mad Max” I don’t think he liked the name very much but he never said anything.  There were rumors already floating around about his abuse of alcohol and drugs.  It was reported that he fired a gun off in his apartment building one evening in a drunken stupor.  Max and I were like passing ships in the night, until he introduced me to his parents at the 1987 CIAA Basketball Tournament in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia.  This was one year before his passing.  It was a “watershed” moment for me as he gushed over my sports talk radio show Inside Sports to his parents.

Television Trail Blazer Max Robinson

I was already in the war zones of the inner-city when Jim Vance arrived in 1969.  I started work with the United Planning Organization, a community self-help group in 1965 on the U Street corridor.   The organization hired three Neighborhood Workers, Petey Greene, H Rap Brown and me.  I left for the DC Recreation Department in 1967 when UPO gave the department a grant to fund a Youth Gang Task Force for its elite Roving Leader Program with the stipulation, that I would be one of the Task Force members hired.  H. Rap Brown would also leave UPO to take over the reigns of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) replacing Marion Barry.   Petey stayed on with UPO and became a stand-up comedian, radio and legendary television talk show host.  There was an attempt to make a movie of his life several years ago (Talk to Me) but it failed miserably, because Dewey Hughes made it his story.

Jim Vance would later join Dave Bing, Willie Wood, Petey Greene, Luke Moore, Sonny Hill and Roy Jefferson as a member of my reach-back efforts in the inner-city.  The NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball “I CARE” programs exist because they followed my lead into the community. Dave Bing (NBA 1967), Willie Wood (NFL 1968) and Chuck Hilton (MLB 1970).

In 1972 NFL Films record the first ever community service television promote at Hillcrest Children’s Center Saturday Program in DC.  Washington pro football players RB Larry Brown and LB Harold McLinton are shown with CBS crew teaching water safety to inner-city kids.  LR: Larry and Harold standing with towels wrapped around them and that is me kneeling.

In December 1968 my wife Hattie and I found our non-profit organization Kids In Trouble, Inc.  We would use it as a vehicle in the fight to give inner-city children an equal  opportunity to grow-up to be healthy, wealthy and wise.  In December 2013 after 45 years of Christmas toy parties for needy elementary school children we took a step back and retired the toy party program.  When we started our first toy party after the riots in 1968 the only organization giving toys away city-wide to needy children were the United States Marines.  The KIT toy party benefited thousands of kids in the DMV without grants or loans.  The KIT community toy party has since been copied in every city and by every organization in America.

Washington pro football players, NFL Hall of Fame player Dave Robinson, the late Harold McLinton (Santa) and Roy Jefferson play Santa’s Helpers for inner-city children.

In the past 45 years there have been dozens of newspaper, magazines, radio and television stories on the trials and tribulations of  Jim Vance.  His media and community odyssey in the alleys, side streets, highways and byways in the DVM have truly been movie worthy (Believe it or Not). If you don’t think there is a television God, then you don’t know the Jim Vance story.  There are dozens of them in this city but I can only tell one, mine.

The Marvin Gaye story could have easily been the Jim Vance story—similar only in a tragic ending due to the love of drugs.  The big difference Marvin didn’t have anyone to make him pee in a cup twice a week as NBC made Vance.  The procedure was implemented after he was stopped by the police late one night walking on the Beltway.  He was so high he left his Porshe automobile running on the side of the road and decided to walk his way off the beltway.  The television station and his wife Kathy a former TV-4 producer and the late George Michael of the Sports Machine deserved all the credit for saving his life and his career–they had a vested interest.

George arrived on the television sports media scene in 1980 during the time when Inside Sports was kicking butts and taking names.  I had just been named “Washingtonian of the Year” by Washingtonian Magazine for my groundbreaking work in the inner-city.

George hit the scene with pom-poms, and a cheerleader’s mega-phone.  He had everything but the short skirt of a cheerleader.  George was the best description of a “Homer.”  A Homer is someone who roots for the home team and lacks objectivity.  I loved the home team as much as anyone else in sports media but if they stunk the join up I was going to call it exactly like I saw it, no sugar coating!  I  have always thought it was great to have a winning team to report on in the business of sports media.  I could never understand how anyone growing up in DC could go into a stadium or arena and root for the Cowboys (despite the Redskin’s racist history), New York Yankees, Rangers or Knicks against the home team!

George and I got off on the wrong foot because I would call him out on my radio sports talk show and give him the blues about being “The King of Cheerleaders” in DC sports media.  He ignored me until one of the media critics Dennis Tuttle wrote a story in the Washington Star in 1989 with my photo next to TV 9 sportscaster the late Glen Brenner.  The headline read, “Area Sportscasters walk a Fine Line Covering the Redskins

                                    SPORTS MACHINE’S GEORGE MICHAEL

The next day after the story was published I get a telephone call at W-U-S-T Radio after my 5 o’clock sports show, on the other end of the line was TV 4 sportscaster George Michael.  He says, “Is this Harold Bell” and I say, ‘It surely is.’  And everything went down hill from there.  One year later I get a call at the station from George with a different tone of voice saying, ‘Mr. Bell I just want to say, you are doing a hell of a job with the kids in the community and I got Jim’s back.  Have a great Thanksgiving.’  One week later I get letter from George with a $500 check for my annual Christmas toy party for needy children.  Evidently, he did his homework, because he had all ‘The Usual Suspects” on his weekend talk show, John Thompson (GT), James Brown (CBS), Michael Wilbon (Washington Post), Doc Walker (NFL) and last but not least Jim Vance, who I am sure gave him the 411 as it related to Harold Bell.   This is the best example; ‘Respect is earned and not just given.’

A cover story in Washingtonian Magazine several years ago read “Inside Jim Vance“ inquiring minds wanted to know ‘how could a handsome brother making $300,00 a year be unhappy and insecure?’  They could have added ‘and how can he be so paranoid’ to the list. 

In the 70s and 80s Jim and I were joined at the hip when it came to sports and community involvement.  When he arrived in DC I was already an athletic and community icon.  In 1971 I became the first black to host and produce his own radio sports talk show in Washington, DC.  I thank my mentor and friend the notorious Petey Greene.  Petey an ex-con and drug abuser had his own talk show.  It aired on W-O-L Radio on Sunday evenings BCH (before Cathy Hughes).   He gave me 5 minutes every Sunday to talk sports.  I parlayed that opportunity into obtaining my own sports talk show “Inside Sports.”  The ground breaking show aired on W-O-O-K Radio and the rest is sports talk radio history.

Jim Vance supported the Hillcrest Children’s Center Saturday Program that Hattie and I found for neighborhood children immediately after the riots. The program was located in the heart of the inner-city (14th & W Streets, NW).  The program housed Christmas toy parties, Celebrity Fashion Shows, Tennis Tournaments and mentoring programs.  KIT supported local athletes and media personalities like Radio & TV One’s Cathy Hughes, GT Coach John Thompson, Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and Ohio State QB Cornelius Greene, to name just a few before their 15 minutes of fame.

Inside Sports Celebrity Tennis Tournament (Anacostia Tennis Courts SE)

The Original Inside Sports dominated sports talk in DC with guest like Muhammad Ali, Red Auerbach, Jim Brown, Dr. J, Dave Bing and the list goes on and on.

The late great NBA legend Red Auerbach and his wife Dotie guest host on Inside Sports. Special guest via telephone was tennis great Jimmy Connors. 

When WRC-TV 4 weekend sports anchor Martin Wyatt’s career stalled with station management he left for a television anchor job out west in San Francisco.  Jim made sure I was called in to audition for the vacancy (CBS NFL Host James Brown would follow).  I didn’t make the cut and moved on.

In 1974 Muhammad Ali provided me with a rare opportunity to interview him one on one immediately following the Greatest fight in boxing history “The Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire, Africa.  Ali was a big underdog against the undefeated Heavyweight Champion of the World, knockout artist, the indestructible George Foreman.  Ali shocked the World when he knocked Foreman out in the 8th round.

In Chicago before leaving for the biggest fight of his career Ali invited me to make the trip, but I when I found out how long the plane was going to be in the air I chicken out.   I was scared to fly across the body of water leading into Africa, a decision I would later regret.  But still he promised me I would be his first interview on his return to the U. S., he kept his word.   We met in the wee hours of the morning in New York City for the most incredible interview he has ever given.  The interview focused on “The Game Called Life!”

I took the finished product to Jim Vance and he took it to NBC WRC-TV 4 brass.  In November 1975 I became the first black to produce and host his own sports television special on NBC affiliate WRC-TV 4, the show was called “Sportlight On Sports” featuring Muhammad Ali.  The show made its debut in prime time before the Washington vs Oakland NFL game.

I was a bad businessman I thought my partners Rodney Brown and Wil Williams were handling the financial end of the business, but I was wrong as two left shoes.  There were no financial benefits.  I became just a footnote in black television sports history.

I learned to write commentaries and how to tell a story in print at the elbow of the best story teller in a media newsroom– his is name is Jim Vance.  But after his frequent bouts with drugs he was denied those on air commentaries.

I am a “Child of the streets” I grew up in a NE housing project called Parkside, the product of a single parent household.  My father was a Rolling Stone (Deadbeat Dad).  My heroes were black women and not black athletes, they had names like Grandma Bell and Mommy B.  My community roots are a result of watching my Great-Uncle the Rev. Earl Tyler (The Tyler House) and my grandmother, Amy Tyler Bell venture out into the local housing project Sursum Corda and hospitals surrounding my family’s church, Mt. Airy Baptist Church to check on the sick and shut-in.  My Great-Grandfather the Rev. Alfred Johnson Tyler laid the first brick to build the church in 1893.  My reach back efforts are not by accident.

The truth be told, the original Santa’s Helpers were not athletes and celebrities from TV and radio!  The original Santa’s Helpers had names like, Phila. Jake, Dog Turner, Shep, Slippy Jackson, Zack, Buster, Cornell, Nook, Black Danny and Bob Wayne.  They laid the foundation for the 45 years of Christmas Toy Parties for needy children.  They provided the toys and cash left at places like Face’s Restaurant, Ed Murphy’s and other water holes in the city.  My roots and credibility on the streets and my work with young people made me a trustworthy partner among the hustlers in the city.  When I decided to run for public office (DC City Council) it was at the urging of everyday folks who had grown tired of the gun toting slum landlord, City Councilman H. R. Crawford in Ward 7.  I was further encouraged by a chance meeting in Las Vegas with my homeboy, legendary recording artist Marvin Gaye.

In September 1979 Sugar Ray Leonard (24-0) was fighting an unknown boxer by the name of Andy Price (28-5-3).  Price had beaten both WBC champ Carlos Palomino and WBA king Pipino Cuevas in non-championship title fights.  To my surprise Marvin would be singing the national anthem but he also own the boxing rights to Price.  Sugar Ray was undefeated and I was a team member in good standing at this point in his career.  Marvin and I joked about me coming to work for him after his fighter kicked Ray’s ass.  I smiled and played along but I didn’t think Price had a chance even though his winning record shown he had beaten several outstanding fighters.  Marvin sung the National Anthem but before he could get out of the ring and back to his seat, Sugar Ray had knocked out Price in less then 3 minutes of the first round.  Following the fight Marvin was distraught.  We had made plans to have breakfast the next morning in Ceasar’s Palace but I am in doubt because of the outcome of the fight.  In the press conference following the fight he gives me the high sign and says “Homeboy, I will see you in the morning!”

The next morning we met for breakfast and he beats me to the restaurant.  We talk about home and the struggles we continue to fight and how can we overcome if we are not all on the same page?  I told him I was thinking about running for the DC City Council and he said ‘Thinking, do it and I will come home and support you.’  We talked for about 2 hours more before he said ‘I am going back to bed, but I want you to meet me back here at 6 pm, I have tickets for the Diana Ross Concert.’  I think he was trying to make up for standing me up in Detroit a couple of years earlier.  We were suppose to meet at the Joe Louis Arena for a fight headlining Thomas Hearns but he was a no-show.  This time he was determined to connect.  Before the show he gave me several telephone numbers where I could reach him to remind him about the upcoming City Council race.  He had the usher escort me and former NFL player and artist George Nock to our front row seats.  He then disappeared to stand in a corner in the back of the concert hall.  The only reason I knew he stayed for the show, Diana hollered out during her performance ‘My baby Marvin Gaye is standing back there somewhere.’ And the place just screamed his name.  That was the last time I saw him alive!  Marvin Gaye had a heart of gold and he never forgot who he was and where he came from.  His biggest problem was one he could not sing his way out of–drug abuse and finding a way to please his father.  In the final analyst, Marvin Gaye was a man’s man.

There have been news media reports that TV 4 news anchor Jim Vance’s announcement of his departure from late night news will be the partial of an era.    One report read, “He has been a local celebrity whose battles with, and eventual conquest of, drug addiction were well chronicled in the news media in the 1980s.”  The timeline coincides with our work in the community together.

He was not alone, celebrity personalities who abuse drugs while participating in Kids In Trouble and Inside Sports community endeavors would read like a Who’s Who in media, sports and entertainment.  To their credit none would abuse their drug of choice while participating in my community endeavors.  The drug abuse will usually take place behind closed doors in designated hotel rooms in the city before or after the events.  It was understood that I didn’t do drugs or like to be around them.

There was the time when my friend an undercover FBI agent told to get the word to an NFL MVP to step back because the drug folks he was dealing with had underworld ties.  I passed the information on to him but he seem to let it go into one ear and out the other.   What saved him was the head coach got hold of the same information and called him into his office.  His neighbor and friend a linebacker on the team told me later he got the message loud and clear.  Cocaine has been the drug of choice for as long as I can remember  for athletes, entertainers and media personalities–there is a laundry list of them in DC.

The most difficult drug abuse case was with my partner in the community, Jim Vance.  While I was preparing to get my ducks in a row to run for the upcoming Ward 7 City Council seat race one of my Santa’s Helpers brought to my attention that my friend and tennis partner had a drug habit in the worst way.  He produced a check that Jim had written for the purchase of the drugs.  He made it perfectly clear he liked Jim but someone needed to tell him to step back and get some help, but he would not be the one.  To Santa’s Helper it was still business as usual, he was not going to turn his back on the money.  Like it not, I was the chosen one to break the news to Jim Vance, the Number One television news anchor in DC and ask him to “Just Say No!”

Later that same night I drove up to the Nebraska Ave. NW, WRC TV-4 news complex to wait for Jim to finish his 11:00 newscast.  I waited outside the building for him to exit.  He didn’t seem to be surprised to see me, he just asked “Whats up man” and I told him I was attending a PTA meeting at nearby Woodrow Wilson High School and I decided to hang around until he got off.  I suggested we go by one of his favorite watering holes and have a beer.  He looked at me and said, ‘What’s the occasion, you drinking a beer?’  

I followed him to a Wisconsin Ave. bar and we sit in a booth.  I got right to the point and gave him the check and said “No explanation is needed but I wish you would get some help.”  He looked at the check and looked back me.  My “friend” then got up and walked out of the bar never to speak to me again until 30 years later.  The occasion, a tribute to local sportscaster Glen Harris who was recovering from a stroke. The tribute was held on the Howard University campus.  It was a great turnout.  I was standing near the entrance talking to several friends when Jim Vance made his entry.  For almost 30 years we were like ships passing in the night pretending we didn’t see each other.  But for some odd reason he came over and spoke to me saying ‘Hey Harold Bell’ and made his way to the head table.  I was puzzled by this show of recognition and I never returned his greeting.

He was full of surprises, the best was yet to come.  As the head table guest were asked to pay tribute to Glen, he made his way to the microphone. First, he told Glen how great he was and how proud he was to have him for a friend.  He thanked him for standing by him during his trials and tribulations with substance abuse.  He said, “Unlike other friends who bad mouthed me you were very supported!”  He then disappeared into the night much like he did 30 years ago.  The more things change the more they remain the same.

Former Olympic Track and Field star and DC Public Schools educator Lacey O’Neal was sitting across the table from me and said “What was that all about?”  I said, ‘Evidently me!’  The sad part of the charade performed by Jim Vance that evening, he still didn’t have the balls to say anything directly to me about his concerns as it related to me allegedly bad mouthing him about his drug problems.  I thought I was trying to save his life–excuse me!

There was no reason for me to bad mouth him about his drug use.  The drug community in DC is a very small community and everybody knows who is who.  For example; Marion and Cora Barry, Petey Greene, a radio and TV owner, were all being served by the same Santa.  Folks even knew NBC had made it mandatory for Jim to pee in a cup twice a week, where is the beef?

Former popular kick returner and defensive back Ricky Harris of the Washington pro football team has a similar story of his and Vance’s drug odyssey in DC.

I still smile to myself when I hear the phrase, “The Bitch Set Me Up.”  If Marion Barry had heeded my advice that part of history would not be a part of his legacy.  It never would have had happen.  His driver and security man, police officer William Stays was in Face’s Restaurant parking lot the night I forewarned ‘The Mayor for Life’ there was an FBI sting in his future.  But as always Marion was thinking with the wrong head and said, “Thanks, I got everything under control.”  Famous last words.

Two weeks after my brief encounter with Jim Vance at Howard University I would see him at the Grand opening of the historical Howard Theater.  This time he says, “Man we have got to have lunch, give me a call at the station next week and we will go from there.”  This time, I said to my wife Hattie, who is a big Jim Vance fan, ‘Guess who I saw today, I saw Jim Vance?’  Her response, ‘Did you ask him why he pretended he didn’t know you when you saved the little autistic girl from the subway tracks?’   ‘He did invite me to have lunch with him!’  She said, ‘Well, what are you going to do?’  Against my better judgement, several days later Hattie and I were visiting a friend at Sibily Hospital when I suggested we ride over to TV 4 and see if Jim was in his office.  He was and he came out to the lobby to greet us and pretended he was happy to see us.  A lunch date was set up for the three of us to meet on K Street NW.   On the particular scheduled day as we were headed out the door to meet him, I received a telephone call from his office cancelling the lunch.  The caller said, “Jim is still in the dentist office and he will call you to re-schedule.”  That was over a year ago and he has disappeared again without a trace.

WRC TV 4 investigative reporter John Friess and I walk through my rescue of a 15 year old autistic child off of the subway tracks in 2007.  Doreen Gentzler reports on the rescue and Jim Vance acts as an innocent by stander

Jim was not really a bad guy even though he has done some bad things to others, his problem, he allowed drugs to be his co-anchor for most of his news media career.  In the meantime, we are still looking for our heroes in all the wrong places.

Sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos protest at 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City

L-R: H Rap Brown, John Carlos, Dr. Harry Edwards and Stokely Carmichael hold press conference to discuss race and politics in America 

Dr. Edwards and I have been closely associated since the early 70s.  It was shortly after the airing of The Original Inside Sports on W-O-O-K Radio in Washington, DC that we connected.

He is the author of “The Revolt of the Black Athlete.”  Dr. Edwards was also the architect of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which led to the Black Power Salute protest by sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, both San Jose State College athletes.  The salute has been seen world-wide and it is now a reminder and symbol of racism in America.

The protest took place at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.  Dr. Edwards, is a former athlete on the San Jose track and field team (Discus) which means that he has been in the trenches as an athlete and community advocate.  It is now forty-seven years later and it clearly proves with the turmoil taking places in inner-cities around America, the Olympic Project for Human Rights was ahead of its time.  Dr. Edwards has never been at a loss for words when it comes to the struggle of people of color in America in all walks of life.

In several of my recent blogs related to police brutality and the black athlete/media personalities who claim they understand the dynamics of racism in America, Dr. Edwards begs to disagree.  Especially, those who have no track records of doing anything worthwhile in the black community before they became a “Million Dollar Slave” or a radio or television personality.  I thought it was important that I revisit and share some of his thoughts with you as we head into difficult times with the shutdown in DC.

For an example, there is a young brother who is a well-known former newspaper sports columnist and now a television sports talk show personality, and author.  He and I often disagree on some of his talking and writing points.  I tried to explain to him that it is nothing personal when I disagree with him.  It is all part of the territory when you make yourself an expert in all things American (all things sports, politics, race relations, economics, education, the dynamics of the inner-city, life and death, etc.) in a public forum.  You will be challenged, and it is then you will have to decide, friend or foe!  And can you always pick up a phone and discuss your differences with a friend.  Difference of opinions are not “Rocket Science.”

I have always said, “What makes me different from others who voice their expert opinions on our airwaves, in our newspapers and on the worldwide internet every day–I understand the different between Constructive Criticism and Destructive Criticism!” And therefore, I don’t think everyone who disagrees with me does not like me–of course there are a few exceptions.

The heat that I took on Inside Sports in the early 70s, and the heat today’s sports talk show host are taking, there is no comparison.  The reason, I was first in discussing racism on and off the field of play, first to play message music, first to write sports commentary, first to invite sports reporters on my show to discus local and national sports teams and issues.  Inside Sports was outside the lines and REAL SPORTS long before ESPN, Bryant Gumble and HBO.

In 2015, 47 years after the 1968 Olympic Games, this was Dr. Edwards’ response to several of my blogs as it relates to the criminal justice system, racism and police brutality in America.

He said “Harold, you got a good deal of the Ferguson, Baltimore, calls right. But you’ve got to frame the situation correctly and install it with the proper historical/ political dynamics. Otherwise, you end up in contradiction across the board.  For example , just as your discourse stands , I’m glad that “Baltimore Mom’s” name wasn’t Adrian Peterson – the contradictions would have been far too stark for all of those cheering her actions and a media / governing apparatus controlled by the 1%, a leadership class so crass and desperate to quell righteous outrage that they would pitch Ray Lewis, George Foreman, and Charles Barkley as leaders and spokespersons in a struggle  that is so serious, that has so much at stake that young Black men AND WOMEN are being buried – and I’m not just talking about those killed by White cops and vigilantes like George Zimmerman . The more than 5000 Black homicides and over half of those are Black suicides each year must also be counted in the mix if the dynamics of the Baltimores, Fergusons, etc. are properly factored in, framed and projected. Within this context, “Baltimore Mom” is as much a victim of developments as Freddie Gray. It is also the case that only within proper context can the labeling of desperate, marginalized, villainized, and dehumanized young people as “thugs” and “criminals” be fully understood. In the 1950’s and 1960’s it was White racists who talked confidently about “outside agitators” and who applied “criminal ” and other such labels to ” those people “.  Now it is Black officials, from the Mayor right up to the President who have slipped so easily and thoughtlessly into the tack of covering gross, malignantly negligent economic, political, and moral failings of the American system and society with ” labels”- as if the young people cited are responsible for the conditions of their communities and absolutely wrong for their expressions of blind rage against their situation and outcomes. So in sum, I am all for condemning violent behavior, I am all for cheering on “Baltimore Mom” – AFTER THE POLITICAL /ECONOMIC / MORAL FRAMEWORK AND DYNAMICS THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONDITIONS IN BALTIMORE HAVE BEEN ADMITTED AND RESPONSIBILITY ATTRIBUTED IN CLEAR AND UNEQUIVOCAL LANGUAGE. THEN let’s see where the negative labeling TRULY is appropriately applied – and I will guarantee you it will be the children who are labeled as anything other than victims.

I am not against athletes speaking out and speaking up on political issues- anyone who knows my history of sports activism knows that. What I am unalterably opposed to is uninformed, largely politically ignorant and obtuse people- athletes or any other category of privileged elites- presenting themselves as voices of political reason and strategic vision to masses of marginalized, dispossessed, left behind and left out people struggling EVERY DAY to survive in a system that does not even value their lives, much less care about their futures. So, by way of parallel example, everyone quite rightly scoffed and laughed when Dennis Rodman showed up on the arm of the North Korean dictator talking global politics. He was deemed a clown, a useful fool. So, now, without them saying a word- analytical, strategic, or even reflective- about the culpability and  failure of a political-economic system that by calculated function and longstanding institutional design condemns MILLIONS of African-American men , women, and children to inter-generational desperation and hopelessness, everyone is supposed to accept , even applaud the words and actions of these athlete ” leaders” who categorically  label entire segments of Black populations ” thugs ” and  “criminals “- rather than the casualties and victims of the system that they are – when they act out in righteous rage against the forces oppressing them. Violence against people and property in these communities over the horrifically immoral conditions under which these people live is, of course, unacceptable – if for no other reason than the very practical concern that when they burn buildings, they are burning services and jobs in their own communities. But to simply cite the protests and violence perpetrated BY some among them without citing the institutionally, economically, and politically perpetrated violence against ALL of them is a crass and unforgivable fraud. And those who do so are little more than minions and sycophants of the system who offer neither vision nor constructive change- their message is “just keep quiet, just work harder, just be grateful – and who knows, maybe you will get lucky like me. In sum, far too often, too many of the athletes ( and others ) SENT out to calm the masses are ignorant, uninformed, and therefore acting as little more than stooges for a  system driven to rely upon police authority and violent force to keep order among an ever more desperate population.  And this is not a game.”

I have often said, “The most important Game being played in Black America today is The Game Called Life.”  Dr. Edwards and I disagree but we don’t stop talking!  Hopefully, It may be just a matter of him seeing the glass half-full and me seeing the glass half empty! 

BY RICH SCHAPIRO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS  (reprint)                                                                                                     Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 2:39 PM

Joseph Crystal was a rising star in the Baltimore Police Department, making detective after only two years on the force.

Sgt. Earl K. Bell with Police Burtell Jefferson

The late Sgt. Earl K. Bell of the DCPD and Baltimore Detective Joseph Crystal had a lot in common.  They both saw police brutality being committed by fellow offices and turned them into their superiors (aka Frank Serpico).  The police officials immediately went into their Code of Silence and Thin Blue Line modes (Marty Tapscott, Maurice Turner and Isacc Fullwood in DC).  Baltimore Police Chief Anthony Batts and former DC police officials, have a lot in common–they are all cowards.  They found it more important to be one of “The Boys” then for them to do the right thing.

The only reason Batts’ investigation coincided with States Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s was because he was caught between a ‘Rock and a Hard Place!’  He knew going in that she was doing her own investigation and his findings had better be similar to hers–the Mayor Samantha Rawlings Blake was watching him.  There was already another law suit in the courts against the department as it related to police brutality and Batts’ finger prints are all over it.  This complaint was being brought by a former Top Cop in the department.

The Right Wing is pissed off because this was the first time in American history that a Black President was in the White House and a Black United States Attorney General were all now sitting in ‘The Cat Bird’s Seat.’  In Baltimore you had a black State’s Attorney and a black Mayor.  This is the first time in American history, a group of cop killers would be immediately arrested and a speedy trial would be in their future.  The community had has also discovered a black politician who was not afraid to go Toe to Toe with some the biggest bigots to ever hold office on Capitol Hill (the list is too long to mention).  They sat on both sides of aisle–Republican and Democrat and every thing in between–meet Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.).

In a recent speech on the House Floor by Rep. Johnson you could clearly hear a mouse pee on cotton it was so quiet. He said, “There is a war on black men in America and I am was outraged.”  Fox News’ Shaun Hannity cried foul and Rep. Johnson responded, see link below.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4176045062001/rep-hank-johnson-sounds-off-on-race-relations-in-america/?#sp=show-clips

           Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga)

Why suddenly do they want Atty. Mosby and Mayor Blake to ‘Play Fair’ when they have not played fair in 500 years?  They want Atty. Mosby to recuse herself and bring in a special prosecutor and move the trial to another jurisdiction—wishful thinking.  Remember community leaders asked for the exact same thing in Ferguson and were ignored.  What is good for the goose is good for the gander—what goes around comes around!

Was this playing fair in Delaware? /  http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/08/us/delaware-police-kick-video/index.html

In the meantime, 35 miles up the road in Washington, DC, Police Chief Kathy Lanier and new Mayor Muriel Bowser (showing her true colors) were trying to go in a different direction from Attorney Mosby and Mayor Blake.  Evidently, they are trying to keep hope alive for the corrupt cops of the DC Police Department.  Bowser tried to slip a bill passed the City Council keeping police video footage from the victims of police brutality without a court order.  The cameras were to make the police department more transparent and more accountable but it is apparent the Chief and Mayor had another agenda.

http://yourblackworld.net/2015/04/30/dr-boyce-watkins-stephen-a-smiths-baltimore-comments-were-embarrassing-and-probably-even-racist/

In a telephone conversation with a Baltimore cop this what he said to Detective Joe Crystal,

‘If you snitch, your career is done’:

Crystal says he was harassed, labeled a ‘rat’ after attempt to root out police brutality

Det. Joseph Crystal witnessed a handcuffed drug suspect beaten and his ankle broken by a fellow Baltimore police officer. When he was compelled to report it to his superiors, the nightmare started. Crystal, now a police officer in Florida, is suing the department over the backlash.

Before he became public enemy No. 1 inside the Baltimore Police Department, Det. Joseph Crystal was considered one of its rising stars.

The son of two New York Police Department cops, Crystal was put in charge of his police academy cadet class on day one.

He was promoted to detective before he reached his second year on the force.

And he went on to lead his violent crime unit in gun arrests, racking up high-profile collars that made the evening news.

For Crystal, rooting out crime in one of the most violent cities in the nation didn’t even feel like work.

“Being a cop was all I ever wanted to do,” he says. “A dream come true.”

But that dream turned into a nightmare four years ago when his brothers in blue turned on him – bombarding him with taunts and threats, refusing to come to his aid during drug busts and even leaving a dead rat on his windshield.

His crime? He reported a case of police brutality.

Crystal drew the ire of his department after coming forward to report the 2011 beating of a drug suspect by a fellow officer. Crystal’s subsequent trial testimony helped secure convictions against the cop who carried out the beating and the sergeant who helped facilitate it.

Crystal says the pattern of abuse that followed led him to resign from the job he loved.

“I never imagined that doing the right thing as a cop could cost me so much,” Crystal, 31, told the Daily News this week in his most extensive interview to date.

Crystal filed a federal lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department three weeks ago, claiming it failed to protect him from retaliation after he blew the whistle on his fellow officers.

A department spokesman declined to address any aspect of Crystal’s case. “We don’t comment on pending litigation,” said Det. Ruganzu Howard.

Crystal felt like he was on top of the world when he started working for the department in 2008.

The New Jersey native had spent the last six years working for the Coast Guard. He graduated boot camp three days before the 9/11 attacks and then spent more than a week guarding the smoldering site.

The Coast Guard job fulfilled his sense of duty. But it wasn’t until he started working as a cop that Crystal felt like he had found his calling.

He stood out from the start. Crystal was honored with the prestigious Police Commissioner’s Award upon graduating from the academy and was the first member of his class to make detective.

“I was just so motivated,” Crystal said. “All I could think about was this was my shot. I’m going to do it right.”

That conviction would be tested on the night of Oct. 27, 2011.

It was about 8 p.m. when Crystal, along with other members of his Violent Crime Impact Section, witnessed a suspected drug transaction on Baltimore’s east side.

Upon seeing the cops, one of the men, identified as Antoine Green, threw his drugs to the ground and sprinted away. The officers gave chase but Green got away.

Minutes later, a 911 call came in from a woman who reported a man kicked in the back door of her house.

Cops swooped in on the home and arrested Green. After arriving at the scene, Crystal learned that the home belonged to the girlfriend of a city cop named Anthony Williams, who he had never met.

The off-duty Williams showed up after the suspect had already been cuffed and driven away in a police van.

Crystal says he saw Williams have a quick conversation with Sgt. Marinos Gialamas. “I’ll take care of it,” Gialamas told Williams, according to Green.

STEVE RUARK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Baltimore cops had called Crystal a ‘rat’ and left drawings of the rodent on his desk. In one incident, Crystal was with his wife when he found a dead rat on the hood of his car — in his driveway.

Moments later, the police van returned and Green was led back into the home.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘What the hell?’” Crystal said. “I was baffled.”

Crystal testified that Williams dragged Green into the back of the house where he began beating the handcuffed suspect.

“I can hear the assault,” Crystal said. “I hear the banging. I hear the guy hit the floor.

“A couple minutes later, they bring the guy out,” Crystal added. “His shirt’s ripped. He’s having trouble standing. Later on, I found out his ankle was broken. It was obvious not just to any cop but to any person that saw it what had just transpired.”

The battered Green was led back into the police van and driven away.

“It was wrong what happened,” Crystal said. “I felt sick about it.”

That night, Crystal called his parents and told them what happened. The two former cops didn’t mince words. “You know what you’re going to have to do,” his mother, Madeline, told him.

“Once you lose your integrity,” said his father, Robert, “it’s gone.”

Crystal didn’t hesitate. He called his sergeant and explained what happened.

Crystal said his superior took the opposite stance from his parents. “If you snitch, your career is done,” Crystal recalled him saying. “Nobody’s going to work with you.”

The young detective couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But it didn’t stop him from reporting the beatdown to prosecutors.

I was shooting through this place with a rocket strapped to my back. Now, because of doing the right thing, doors are slamming.

Somehow, word got out immediately. Days after his meeting with prosecutors, Crystal said, a sergeant called him “a snitch” and left a hand-drawn picture of a rat and cheese on his desk.

“I’m not a sensitive guy,” Crystal said. “It didn’t necessarily bother me right away. I said to myself, ‘If this is the worst that happens, I can live with it.’ But from there, it snowballed.”

The guys in his unit refused to ride with him. To his face and behind his back, officers called him a rat and a snitch.

“People don’t like you, and you need to watch your back,” one officer told Crystal, according to his lawsuit.

The harassment escalated after Gialamas and Williams were criminally charged in the assault in Oct. 2012, according to Crystal’s lawsuit.

Out of the blue, a sergeant called him and said: “You better pray to God that you’re not the star witness,” Crystal recalled.

Now officers were no longer backing him up on the streets. On two separate occasions, Crystal said, he called for backup while pursuing drug suspects but nobody showed up.

The second time it happened, Crystal was in the process of arresting a suspected drug dealer and buyer. Suddenly, his supervisor called his cell phone and “gave him a direct order to return to the district and that he would not be given backup,” the lawsuit says.

Crystal had no choice but to let the suspects go.

“Nobody wants to ride with you,” a detective later told him, according to the suit.

Around the same time, Crystal was told he was being demoted back to patrol.

And his security clearance was inexplicably revoked, forcing him to stop working on an assignment with the FBI.

Instead of going after drug kingpins and gun traffickers, he was put on a midnight-shift burglary detail.

“It was like being kicked in the gut,” Crystal said. “I was shooting through this place with a rocket strapped to my back. Now, because of doing the right thing, doors are slamming.”

Still, nothing could have prepared Crystal for what happened the day after Thanksgiving 2012.

He and his wife returned home to find a dead rat on the windshield of his car. As sickening a sight as it was, Crystal was more bothered by the message behind it: We know where you live.

“I was trying to be strong for my wife because she was hysterical,” Crystal said.

Crystal said he sought help from his union, but an official told him his best option was to find a different department. By that time, Crystal and his wife had moved in with her parents out of fear of retaliation. “It was like I was a cop going into the witness protection program,” Crystal said.

The trial over Green’s assault got underway in Feb. 2014. Crystal testified against both Williams and Gialamas. By that point, he had nothing to lose.

A Baltimore jury found Williams guilty of assault and obstruction of justice and Gialamas guilty of misconduct.

Williams was sentenced to 45 days behind bars. Gialamas received probation. Both men are no longer working for the department, a spokesman said.

“This case was very troubling to this court,” a Baltimore judge M. Brooke Murdock said before handing down the sentence to Williams. “The community has a right to expect the police will respect the law.”

Crystal had hoped the end of the trial would mark the end of the abuse. He was wrong.

Somebody made a fake Twitter account in his name and started tweeting reporters that he was cheating on his wife. He was bounced around to different patrols and made to feel like a “leper.” And an internal investigation that Baltimore Police Chief Anthony Batts promised would “get to the bottom of what happened to him” went nowhere, Crystal said.

Beaten down by the abuse, he resigned from the force in August.

The suit Crystal filed on Dec. 22 seeks at least $2.5 million and names the department, Chief Batts and his former supervisor Sgt. Robert Amador.

“It seems to me that the Baltimore Police Department and any police department across the country needs individuals like Joe Crystal,” said his lawyer, Don Discepolo. “He did stand up for what he thought was right and he was persecuted for it.”

Crystal and his wife now live in Florida where he’s working as an officer with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

Crystal understands that some might draw parallels between his case and the coordinated displays of disrespect shown to Mayor de Blasio by NYPD officers at the funerals of slain cops Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.

But Crystal doesn’t see a connection.

“I see people here as they’re hurting and upset right now at the loss of two of their own,” Crystal said. “I saw what happened to me as somewhere along the line we lost our way.

“What I saw was criminal. What I see here is an emotion,” Crystal added. “And those are two very different things.”

He tried for months to get a law enforcement job near Maryland but found no takers.

“Looking back, I still can’t fathom what happened,” Crystal said. “How do you honestly expect people to have faith, to trust the cops, when they let this happen?”

Toya Graham & Ray Lewis

In Baltimore the murder of Freddy Gray by city police has led to riots following the funeral of Gray. The leadership leading up to the mass confusion (finger pointing) and riots as in Washington, DC, Ferguson and North Charleston are similar in style—no substance.  The blind continues to lead the blind.

Children had taken over the streets in Baltimore and some black adults are condemning their behavior—I wonder why?

These children did not come out of their mother’s womb with aka47s, selling drugs, using the N word, wearing their pants down below their knees, looting and burning mom and pop businesses to the ground.  This is all learned behavior–taught by us.

The exceptions are the moms like we seen in Baltimore.  “The Baltimore Mom” Toya Graham, took to the streets to save her only male child.  The video went viral and shows how flawed this system really is when it comes to controlling the behavior of today’s black children. And you want to know what is wrong with our children–take a look in the mirror.

According to today’s rules our children like the young boy seen on the video taking the Floyd Mayweather left jabs and right hooks from his mom, he would be an abused child in the eyes of today’s laws.  He could have called 911 and had his mother arrested for child abuse—are you kidding me?

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-riot-mom-smacks-son/

This is exactly where we lost our children to the streets.  Parents like the “The Baltimore Mom,”  she is trying to raise her children like she was raised but she is now seen as a criminal in a flawed law enforcement and court system.

The Baltimore Police Chief Anthony Batts said, “I wish we had more parents like her,” but the truth be told in normal circumstances a 911 call from her son, she would have been arrested by members of his department.

This system is the brainchild of the 1% who control all the wealth.  Therefore, they control the court system in America including the Supreme Court.

For example; this is the same 1% who influenced the Supreme Court to pass a law allowing the 1% to give an unlimited amount of cash donations to their favorite political candidates.  They can then buy the White House, Senate and Congress.  This allows the rich to keep getting rich and the poor stays poor.

The Baltimore mom was my mother and grandmother.  I can hear “The Amen” coming from the black community as I write.

I am speaking from experience and not from “he say she say.”

My heroes were not athletes even though growing up I admired Heavyweight Champions, Jack Johnson and Joe Louis.  There were also the multi-talented Paul Roberson and baseball great Jackie Robinson.  All won my respect and admiration because they stood for something and didn’t just fall for anything like most of today’s athletes.

Unlike former Heavyweight Champion George Foreman who made an appearance of Fox News during the chaos in Baltimore in April of 2015.  He was seen and heard saying how PAL (Police Athletic League) rescued him, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali from the mean streets of their hometowns.  It sounded more like an endorsement for the police departments around the country.  We all are aware that there some good cops out there, but the bad ones are being given a Free Pass to murder black men and children.  George is another example; “Its best to be thought a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

Big George has a history of going along to get along.  In the 1968 Olympic Games San Jose State sprinters John Carlos and Tommy Smith shook up the sports world when they raised their black fist gloved hands above their heads while receiving their medals on the podium.  This was their way of protesting racism in America.  They were banished from the games.  In the meantime, George Foreman was seen after his Gold Medal win in the ring waving the America flag.  Gold Medal winner and NBA legend Spencer Haywood who was only 18 years old at the time says, “I could not believe George’s behavior especially after John and Tommy were banished from the games.  George was seen by the other black athletes as a Sellout and an Uncle Tom.”  His appearance on Fox News 47  years later says, little has changed.  Long live Muhammad Ali.

Tommy Smith and John Carlos taking a stand

I admire NBA LaBron James and his Miami teammates who wore Hoodies during the senseless killing of Tryvon Martin, and the NFL Bengal players who emerged from the tunnel of a game with “Hands Up” in support of Michael Brown in Ferguson.   The Wizards Paul Pierce and John Wall adding their voices while asking for calm and peace.  There is a place for the Black Athlete in reach-back efforts to help improve the lives of inner-city youth whose lives once resembled their very own.

Bradley Beal, Paul Pierce and John Wall–Wizards winners on and off the court  

It is truly amazing that sports fans, media types and regular Joes want to compare who is the best basketball player, Michael Jordan or LaBron James?  In the final analysis, what it all will boil down to, will not be found in NBA statistics, points scored, rebounds, assist, triple doubles, or titles won.  The most important stat when all is said and done will be–who was the better “Human Being?”  Labron will win hands down.  His reach back efforts to family, friends and community compared to Michael’s–no contest.

I am confused by those in our community who call our children “Thugs and Hoodlums” and have never walked in their shoes, especially, NBA color analyst Charles Barley.  And then there is my friend ESPN PTI co-host Michael Wilbon who goes on national television and says it is okay to use the N word among friends.  He is not thinking, he is also teaching and telling his children it is okay to do the same.

What about those college students at Maryland and Duke Universities who riot and set automobiles on fire after their underdog team wins, are they “Thugs and Hoodlums?”

How about when the Denver Broncos won the NFL Super Bowl in 1999. Fans set cars and buildings on fire–hoodlums and thugs?

How about when Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup in 2011 and fans went on a rampage burning torching everything in sight–hoodlums and thugs?

How about 2014 when the SF Giants won the World Series and fans cost millions of dollars while rioting–hoodlums and thugs?

How about 2015 when Ohio State won the NCAA football championship students and fans set cars and buildings on fire–hoodlums and thugs?

But when a white cop shoots and kills a black man or woman in cold blood and the end result is a riot–hoodlums and thugs?  I don’t think so!

ESPN NFL color analyst and former Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis’ was clearly out of bounds as he was seen ranting on a video that went viral.  His shout-out as it related to the riots in the city was anything but helpful.  He is seen sitting in his “Ivory Tower” in Baltimore yelling out to the rioters words about their bad behavior.  Here is a guy that jumped the moon his rookie year in the NFL when he was a suspect in a murder investigation in a Atlanta night club shoot-out.  Thanks to Raven owner the late Art Modell and General Manager Ozzie Newsome he beat the charge.  If Lewis was really interested in trying to defuse the situation, he would have gathered several of his former teammates and encouraged them to put on their Raven football jerseys and make their way to Penn Ave.  There they would join the other volunteers to try to bring peace to the community.  Now that would have been You Tube worthy.

My friend Charlie Sprow hit the nail on the head describing Ray Lewis’ You Tube rant when he said, “I saw Ray Lewis ranting and raving last night. Nothing he said was of substance!”

Ray’s former teammate QB Joe Flacco was quoted saying, “I love Ray and I love how, he always spoke from the heart, but if you listen to those speeches, a lot of them didn’t make sense.  He meant everything he was saying, but I didn’t know what he was talking about 90% of the time.”  See Ray being Ray in link below.

http://deadspin.com/ray-lewis-gives-baltimore-a-motivational-speech-1700736974

Message to Ray Lewis, “We are a show me community, don’t tell me.”  My heroes were not athletes, my heroes were black women with names like Mommy B and Grandma Bell.

My brothers and I spent our early years with Amy Tyler Bell the matriarch of the Bell family in NE DC.  Grandma Bell was the Enforcer, Terminator, the Good Cop and Bad Cop all rolled into one.  She did not play when it came to her children and grandchildren.

The Ground Rules at Grandma’s House: When the street lights came on you had to be in the front yard or in the house—no excuses or exceptions.

My heroes

                                                                                           Grandma Bell & Grands                                Mommy B & Earl, HB and Bobby

I remember one evening my younger brother Earl missed the curfew by a few minutes and was late getting to the dinner table.  Grandma asked him what was his problem, he muttered something under his breath and before he knew it she had hit him with a backhand.  She knocked him into the kitchen sink.  When he made it back to the dinner table as the Bible says, “He was clothed in his right mind!” 

Today’s black children are already sick and tired of being sick and tired.  They see no way out.  They are victims of high unemployment in double digits compared to white children.  They are being taught in inferior schools and are victims of a murder rate among black men and children that is off the charts.  Over 600,000 children go to bed hungry every night and 16 million people are homeless in America, the richest country in the free world.  They see their parents struggling and they don’t seem to have a clue. The so-called Black Leadership is never seen until after the fact (someone is dead).

These deadly encounters have become nothing more than photo opts for you know who?  For example; as the family arrived at the grave for the burial of Freddy Gray there was not one member of the clergy who participated in the funeral in attendance.  The mortician had to give the final prayer.

Hats off to “The Baltimore Mom,” you go girl, keeping hope alive for your son.

By the Way: Setting The Record Straight

HB,

You got a good deal of the Ferguson, Baltimore, calls right. But you’ve got to frame the situation correctly and install it with the proper historical/ political dynamics. Otherwise, you end up in contradiction across the board.  For example, just as your discourse stands , I’m glad that “Baltimore Mom’s” name wasn’t Adrian Peterson – the contradictions would have been far too stark for all of those cheering her actions and a media / governing apparatus controlled by the 1%, a leadership class so crass and desperate to quell righteous outrage that they would pitch Ray Lewis, George Foreman, and Charles Barkley as leaders and spokespersons in a struggle  that is so serious, that has so much at stake that young Black men AND WOMEN are being buried – and I’m not just talking about those killed by White cops and vigilantes like George Zimmerman . The more than 5000 Black homicides and over half as many suicides each year must also be counted in the mix if the dynamics of the Baltimores, Fergusons, etc. are properly factored in, framed and projected. Within this context, “Baltimore Mom” is as much a victim of developments as Freddie Gray. It is also the case that only within proper context can the labeling of desperate, marginalized, villainized, and dehumanized young people as “thugs” and “criminals” be fully understood. In the 1950’s and 1960’s it was White racists who talked confidently about “outside agitators” and who applied “criminal ” and other such labels to ” those people “.  Now it is Black officials, from the Mayor right up to the President who have slipped so easily and thoughtlessly into the tack of covering gross, malignantly negligent economic, political, and moral failings of the American system and society with ” labels”- as if the young people cited are responsible for the conditions of their communities and absolutely wrong for their expressions of blind rage against their situation and outcomes. So in sum, I am all for condemning violent behavior, I am all for cheering on “Baltimore Mom” – AFTER THE POLITICAL /ECONOMIC / MORAL FRAMEWORK AND DYNAMICS THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONDITIONS IN BALTIMORE HAVE BEEN ADMITTED AND RESPONSIBILITY ATTRIBUTED IN CLEAR AND UNEQUIVOCAL LANGUAGE. THEN let’s see where the negative labeling TRULY is appropriately applied –I guarantee you that the children will be principally labeled as victims of poor education systems, off shored jobs, collapsed family , civic, and community political institutions, etc. And THAT is where the real change work must focus – not just upon the young people changing THEIR minds and behavior.”

HE

Dr. Harry Edwards is the author of The Revolt of the Black Athlete, Dr. Edwards was the architect of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which led to the Black Power Salute protest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, both San Jose State College athletes, at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

                                                                Rev. Joseph Delaine & Dr. Charles H. Thomas, Jr. /  Modern Day Civil Rights Warriors

There is a little known black history fact as it relates to the bravery of black South Carolinians in the late 40s and 50s.  They created America’s first modern day civil rights movement.

The pictorial history can be found of the movement in the book “Out of the Box in Dixie”  Photographed and chronicled by civil rights photographer Cecil J. Williams (www.freedomjusticesimages.com). The book clearly shows the modern day movement started in Clarendon, South Carolina long before Brown vs. Board of Education, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King’s March on Washington,         and the lunch counter sit-ins.  Author Cecil Williams is a cousin of Dr. Charles H. Thomas Jr.  Dr. Thomas was one of the leaders of the movement when it moved from Clarendon to Orangeburg, South Carolina in the 50’s.  Cecil was still in high school but was armed with a camera and he would travel.

The Godfather of the civil rights movement was a black man by the name of Rev. Joseph DeLaine.  In 1949 Rev. DeLaine and friend Harry Briggs organized a group of parents in Clarendon and formed a picket line and challenged school segregation in the county.  The Briggs vs Elliott petition bearing Harry Briggs’ name was the forerunner of Brown vs.  Board of Education.  Their Supreme Court challenge was the first to move to the high court.  Several years later four other cases would evolve into Brown vs Board of Education.  Famed civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall would represent the plaintiffs.  In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional.  My Spingarn high school basketball teammate the late Spotswood Bolling would be the lead plaintiff in integrating the Washington, DC  Public School system (Bolling vs Board of  Education).  We thank Harry Briggs and Rev. DeLaine for their sacrifices and courage against all odds.

Rev. DeLaine, his wife and three children stand in front of his burned out church

The KKK of Clarendon County also thanked Rev. DeLaine by burning his church to the ground.  He would later have to flee for his life to New York City.  The Clarendon County police took out a warrant for his arrest after he returned gun fire defending his family and home from members of the Klu Klux Klan trying to pull off a sneak attack in the middle of the night.  In 1956 the First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt the wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended a rally on behalf of Rev. DeLaine at Madison Square Garden with actress Tulalah Bankhead.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and actress Tulalah Bankhead attend a rally in New York City in support of Rev. DeLaine seated on the left. 

With Rev. DeLaine exiled to New York City the Clarendon County Klan thought they had ended the fight for freedom in South Carolina but his neighbors in Orangeburg County had his back.

The Orangeburg Dream Team of Civil Rights.  Dr. Thomas is on the far right

Attorney Thurgood Marshall would become an adviser to the Orangeburg freedom fighters led by a “The Second Wave of the Civil Rights Movement.” The second wave included, NAACP President, Dr. Charles H. Thomas, Jr. a Professor of Psychology at South Carolina State University and members of the clergy.  Thurgood Marshall would be their lead lawyer and adviser.  He was the brainchild in Brown vs Board of Education and would go on to become the first black judge to be seated on the Supreme Court.

Thurgood Marshall seen boarding a train in DC’s Union Station headed for Orangburg

During one student uprising the Orangeburg County police swooped down on protesters and locked up over 350 students.  They were held in an outdoor jail like stockade, it reminded many of Nazi Germany.  The New York Times published a front page picture story of students in the stockade.

Dr. Thomas bails his children, Loretta, Reggie and Hattie (in shades) out of jail

Dr. Thomas and the entire Thomas clan were on the front lines of the civil rights movement.  The Thomas Family without a doubt is the “First Family of Civil Rights” in Orangeburg County.

On several occasions Dr. Thomas had to put up his house for collateral to get his children and other students out of jail.  It was the norm for Atty. Mathew Perry to be summoned to get Hattie, Charlease, Loretta, Reggie and Ann all out of the Orangeburg County jail.  Cops and judges knew the Thomas’ by name.

Dr. Thomas, sister-in-law Nancy and brother Milbren  march for freedom in downtown Orangeburg 

It was definitely a family affair future sons-in-law Weldon Hammond (Loretta) was a student and Robert Stevenson (Charlease) was teaching at South Carolina State.  They also prove to be pains in the butts of law-enforcement and establishment bigots.

Elease the wife of Dr. Thomas (2nd from the front) joins him and follows members of the clergy in a protest march on downtown Orangeburg

Ann Thomas Riley the youngest daughter would be one of the first blacks to integrate the Orangeburg all white high school and Harold Riley her husband was one the students shot during the “Orangeburg Massacre”

School teacher Gloria Rackley was another important member of the Thomas clan she was known to the family as Aunt Gloria.  She was a true warrior where ever you saw the Thomas clan she was just a step behind.  Her ties were so strong to the family and the NAACP the Orangeburg County school system threatened her with dismissal if she did not cut her ties.  She walked away and continued to fight.  When Charlease was arrested the cops tried to separate her from the rest of the protesters because she was Dr. Thomas’ daughter.  It was Gloria Rackley who got between her and the cops and said “no way.”  Gloria’s daughter Lurma would later become the Press Secretary for the late DC Mayor, Marion Barry.

Gloria Rackley reads letter from school board demanding she cut ties with boycott or else

Dr. Thomas would later take over the reins as President of the local chapter of the NAACP.  His adviser and right hand man was Attorney Mathew Perry.  Attorney Perry would show up in a courtroom and the white judges would immediately take a bathroom break and sometimes would not come back.  Attorney Perry would go on to become the first black judge to be seated on the South Carolina Court of Appears.

The fight for civil rights got so intense in Orangeburg the Rev. Martin Luther King (insert) made his presence and support known at a rally organized and coordinated by Dr. Thomas.  This was just months before his now famous March on Washington.

Dr. King and associates can be seen in the crowd attending a Orangeburg protest rally organized by Dr. Thomas.

Dr. Thomas started and founded voter registration for the entire state of South Carolina while teaching at South Carolina State University.  He was also a pain in the butts for white folks and the Uncle Toms in Orangeburg.  The white folks had their “House Negroes” who would sit in on the strategy meetings and report the upcoming plans to their white bosses.  It got so bad Dr. Thomas and the other coordinators of the marches and boycotts had to have two meetings.  The first meeting they would give out misleading information and plans for the ‘House Negroes’ to carry back to their bosses.  The second meeting would be held to discuss the true plan.  Sixty years later that type of plantation mentality is still holding America back.

Dr. Thomas with student on campus showing him how to register to vote

The Orangeburg Massacre was the worst murder of students on an educational institution in the history of this country (including Kent State).  White law-enforcement would lead Claflin and South Carolina State students on peaceful daylight marches to downtown Orangeburg but under the cover of darkness they became deadly assassins.  In 1968 highway patrolmen and local cops shot and killed three students and wounded 27 more.  My brother-in-law Harold Riley a native of Orangeburg took two bullets that night and watched his friend Samuel Hammond die.  One bullet is still lodged in his leg. These hideous acts were carried out without provocation on the campus of South Carolina State University.

On that fateful night students were first participating in a peaceful march and demonstration at a local segregated bowling alley just off campus.  There might have been some name calling among the student directed toward law-enforcement.  The cops evidently took it personal and without warning started shooting in the direction of the students who retreated to their campus.  When the smoke had cleared three students were dead.  The cops claimed they were fired on first and forty years later they have yet to come up with a smoking gun.  In 2019 despite a black in the White House there is still Justice and Just-Us in America!  Police brutality against black men has become the norm, see Ferguson, New York City, North Charleston, SC and the beat goes on and on.

State Troopers stand over a student taunting him as he lays dying on the campus of S. C. State University in 1968

I remember reading a story titled “The Morning After” in the Washington Post written by black columnist Eugene Robinson.  The story related to the election of America’s first Black President it almost made me bring up my breakfast of grits, eggs and sausage.  Robinson was interviewing Georgia Democrat and civil rights icon John Lewis and said something like “I think John Lewis is one of the most courageous men of the civil rights crusade.  I thought of the beating he took on the Pettis Edmond Bridge and the scars his body still bears.”  What makes Robinson’s observation so ridiculous is the fact that this brother has roots in Orangeburg, South Carolina.  His father taught at Claflin University during the height of the civil rights crusade and he does not have a clue.  The struggles of the pioneers in Clarendon and Orangeburg counties were never mentioned in his column.

The real heroes of the civil rights crusade were young black men Rev. Joseph DeLaine, Harry Briggs, Dr. Charles H. Thomas, Jr. or the three brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice, they gave their lives.  John Lewis’ contributions are commendable but they are pale in comparison.

 Faded Christmas card from Dr. King to Dr. Thomas and his family. Dr. King is seated on the left and Dr. Thomas is standing on the right at a meeting in his home in Orangeburg, S. C.

Delano Middleton, Samuel Hammond and Henry Smith died like animals with white cops standing over them with guns pointed and yelling “Die nigger die” and they did.  No man or woman in America should ever have to die like that, but they still are in places, like Florida, New York City, Ferguson and North Charleston.  For Eugene Robinson not to be aware of the sacrifices of those young men in the Orangeburg massacre is another crime in the black community.  But there he is in the Washington Post and on National television every week claiming to be an expert on Black America.  For this he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize?  Something is wrong with this picture!

In the State Capitol of Columbia South Carolina there stands a tall imposing stature of a man who stood and still stands for white supremacy—the late Senator Strom Thurmond.

During daylight hours he was seen preaching hate niggers and at night he was sleeping with one.  He fathered a black child out of wedlock and unlike some deadbeat dads he made sure she was properly cared for and received a good education.  She was enrolled at South Carolina State where he would often visit her to make sure the hired hands were doing their job properly.

Dr. Thomas and Senator Thurmond had several eyeball to eyeball confrontations during the movement.  They would later become great friends out of respect for each other.

When Dr. Thomas decided that he had enough of the “Player Haters” and envy and jealous Negroes in Orangeburg he moved to DC.  It was Strom Thurmond who recommended him for a Presidential appointment to the Richard Nixon White House.  Dr. Thomas would accept an appointment to become the Director of Equal Opportunity Employment for the United States Post Office.

Thanks to Dr. Thomas, Senator Thurmond and I became fast friends and he became a big supporter of Kids In Trouble, Inc.  One Christmas he assigned his office staff to help me coordinate my toys for tots Christmas party and wrote several letters of reference for me.

The late Senator Strom Thurmond celebrates the memory of the Late Dr. Charles H. Thomas, Jr.  L-R son-in-law Harold, daughter Hattie, wife Elease and Charles III.

In 2008 Barack Obama took his rightful place as the 44^th President of the United States of America.  Don’t believe the hype–there are a lot of Civil Rights wannabes jumping on the bandwagon claiming they paved the way for him.

Dr. Charles H. Thomas Jr. was inducted into the Black South Carolina Hall of Fame in 2005.

Congratulations to the trailblazing Tuskegee Airmen and the Little Rock 9 who all received invitations to the swearing in of President Barrack Obama.  Someone dropped the ball when they failed to invite The Thomas Circle.

Singing legend Sam Cooke had a concert in Columbia South Carolina during the height of the movement.  He performed in front of a segregated audience.  It is rumored that experience inspired him to write his classic “A Change Is Going to come.”

Sam Cooke was a prophet:

A CHANGE DID COME–

A CHANGE IN SENATOR STROM THURMOND

A CHANGE IN AMERICA????

THE CHANGE: BARACK OBAMA AS THE 44th PRESIDENT——-BUT MORE CHANGE IS NEEDED.

L-R: Chief  Burtell Jefferson & Earl K. Bell

KIT Youth & Police Forum on Violence

Santa’s Helper Judge Harry T. Alexander

Second Row L-R: Santa’s Helper Chief Burtell Jefferson & Sgt. Earl K. Bell in Germany standing tall against racism in the U. S. Army (Jet Magazine 1969)

Third Row: Politician/Federal Judge Alex Williams

I had two brothers who took on careers in law enforcement.  My older brother Robert Alfred Bell (aka Bobby) was a U. S. Marshall for 20 years and my younger brother Earl K. Bell was a DC cop for thirteen years.  They both both had encounters with The Code of Silence and The Thin Blue Line.  

My brother Bobby had a Guardian Angel looking over his shoulder, my mentor and friend, the late Luke C.Moore.  Luke was the first black appointed U. S. Marshall in Charge in modern day history by President Lyndon Johnson.  When Bobby joined the U. S. Marshall service Luke was a sitting judge in the DC Superior Court.  Judge Moore sat in The Cat Bird’s Seat and intercepted any problems Bobby had in-house.   My brother Earl was not so lucky, my associates/friends on the police department were nothing but go along to get along Negroes just short of being “Uncle Toms.”  They included, Chief Maurice Turner and Assistant Chiefs Marty Tapscott, Isacc Fullwood.  If they had balls the DC Police Department would be eons ahead of other departments in the country when it came to Community & Race Relations.  

In the late 60s the Godfather of Police Community Relations, Patrick Murphy the former Chief of Police in New York City was hired to come in and clean up the Department.  During that era I was working for the DC Recreation Department in its elite Roving Leader Program (Youth Gang Task Force).  Mr. Murphy was so impressed with our work in the streets he invited us to Police HQ once a month to discus police and the community.  He was a brilliant man with some great ideas but before he could get them implemented the corrupt cops and the police union ran him out of town. 

On August 1, 2013 my young brother Earl died in a nursing home somewhere in Maryland twenty five years after his horrific automobile accident on the way to his new assignment.  It was against all odds he overcame a juvenile receiving home, a NE Housing Project, a dead beat dad, racism in the U. S. Army, and racism in his hometown while trying to join the DC Police Department.  He beat prostate cancer and almost overcame a Code of Silence before his accident in 1988.  He was no match for The Code of Silence and The Thin Blue Line of the DC Police Department.  

When he returned home from Germany after serving eight years in the U. S. Army Fighting racism, he found more racism. Black recruits who were seeking employment in the DC police department were being denied jobs because of their past juvenile records.  DC law clearly stated “Juvenile records were not to be used as a measuring rod for employment.”

Earl passed the physical and written exams with flying colors only to discover his life as juvenile delinquent was now being held against him. The law was a little known fact until I asked my friend Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Bill Raspberry of the Washington Post to investigate this unknown policy.  The department cried “Mistake” by a clerk who didn’t know any better.  Several days later Earl K. Bell received a letter saying he was hired as DC Police Officer.       

During my brother’s tour of duty in the U. S. Army, he stood up to fight racism in a downtown German night club that admitted white enlisted men but discriminated against black enlisted men (Jet Magazine 1969).  He fought to protect abused and jailed inmates during his tour of duty in the cell block located at DC Police HQ.

He studied hard to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant only because he wanted to make difference in people’s lives.  It was Chief Burtell Jefferson who encouraged him to take the exam.  Burtell was a no-nonsense leader during that era.  In 1986 Earl was assigned to the cell block located in MPD HQ on weekends.  He discovered two cops were using black prisoners as punching bags.  This was a form of entertainment for them—one officer was black and one was white.  This was equal opportunity abuse, except all the prisoners being brutally abused were black.  He quietly pulled the abusive officers aside and warned them that their kind of behavior was not to be tolerated on his tour of duty. 

The two officers continued the abuse.  Earl turned to me for advice and I advised him to report the abuse to my childhood friends, Chief Maurice Turner and Assistant Chief Marty Tapscott (Chief Jefferson had retired).  They apparently approved of the practice or were members of “The Code of Silence Fraternity.”  It looked like their mission was to sweep the abuse under the rug.  My next advice, report the incident to the  U. S. Attorney’s office.  The officers were convicted but won on appear and were rewarded for their cowardly acts.  The black officer Tommy Musgrove was given back pay and retired as an Inspector.  

It was this same mentality that Assistant Chief Isaac Fullwood used to punish my brother for testifying against two rogue cops.  I had known Fullwood since high school so I stopped by to see him for an update on my brother’s status.  He said “Harold don’t worry I got Bull’s back.” Fullwood turned out to be another lying police department administrator.  

Two months later The Code of Silence kicked in.  He assigned my brother to the Police & Fire Clinic for 60 days taking him off the streets.  On the morning of his first assignment at the clinic he encountered an icy bridge on Southern Ave SE and Suitland Parkway.  His airborne car ran head on into a 16 wheeler tractor trailer.  When I arrived at the SE Community Hospital I was told by the doctors “It does not look good for him to make it.”  But they didn’t know Bull Bell and that God was in charge.  He was able to survive the ordeal because he ran 10 miles each day and was an avid swimmer. 

Against all odds he beat the Devil at his own game.  He lived through the ordeal but he was paralyzed from the waist down.  To think of him dying in a filthy nursing home without people who cared by his side is not the way I thought of my brother’s last days. 

Police departments around the country have developed and implemented what is known as a “Code of Silence and Thin Blue Line.”  It was established to cover-up wrong doing by rogue cops and their fellow officers.  The Code of Silence was the brainchild of white officers and was to be used as a cover-up of police related acts of brutally against black Americans.  It was never meant to include black officers but being “The Followers” that we are we jumped right on the bandwagon. 

The LAPD and Prince Georges Police Departments are two of the worst racial profiling departments in the country.  Rodney King was the norm for the LAPD until the video camera caught them in the act.

The most dangerous “Gang” in America is not The Bloods and The Crips, the most dangerous gang is your local police department.  There are some good cops but today the bad cops seem to outnumber the good.  I have spent the last five decades working in the streets, courthouses and with law enforcement departments in the DMV.  I have seen the Good, Bad and Ugly. 

Working in the inner-city has become more difficult because it hard to tell the difference when it comes to the cops and the thugs—sometimes they are one of the same.

The problem, we give them a gun and a badge and some become bullies and many are just flat-out cowards.  They lack self-esteem to start with and most barely got out of high school.  Many have never played anything (sports), couldn’t dance and chew bubble gum at the same time.  But now with a gun and badge suddenly they are smarter and bigger and badder than anyone else.  Many use that sense of power to abuse the people they are supposed to be protecting.

In 2008 Ronnie White was murdered in PG County KKK style.  He was found hanging by his neck in his jail cell in an Upper Marlboro Detention Center.  He had been arrested for vehicle homicide in the hit and run death of Prince Georges County Police Officer Cpl. Richard Findley.

It is now 7 years later and the FBI and the Justice Department on Civil Rights violations have not found the guilty party or guilty parties responsible for this hideous crime.  But they found a “Fall Guy and Scapegoat” in a jail guard by the name of Anthony McIntosh. 

McIntosh was 48 years old and according to the Washington Post in a published story written February 1, 2013, “He was charged with deprivation of rights under color of law, a civil rights violation, in connection with White’s death at the County Detention Center in Upper Marlboro.

McIntosh allegedly found White unresponsive and didn’t get him the proper care, the Justice Department said in a news release. 

According to the Washington Post, “Ronnie White was found in his cell ASPHYXIATED (hung by his neck).  The newspaper was hoping by using the word asphyxiated many black folks would not have a clue to how the young man died!  It has often been said “If you want to hide something from a black person put it in a book.”  Their thinking, a dictionary was out of the question.

What is the difference in the 1955 murder and lynching of 14 year old Emit Till in Mississippi and 2008 lynching of 24 year old Ronnie White in a Prince George’s County jail cell, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Gardner, Walter Scott and the list goes on and on?  Only the dates and ages have changed.  Police brutality across America is a “Modern Day Lynching.”  

Sixty years later the theme song in the black community is “We Shall Overcome?”  The march into Selma should have been directed to Fugerson where it would have made more sense.

In Prince Georges County, jail guard McIntosh was charged with covering up his role in White’s death.  It was discovered he falsified an incident report and witness statement, according to the Justice Department.

The other charges include, two counts of destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation.

McIntosh faces life in prison for the civil rights offense, authorities said, and further prison time for the others.”

On June 2, 2013 Justice & Just-Us raised its ugly head in another American courtroom——Greenbelt, Md.

Let me fast forward to an old associate, U. S. District Court Judge Alex Williams Jr. and focus on his comments during the sentencing of McIntosh, he said, “It remains unclear whether Ronnie White was slain or took his own life.”

My question was, where was the video that is suppose be on and running in facilities like these, suddenly it is not working?  First, White’s death was correctly ruled a homicide until “The Good Old Boys” got their heads together and convinced the coroner to change his mind to say it was suicide.  

I had to take a deep breath and my heart sunk when I read Judge Williams’ statement.  The Alex Williams I once knew knows better, but I am willing to conceive this is not the same Alex Williams I once knew.  The former lawyer that I supported for the United States Congress?  

It saddens me to say, Alex has become a part of the problem in the American Justice system and not a part of the solution as many of us had hoped.  I know our old and dear friend the Honorable Judge Luke C. Moore must have turned over in his grave when he heard the statement (see link).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkafk63frbg

DC Superior Court Judges Luke Moore and Chief Judge Eugene Hamilton

I have to agree with the legendary neurosurgeon now Presidential candidate, Dr. Ben Carson.  Several years ago he spoke at a National Prayer Breakfast with President Barack Obama in attendance, he said “Whatever happen to common sense?”  I would have to ask Alex the exact same question.

McIntosh speaking for the first time on the White hanging, said, “I often think of how I should have done things differently, I should have been honest…no excuses.” 

Interpretation; “with this payout I am getting from the PG County Police I can do two years standing on my head.”

Alex tried to clean up his act later when he said, “In a county with a long history of corruption, McIntosh’s awful lie did broader damage, furthering a perception that there is cause for residents to be distrustful of authorities.

Law enforcement officers and correctional officers are the glue that holds society together.  What has happened here is this lie. . . has inflamed and fueled the skepticism of the public that something fishy took place.”  Too late Alex, the damage had already been done.

White’s family members used the forum to go further, saying they still believe White’s death was vigilante justice.  The same Justice and vigilante acts that have been a part of this county for decades are still in play and now with black faces in leadership positions it has gotten worst instead of better. 

Former Upper Marlboro Court Chief Judge William Missouri another old friend was known as “The Hanging Judge” because of the way he sentenced black folks in his courtroom.  He hung you without a rope.  This a sad commentary when you see old friends you once knew up close and personal become a part of a system that is rotten to the core.

White’s mother and stepfather said in court that they do not accept the explanation that White committed suicide. Lonnie Gray, White’s stepfather, said he thinks county police killed White. He called McIntosh a “scapegoat” in a larger conspiracy.

Alex countered with, “I cannot blame Mr. Gray for the accusation.”

“The father, the family, is expressing the view that is out there that something occurred that has never been resolved, adding that he, himself, is not sure. No one clearly knows whether the death was a suicide or a homicide.” 

Evidently, Judge Williams thinks the folks who murdered Ronnie White “Were Standing Their Ground!”

The family has been paid off, McIntosh has been paid off and Alex???  This is a very scary situation for Prince Georges County residents, the county is fast becoming a “Police State.”  Alex and his neighbors don’t have to live it so far, but it is coming to his neighborhood any day now—-it is just a matter of time before he receives his wake-up call. 

According to the Justice Department the White case is now closed and they will not look any further for White’s murder.  I thought that a murder case was never closed (Cold Cases)?  Add to Alex’s slap on the wrist to McIntosh, this now means that black Prince Georges County residents are playing Russian roulette with their lives.  Every time they leave home, they will never know that the next PG cop car that pulls them over, behind the wheel just may sit Ronnie White’s killer.

There are police officers in PG County who will say that Ronnie White was murdered, but only off the record.

My brother Earl and I talked about this case when it first happen, he said, “The cops hung that brother.”

I showed him the outcome and verdict in the Washington Post, he only said ‘What did you expect?’ I expected better because my partner in the community was the judge on record.  The bottom-line, what did I know and when did I not know it?

Remember the Washington Post in its early report said, “McIntosh faces life in prison for the civil rights offense, authorities said, and further prison time for the others?”  How did we get life in prison down to two years?  Alex missed an opportunity to send a message to the Fraternal Order of Police and their kind but instead he went along to get along.

It is “The Us against Them” mentality that has made racism rampant in police departments all across America. 

The verdict and sentencing in the Courtroom of the Trayvon Martin trial and the sentencing rendered by Judge Alex Williams proves that there is still Justice & Just-Us.  If you don’t think that there is Justice & Just-Us visit an Upper Marlboro Court Room on any given Monday through Friday and count the white defendants, they barely exist. 

Sgt. Earl K. Bell, rest in peace my brother, I am still in the fight for honesty and transparency in police departments across America.

In a Redd Foxx sit-com 30 years ago Sanford & Son, Lamont played Red’s son on the show.  He asked Redd if he knew that heart disease and hypertension were responsible for more black deaths than anything else? Redd’s response, “No I thought it was the police.” How prophetic!

Native Washingtonian Maurice Morning Wills October 2, 1932 (sunrise) September 19, 2022 (sunset)

Sonny Wills aka Maury Wills, Today and Yesterday nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Dick Heller/Washington Times Sports Columnist

Sonny Wills led the Major Leagues in stolen bases six straight seasons.  In 1962 he stole 104 bases breaking the legendary Ty Cobb’s record and was named MVP in the National League.  Cobb held the record for 47 years.  Wills defined and changed the way the game was played offensively–homeruns became an after thought.’

Over two decades ago when Wills was “Dead Man Walking” as it pertained to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  In 2002 at the Langston Golf Course in Washington, DC I joined Sonny and his brother  Donald for lunch.   It was here they asked me to start a media campaign to help get Sonny inducted into the hall–enter Dick Heller.   I asked the late Washington Times sports columnist to assist me on this mission. The same Dick Heller who helped me get Willie Wood inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1989, and NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2003 and help me to get Jim Brown (NFL) out of jail in 2007.  Willie Wood was the only one to say “Thank You.”  I remember Muhammad Ali once told me never to expect “Thank You” when you help someone else in a time of need–it was great advice.

Stature of the late NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd in the Charles Houston Rec Center, Alexandria, Virginia.

The late Washington Times sports columnist Dick Heller and I congratulate Green Bay Packer great Willie Wood on his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Sonny was like a big brother not only to his siblings but also to me and other youngsters growing up in the Parkside housing project in NE DC.  He was a great athlete at Cardozo High School and he flaunted it. He was one of the best all-around athletes this city has ever seen to include, Avatus Stone, Reggie Lee, Lew Luce (Wilson HS) and Gary Mays.

During breaks while playing in the minor leagues Sonny would come home and join us in pick up basketball games.  We would follow him to the other side of the railroad tracks for the games at an elementary school on Minnesota Avenue in NE DC.

He was a great running back with speed to burn.  During the off season he played football for a popular DC group of semi-pro athletes, they called themselves the Stone Walls.  For whatever reason, they never got the opportunity to play at the next level, college or pro.  They were truly “Weekend Warriors” who were admired and respected in The Hood.

Their homefield was Bannecker Stadium located on the Georgia Avenue corridor accross the street from HBCU Howard University.  On weekend nights you could find football fans packed into the stadium to see their favorite semi-pro team.  The stadium is now named in the honor of Maury Wills aka Sonny Wills.

My freshman year at Spingarn high school, coach Dave Brown would prepare us for the upcoming season by arranging for us to scrimmage against the Stone Walls.  Sonny was a running back for the team, kick and punt returner.  It was like “Men against Boys.”  But it paid off, we had an outstanding 1955 season. We were led by Maury’s little brother, our QB, Donald aka Duck.  We won the East Division title against a strong and talented Armstrong High School team.  Their QB was future NFL Hall of Fame player Willie Wood.  The final score 13-7.

The 1957 Spingarn HS (Green Wave) football team: Lawrence Lucas standing next to NO. 19 and me standing in back row with my helmet in hand.  I am standing between Donald Wills and Al Mayor.

1960 Winston-Salem State Rams: DC’s finest; QB Donald Wills (20)-WR Harold Bell (88)-Richard ‘Jelly’ Hansberry (71)-Charlie Mayor (26) and Reginald ‘Slick’ Livingston (82) 

I thought I was the straw that stirred the drink in high school, “It was throw me the dam ball, I am open!”

In 1957 the Stone Walls returned to Spingarn for a scrimmage and there was Sonny Wills smiling from ear to ear.  This time I was the starting WR and Duck again was the QB.

Instead of Sonny lining up as a running back, he lined up on defense in front of me and he was not smiling.  He shut me down and would not allow me to catch a ball.  After the scrimmage, he came over to me and said, “Harold you are going to be good one day, but not today.”  He walked away, I was steaming!

I still think to this day, Coach Dave Brown was the architect of the lockdown.  I was smelling myself and that day was a wake up call.  Coach Brown knew how to put you in your place without saying a word.

Like Sonny, Donald and I played all three sports at Spingarn.   They were not the best athletes or best baseball players in the Wills family.  Older brothers Guy, Bobby and Dukey were considered better.  It was thirteen of them, even the sisters were great athletes (Mae and Pat).  Rev. Wills their father was a minister and Ma Wills was a stay-at-home mom.  They were not the typical “We Are Family” found in a housing project.  The Wills children stayed out of trouble and kept trouble out of their home.

Sonny spent almost a decade in the Dodgers’ minor league farm system (8 years), but he made the best of those years.  He taught himself to become a switch hitter, All-Star shortstop and the best base stealer in the minor leagues.  He was a 27 year old rookie when he finally made it to the major leagues and was he ready!

From 1961 to 1965 he made the home run obsolete.  He was considered to be the best shortstop of his time, appearing in 7 All-Star Games. His lifetime batting average is higher than many of the Hall of Fame shortstops.  For example, his average is 21 points higher than Bill Mazeroski, 19 points higher than Luis Aparicio and Ozzie Smith, 12 points higher than Pee Wee Reese, and 8 points higher than Phil Rizzuto.

The excitement he brought to baseball stadiums around the country was only matched by Jackie Robinson.

I remember the summer 1962 when he was the talk of the baseball world.  The Wills Family rented a bus to travel to Philadelphia to watch the Phillies take on the L. A. Dodgers.  Friends and family were invited to participate.  Donald and I were home from from school.  We were roommates and teammates at Winston-Salem State University (aka Bighouse Gaines U).

As college student/athletes we were struggling to maintain and we thought this trip would provide us with an opportunity to hit up “Big Brother” for some funds.  Immediately after the game family and friends gather outside the visitor’s exit from the ball park waiting for Sonny to emerge.  He was mobbed by family, friends and fans when he made his exit.  It didn’t look like we were going to be able to get our sales pitch in–it looked impossible!

Donald and I were laid back off to the side trying to figure out the best way to get a few words in with him alone.  As he was boarding the bus to leave for the airport he looked over and saw us.  He pushed his way through the well wishers and took us around to the other side of the bus out of sight.  He asked Donald, “Whats on your mind little brother?” Donald told him we were both now in college at Winston-Salem State and needed a little cash to help us out.

His response blew me away, he said “Guys I am broke, but not broke in the sense of being broke like you.  I am barely able to keep up with my life style I have to maintain during the baseball season.”  

That was all I needed to hear, I turned and walked away leaving him and Donald alone, I didn’t believe him.  I later discovered the Dodgers were paying him ‘Peanuts’ compared to the white superstars.

In 1962 our junior year at Winston-Salem, Sonny literally set the baseball paths on fire when he stole 104 bases for a Major League Baseball record.  He broke the notorious Ty Cobb’s record that had been around for 47 years.   Cobb was the God of the stolen base during his era.  He instilled fear into opposing players, he would shapen his spikes every game and slide into bases with spikes high .  Cobb was a racist and a dirty player and many were happy when Sonny broke his record.

The Dodgers won the World Series and Sonny was named MVP of the league.  In 1963 the following year he send a check to Winston-Salem State University made out to the Winston-Salem athletic department.

The check was from a corporate sponsor and earmarked to be donated to a non-profit organization–enter Winston-Salem State University.

I have no idea how much the check was worth, but through one of our contacts in the President’s office Donald found out it was $10,000.   One day he gave me five 20s out of the blue.  I never asked any questions relating to where it came from.  I had learned early, “never to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Maury Wills’ omission from the baseball hall of fame had nothing to do with his playing ability.  It has everything to do with his character and integrity and that is where he came up short.  His choice of white women, especially his relationship with Doris Day was never forgiven by white media.  He was a favorite of the tabloids and this pissed off the white media.

The Washington Times column also mention that he had some ups and downs–now you are talking about an understatement.  He said, “I want to be an inspiration for inner-city kids”?   He was never an inspiration or  role model for his own son, Bump.  Despite their problems, Bump went on to have a decent MLB career.

Andy Ockanhuser

&

Charlie Brotman

Dave Kane is a native Washingtonian and friend who now lives in Arizona.  He recently e-mailed me a story written in the Washington Post related to a Washington-Jocks-Hall-of-Fame and its new inductees (see link below). Dave and I are not scared to discuss racism in America and that is why I trust and value his opinion on many different levels.  We don’t always agree and I find that a healthy state of mind for any enduring friendship.  But we recently agreed there are some white folks who don’t know when they are being racist—meet Charlie Brotman and his partner, snake oil salesman, Andy Ockanhuser.  These two sponsored a joint venture several years ago and called it “The Washington Jocks Hall of Fame” and to cover their asses they wrote in disappearing ink ‘No Blacks Allowed.’ Let me make one thing perfectly clear that white folks don’t have a patent on racism in America, there are some blacks that could give them a 101 Lesson in Racism as it relates to other blacks.  I can see the Race Card clearly on both fronts because I am black.   You would have to have walked in another black man’s shoes to recognized over 400 years of racism and why they find it difficult to “Just Get Over It” as some whites and blacks have have exclaimed in frustration.  If you read Page One in the Washington Post on Sunday April 19, 2015 you would understand, why some of us both black and white cannot ‘Just Get Over It.’

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/04/14/washingtons-jocks-hall-of-fame/

After I read the story I could not understand the reasons why the hall had been established, but my buddy Dave
hinted he knew exactly why.

“I am pretty sure it’s all White guys and some Jewish guys, not sure why. They are more like reunions for older White guys. I only heard of it recently.”

This was my response to his diplomatic assessment:

Not sure why?

You can bet if Charlie Brotman and Andy Ockanhuser are the organizers, the Race Card is on the table and it is being played in spades with the joker wild.  In 2015 are the DC Jocks Hall Fame telling us there were no outstanding black athletes playing football, baseball or basketball in the 50s?  Three of the greatest all-around athletes, black or white were Gary Mays, Willie Wood and Maury Wills bar none.  Each one played in the 50s! By the way Washington Post sports columnist Dan Stienberg is dangerous with a pen and pencil in his hand.  This group of bigots would never have passed the smell test with the legendary Washington Post sports columnist Shirley Povich (author of No Cheering in the Press Box).  This book should be made required reading for all sports columnist especially those at the Washington Post.

Let’s keep it real, the KKK and their siblings are alive and well.  They are on the rise again, they are no longer wearing robes and hoods.  They are now wearing cop uniforms and hiding behind a Code of Silence and wearing three piece suits and establishing their own hall of fame.  The cops are killing black men across America (see Sunday’s Page 1 story in the Washington Post) and getting away with it.  In 2007 Mike Tyson’s last fight here in DC at the Verizon Center I asked Charlie Brotman’s partner with Brotman’s & Associates how they could take black money but hire only whites?  His partner whose name escapes me said, “Harold we have hired black people before, but she quit.”

To really understand why the likes of Brotman can get away with this kind of economic racism you have to look no further then, Don King, Butch Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard,  Rock Newman, Bernard Hopkins, and the list goes on and on (a story for another time).

In the meantime, Charlie and Andy have decided to help turn back the clock to the 30s, 40s & 50s by creating their own “Whites Only” hall of fame.

If this is “The Race Card”, two can play it.  And anyone who supports these two idiots and their plantation mentality, evidently, have problems of their own.

Dave Harris is seen in photo with hall of fame inductee Dan Droze.  Dave was an All-Met in football and track.  He caught the winning touchdown pass from Droze in the first integrated High School All-Star Game against undefeated St. Johns.  Dave played both offense and defense in the game.

Harris & Droze together again.

The 2oo4 50th Anniversary of Droze to Harris for the winning TD was the First integrated HS All-Star Game in the Nation’s Capital (1954).  The DC Jocks Hall of Fame honoring Droze and others set race relations back 50 years.

In all due respect Droze was not even the best passer on the DC Public HS All-Star team–it was QB Willie Wood of Armstrong HS.  Willie was selected the MVP as the outstanding defensive player.  Gary Mays without a doubt was the best all-around athlete in DC in the 50s.  You can see “The One Arm Bandit” in photo below as he drives around two Spingarn HS defenders that include the great Elgin Baylor (No. 23).  Spingarn lost the game as Gary shutdown the high scoring Baylor who was averaging close to 50 points a game.  Gary was also a catcher on the Armstrong HS baseball team and a stolen base against him was next to impossible.  He was also a power hitter.  In a MLB tryout held at old Griffin Stadium in 1953 he was chosen MVP after allowing no stolen bases and hitting a home run out of the stadium with the one arm.  Maury Wills aka Sonny played every sport at Cardozo HS and was an All-Star in all of them.  He turned the stolen base into an offensive weapon and was a record breaker in the art of the stolen base.  He led MLB in steals on several occasions.  He also led the LA Dodgers to a World Series and he is still in search of the MLB Hall of Fame.  Dan Droze and the other hall of fame inductees were not in the same class as Dave, Willie, Gary and Maury–where is the beef?

Photos: see below four the best black all-around athletes in DC in the 50s.

Willie Wood                      Gary Mays                     Maury Wills      Dan Droze (inductee)     Joe Mona (inductee No. 86)       Dave Harris

I want to congratulate my former teammates Dan Droze and Joe Mona on their induction into the Charlie Brotman and Any Ockanhuser Hall of Fame for whites only!

Mona was an outstanding high school athlete (St. John’s) and wide receiver at Maryland University.  Droze’s feats as a high school running back are legendary.  Mona and Droze were my teammates with the Washington Redskin’s farm team, the Virginia Sailors before they were cut.

The Washington Post writer Dan Steinberg keeps coming up short when he tries to write about sports history here in the Nation’s Capital—he continues to prove he does not have a clue.

For example; In the 50s playing at Eastern High School were several great athletes that I faced on the field of play.  One was Bernie Chavis who played football, basketball and baseball and the other was Jimmy ‘Blondie’ Jones, who played Football, basketball and ran track for the Ramblers.  They not only played the games, they excelled at them.  Bernie went on to play college basketball at Villanova and ‘Blondie’ took it to the next level with the NFL Chicago Bears as a wide receiver. There were many other outstanding black athletes in the 50s but I went head to head with Bernie and Blondie.

Charlie Brotman also claims he was behind the boxing success of Sugar Ray Leonard, another lie–I was there with Ray before the million dollar pay days and when the boxing hall of fame was just a dream.  Keeping it real in DC sports (The Original Inside Sports).

Ray and Harold in Inside Sports radio studios

In Appreciation & Setting the Record Straight

NBA Earl Lloyd

Dick Heller

Earl and wife Charlie

Red Auerbach and Earl

On Saturday March 7, 2015, President Barack Obama; first lady Michelle Obama; and their teenage daughters, Malia and Sasha, help mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala.  It was there in 1965 on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, that state troopers violently attacked a peaceful civil rights march.  In the meantime, U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department had accused the Ferguson Police Department of racial bias while routinely violating the rights of black citizens, including using excessive force.  The Justice Department found a pattern of Ferguson police using unreasonable force against black citizens in 88% where the department used force.  In all of the 14 dog bites incidents for which racial information was available, the person bitten was black (it is probably double the original count).  There were racist emails found written by Ferguson police and municipal court officials.  In 2008 one email read, “President Obama would not be President for very long.  What black man holds a steady job for 4 years”?

NBA legend and color analyst Charles Barkley called the blacks in Ferguson hoodlums and thugs!  I think he was a little confused, the hoodlums and thugs were wearing uniforms and three piece suits!  His partner in this Tomfoolery ESPN’s Michael Wilbon went on national television and said, “I use the N word all the time around my friends and family.  My grandfather use it”.  Don’t look for an apology any time soon from neither one.  This is a sad commentary because they both are spreading this ignorance on to their children.

My thoughts on marking the 50th Anniversary of the march on Selma—the participants’ next march should be headed to Ferguson!

Fifty years after Selma, there was Rodney King, Travon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and an untold number of black men brutalized and killed by police departments across America.  According to the Justice Department there are at least 20 police jurisdictions around the country being investigated for civil rights violations.

My friend, civil rights advocate and sociologist Dr. Harry Edwards says, “I love Charles, Michael and Stephen A. Smith”!  My problem, I find it difficult to love someone who does not love himself or his people.  But I understand Dr. Edwards’ love, “You can catch more flies with honey then vinegar”! 

Speaking of 50 year anniversaries, NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd died in February 2015 Black History Month.  He didn’t have a clue that he was braking down a barrier when he became the first black to play in a game in October 1950.  He admits “I was no Jackie Robinson”.  Thanks to Branch Rickey, Jackie was the first black to play Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.  He made headlines across America for his daring feat against all odds.  Earl received little or no fanfare.

Even though he went on to become one of the first blacks to play on an NBA Championship team. The first black to become an assistant coach.  He also could have easily become the first black to coach a major sports franchise in modern sports history, but his black skin was a liability.  It would take 50 years plus before he would be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame as a “Contributor”!

As the first black President, Barack Obama and the politicians march in Selma, I am reminded 50 years after Selma, there are still no black owners in the NFL, MLB, NHL and one black owner in the NBA.  There are no black owners in major media, black CEOs make up 1% of Fortune 500 Companies and white men still make double the salary of a black man in 2015 (the cry for equal pay)—did I miss something?

“50 years after Selma, Earl Lloyd owe thanks to 2 white men for his induction into the NBA Hall of Fame, the great Red Auerbach and the late Dick Heller of the Washington Times newspaper.  There lies the fact, “That every black face you see is not your brother and every white face you see is not your enemy”!  I am not aware of any member of the NBA Hall of Fame or one of the 50 Greatest Players of all time campaigning for his induction.

Earl grew up in Alexandria, Virginia in the shadows of the Nation’s Capitol and played at Parker-Gray High School.  He received a basketball scholarship to West Virginia State in Charleston.  The school played in the CIAA (Central Inter-collegian Athletic Association).  In the 1947-48 season West Virginia State was the only undefeated college basketball team in America.

Earl was selected in the ninth-round of the 1950 NBA draft by the Washington Capitols. On October 31, 1950, Lloyd became the first African American to play in an NBA game, against the Rochester Royals.  The Capitols folded on January 9, 1951 after 7 games.  Earl joined the U.S. Army and was station at Fort Sill, Oklahoma before the Syracuse Nationals picked him up on waivers.  He spent six seasons with Syracuse and two with the Detroit Pistons before retiring in 1960.

Earl was called “Big Cat and Moon”, he was one of three blacks to enter the NBA at the same time in 1950. It was only because of the order in which the teams’ season openers fell that Lloyd was the first to actually play in a game. The date was October 31, 1950, one day ahead of Cooper of the Boston Celtics and four days before Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton of the New York Knicks.  Earl played in over 560 games in nine seasons, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound forward averaged 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

Earl retired ranked 43rd in career scoring with 4,682 points. In the 1953-54 season, he was also known as “The Enforcer aka Hatchet Man” he led the NBA in both personal fouls and disqualifications.  His best year was 1955, when he averaged 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds for Syracuse, they beat the Forth Wayne Pistons 4-3 for the NBA title. Lloyd and Jim Tucker were the first blacks to play on an NBA championship team.

In 1965 Detroit Pistons General Manager Don Wattrick wanted to hire Earl as the team’s head coach.  The decision would have made him the first black head coach in modern day pro sports.  Dave DeBusschere was instead named Pistons’ player–coach.  Earl finally got his chance to coach the Pistons after serving as a scout for five seasons in the 1972-73 season.  Earl always felt the decision to name DeBusschere coach was because of the color of his skin and in the end his own players ran him out of the league after one year.

In retirement Earl Lloyd became frustrated and irritated that the NBA was only throwing him crumbs off of the table when it came to recognizing his contribution to the league.  Those contributions; being the first black to play in a game in the NBA, one of the first two blacks to play on a championship team with teammate Jim Tucker with the Syracuse Nationals and the first black hired as an NBA assistant coach.

It just wasn’t the NBA Hall Fame that ignored his contributions but his own people refused to recognize his contributions as a player in the CIAA (Central Inter-Collegian Athletic Conference).  It took them almost 50 years for them to induct him into its hall of fame.  The only reason he was finally inducted was because I questioned my former coach and mentor, Clarence “Bighouse Gaines” the God Father of the conference about his absence.

We were having our annual breakfast at his house the Sunday morning after homecoming weekend–he was the chef in charge.  This breakfast was for his ‘Boys Club’ that included, Ted Blunt, Earl Monroe, Jack DeFares, Carl Green, Barney Hood, myself and a few other stragglers.  It was here he gave his “State of Winston-Salem Basketball” and received updates on any possible basketball recruits, who was in lock-up or who died or who was headed for divorce court.

On this particular morning I kicked off the breakfast by asking, “Why isn’t Earl Lloyd in the CIAA Hall of Fame”?  His response almost made me fall out of my chair.  He said “The committee says West Virginia State is not a member of the CIAA”!  My response, ‘Come on coach, Earl Lloyd made his name in the CIAA, that is nothing but bullshit and it sounds more like envy, jealousy and personal to me’!  The following year Earl Lloyd was inducted in the hall of fame.

Earl “The Pearl” Monroe and Bighouse Gaines

I have known Earl Lloyd since I was growing up in NE DC as a teenager.  He lived on the other side of the 14th Street  bridge, but he was like a “Homeboy” to most us in DC.  He spend a lot of time in the Nation’s Capitol, he had a brother living in NW DC that he would often visit.  As a teenager, me and my homeboys would travel from our NE housing project to the Bannecker and Park View playgrounds to watch ‘The Big Boys’ play the game.  The big boys included, Elgin Baylor, Gary Mays, Daddy Grace, Terry Hachett, Willie Jones and a cast of other playground greats.  It was here I established a bond with a guy that would become like a Big Brother in the decades to follow.

With his approval in the late 90s I would under take the task of “Earl Lloyd NBA Hall of Fame or Bust”!

My first recruit in this effort would be the man who told me that Earl Lloyd was the first black to play in the NBA, the Legendary, NBA coach Red Auerbach.  I then called Washington Times long time sports columnist the late Dick Heller to join us.

My friends in the sports media like George Solomon (Washington Post), Sonny Hill (NBA/CBS) and Howie Evans (New York Amsterdam News) all said “No Way”!  They were under the impression that Chuck Cooper and Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton were the first until I told them my source was Red Auerbach.

I would use my Inside Sports connections as a vehicle to bring everyone together.  It was during Black History Month in 1998 I would coordinate and host “A Salute & Tribute To Earl Lloyd”.  The  tribute and salute would be held at Bolling Air Force Base Officer’s Club in SE Washington, DC.

I would invite the usual suspects, Sam Jones (NBA), James Brown (Fox Sports), Roy Jefferson (NFL), George Nock (NFL), Dick Heller (Washington Times), Hall of Fame Martial Arts Warrior Furman Marshall, the late Jim “Bad News” Barnes (NBA),  Butch McAdams (Radio One) and the late writer/poet Murray Brooks.

Sam Jones, James Brown, HB and Earl Lloyd celebrate Black American history at Bolling AFB

Butch McAdams would send out press releases to all local media outlets including, the Washington Post and its sports editor George Solomon. Solomon for what ever reason chose to ignore the event.  I would then place a call to Washington Post owner Donald Graham.  I  met Donald while I was working on the streets with youth gangs as a Roving Leader for the DC Recreation Department in the late 60s.  He worked those same streets as a DC cop. It was a rebellion move against his mom Katherine Graham, but he finally came to his senses and took his rightful place on the paper.

Donald, would later mail me a hand written note saying, “George said he didn’t know anything about the event.”  George Solomon was a bald face liar (see hand written note below).

To his credit Dave McKenna from the City Paper along with Dick Heller of the Washington Times would be the only media outlets to cover the event. But McKenna’s agenda was not in the best interest of Harold Bell and the salute to Earl Lloyd and Black History Month.

One of the reasons I remember Kenna’s involvement was because of a story line that he followed after the salute.  For example; He introduced the story saying, “Last week, Harold Bell, the talk-show host, sports writer, do-gooder and all-around rabble-rouser, threw a party to honor Earl Lloyd, the NBA’s first black player.  In a crowded ballroom at Bolling Air Force Base, folks who remembered Lloyd from his days across the river at Parker Gray High School in Alexandria in the mid-40s mingled with those who just wanted to be near the alarming obscure athletic pioneer, who broke the color barrier as a member of the Washington Capitols in 1950.  Lloyd, for whatever reason, (like it had nothing to do with the color of his skin) never got his just due around his hometown through the years, and sadly he still isn’t likely to after this function.  Local and daily newspapers and television stations, along with local sports figures, all stayed away from the tribute.  Local sports celebrities would rather eat glass than take Bell’s calls.  They all got their press releases, so why didn’t they come for Earl? Ask Bell.  Deep down, Bell knew the answer:  The mainstream press and jocks didn’t come because of him. Plenty of people , including some of the biggest names in town, want no part of Harold Bell or anything that he is associated with.”

McKenna’s story was titled, “Microphone as Megaphone”.  He assumed because they would not return his calls for a story about me, they would not take mine.  McKenna needed to check the telephone records at AT&T and see when was the last time I spend ten cents a minute to call Larry Brown, Dave Bing, Jim Brown, James Brown, Rock Newman, Glen Harris, Jim Vance, John Thompson, Doug Williams, Marion Barry, Sugar Ray Leonard and Don King—the Sacred Cows in the black community?  If  McKenna was trying to be objective, he would have checked some of their backgrounds for perpetrating a fraud, drug abuse, domestic violence, lies, alibis, and not keeping it real while claiming to be black and proud!

I apologize to Dave McKenna for not being a part of the “In Crowd” the jocks, politicians and news media personalities who abuse drugs, steal money from kids and lie until their noses out grow their faces!

I also apologize for having great sporting personalities as my true friends, like Muhammad Ali, Red Auerbach, Bert Sugar, Angelo Dundee, Willie Wood, Dave Robinson, Roy Jefferson, Harold McLinton and a host of others who tolerated me and supported my endeavors despite my less then perfect God like qualities.

My grandmother Amy Tyler Bell taught me “A lie will change a thousand times but the truth never changes” and that is why I always stick with the truth.

McKenna’s first lie, he never talked to or quoted any celebrity who would go on The Record as it related to me. The second lie, he claimed he had never heard my show Inside Sports,  still he says, “On Inside Sports, callers weren’t afraid to rail about Marion Barry’s legal and drug problems, and Doug Williams’ benching and maybe establish a link between the two.  And the host, well, he was not afraid to rail about anything or speak up against anyone.”  He got that right!  Dave McKenna, I don’t think is really a bad guy, a little too ambitious is the best way to describe him.

McKenna’s problem, he was trying to use me as one of his stepping stones to a job at the Washington Post (now under new management it looks they have allowed him to freelance).  He is an excellent writer, but like Korhisner, Sharpiro, Feistein, Chad, Wise, Solomon, and Wilbon you cannot trust anything that he writes.

George Solomon and his writers were frequent guest on Inside Sports.  I am amazed how folks in media are always trying to demean our progress and at the same time stealing our ideas and contributions.  But they don’t want to give credit where credit is due (for example;  check the copy rights for Inside Sports and see who owns it) and you will see the more things change the more they remain the same.

I will never forget how Leonard Sharpiro tried to come on Inside Sports to sell “The Real John Thompson story” the book was a joke. He never did his home work.  In turn when I tried to contact him for a Review on my exclusive one on one interview with Muhammad Ali, he would not entertain the thought (pay back is a bitch).  I guess when they cannot find you do drugs and you don’t steal money from the children, their only other vehicle is to tell lies and water down your contributions.

I had one former high ranking NBA administrator say to me as it related to his colleagues/friends in New York writing a story on me for Black History Month, his response, “They say its a local story”!  My contributions in sports media and the community is more national then all of their contributions put together.  I wonder how many of them have made national contributions when it comes to sports media and community involvement?  For example; Inside Sports changed the way we talk and reports sports in America.  Every pro sports franchise has copied Kids In Trouble, Inc. “I Care” community formats.  How many radio, television and print media personalities have been individually responsible for 2 pro athletes being inducted into the NBA and NFL Hall of Fames?

Civil Rights icon Congressman John Lewis joined the Kids In Trouble team to help promote the NBA All-Star Tribute for Earl (see letter below).

Back to Dave McKenna, I had to write the City Paper and ask for equal time and space because of the erroneous and negative story written by him–my request was granted.

The paper granted me a whole page in “The Mail” section of the next edition to air my grievances.

The Washington Times would follow my tribute and salute with a Page One story on the trials and tribulations of Earl Lloyd’s journey through the NBA.  Leading up to the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend.  Red Auerbach and Earl would appear in a basketball forum at the Smithsonian Museum with NBA Commissioner David Stern.   Dick Heller would take over the lead and write about the Kids In Trouble, Inc and Inside Sports sponsored activities planned to honor Earl Lloyd in Alexandria and DC during NBA All-Star Weekend.  The NBA would usually shutdown any basketball activities not approved by them.

Several weeks before the game was to be played Dick and I met with city leaders in Alexandria and planned “Earl Lloyd Day” at the Charles Houston Recreation Center.  Vice-Mayor Bill Cleveland, Sam Jones, Sonny Hill, Bob Lanier, Al Attles, K. C. Jones and hundreds of kids from the city playgrounds would participate.  Later that evening a tribute would be held at the historic Bohemian Caverns Jazz Club in NW DC.  Jazz legend Najee would headline the tribute.  This would be the only NBA All-Star weekend activity that the late great Red Auerbach would participate in.

Sam Jones (NBA), Christie Winters-Scott (Round Ball Report and NCAA College Basketball Analyst), Andrew Dyer (Round Ball Report) and my wife Hattie had lunch with James Brown (Fox Sports) at Union Station. It was here James agreed to co-host the tribute with Sonny Hill.  He was a no-show, but the show went on.  A host of NBA players and former players that included Red Auerbach stopped by the Caverns that night to pay their respect to Earl Lloyd.  Despite hired assassins (NBA Insiders) to sabotage my efforts to honor Earl, the weekend activities were a success.

My former friend and the guy who hired me as a Nike rep John Phillips, scammed Kids In Trouble, Inc. out of a $34,000 donation (Frito Lays was the corporate sponsor) for the weekend activities, except for the scam it was a great weekend for Earl Lloyd.

The Washington Post published a front page story in the Style section of the newspaper following the Sunday game but barely mention that a local hometown boy had coordinated and hosted the weekend events honoring Earl Lloyd (I guess I must have been too local).  The sports pages of the newspaper were also no-shows and non-participants.

The NBA All-Star Game comes to Washington in 2001 fifty years after Earl Lloyd’s NBA debut in 1950. The newspaper headline read, “A Player Stands Tall”. 

I remember the same Washington Post publishing a Front Page One story on DC’s notorious drug dealer Rayford Edmonds.  I wrote the paper’s owner Donald Graham letting him know my displeasure with the story, citing the paper was promoting criminal activity in the black community, he disagreed.  The story promoted a DVD on Edmonds’ deadly reign of terror.  Edmonds left so many dead bodies behind during that era we still have no count—Page One?

I am reminded of an earlier quote by City Paper columnist Dave McKenna–famous last words,

“Lloyd, for whatever reason, never got his just due around his hometown through the years, and sadly he still isn’t likely to after this function”.

Guess who knows Earl Lloyd now?

*NBA HALL OF FAME *USA Today *Washington Post *New York Times *Los Angeles Times *Fox News *NBC *ABC *CBS *CNN *ESPN *Reuters News Agency *National Public Radio.

I wonder what words taste like when you have to eat them?

The news media gives us very little credit for living, but in death, for example; the Washington Post in their section of the paper devoted to the dead, now pretend that they knew Earl Lloyd while he lived.

Thanks to the late Red Auerbach and Washington Times sports columnist Dick Heller, Earl Lloyd was finally inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2003 as a Contributor—“I heard it though Grapevine”.

Earl Lloyd was inducted into the NBA Naismith Hall of Fame in 2003. Standing behind him is NBA Hall of Fame player Dave Bing (DC native).

The late Earl Lloyd said it best in an interview with former GT coach and former sports talk show host John Thompson on ESPN 980, in response to the mention of my name, he said, “Harold Bell may be controversial but I have yet to hear anyone call him a liar”.  Amen, RIP my man.