Watching ‘The Last Dance’ • Recalling ‘The Shot’ • Appreciating a Local Giant

FRIDAY SPORTS | Brad Sellers on MJ, ‘The Last Dance’ and ‘The Shot’ • Ted Ginn Sr., others recall Leonard “Big Jack” Jackson

By R. T. Andrews

We haven’t watched the entire ten episodes of ‘The Last Dance’ that have saved ESPN’s bacon, been a godsend for its advertisers, and delivered an unexpected bonanza to sports junkies thirsting for something fresher and more domestic than last century’s NBA all-star games or South Korean baseball.

In sports, as in life and broadcasting, chance favors the prepared. So some folk at the network are likely getting bonuses for having the ten episodes ready to run when the NBA season and playoffs were halted, and major league baseball delayed.

Ex-Plain Dealer sportswriter Branson Wright, already into the next phase of his career as a filmmaker, reached into his network of local sports figures this month to produce some interesting programming on the Last Dance of the Bulls and the Final Dance of a titanic community figure, Leonard Jackson, who died April 30.

Almost ten minutes focused on an unforgettable six seconds

Warrensville Heights mayor Brad Sellers was a standout area high school basketball player who went on to star at Ohio State University and become a professional basketball player. He joined Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in 1982 as their first round draft choice, the ninth overall pick that year. Seven feet tall but weighing only 210 pounds, Sellers is listed by basketball-reference.com as both a power forward and a small forward.

Sellers played three years with Jordan — fellow Clevelander Charles Oakley was a teammate for the first two — before moving on to play for other teams in a six-year NBA career that eventually took him overseas to play for teams in France, Greece, Israel, and Spain. He knew Jordan as both teammate and opponent.

While his comments about Jordan are interesting, they are mostly politic, which is to say non-controversial and not especially insightful. But it’s the last third of nearly 30 minute chat that sparkles. And that almost ten minutes is focused on an unforgettable six or so seconds.

As any Clevelander of a certain age knows, those twelve seconds were the last moments of the winner-take-all Game 5 of the playoff series between the Cavaliers and the Bulls. The game was May 7, 1989 at the old Richfield Coliseum and Sellers talks about it as if it were last week.

For the disappointed 21,000-plus fans in attendance that day — I was one of them — we had no idea history was being made. Sellers, who inbounded the ball to Jordan for the most important assist of his life, lets us inside his head, the huddle and the play in a remarkably captivating manner.

It was the moment, he says, “where the folklore became real”. You can watch the video interview here.

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Wright also does his bit to memorialize history by gathering three Cleveland sports figures to talk about former Cleveland Schools athletic commissioner Leonard Jackson. Coach Ted Ginn Sr.  and former scholastic stars Pierre Woods [Glenville HS, University of Michigan, New England Patriots] and Barb Turner [East Tech HS, 2002 state champs; UConn, 2003, 2004 national champs, and member, Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame]. The video, with all parties sheltered in place, reminds us of how important caring adults are to the development of young people.

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NONPROFIT THURSDAY | Black Philanthropy Summit, COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, Christians and Jews

Cleveland Foundation’s sixth biennial African American Philanthropy Summit going virtual 

Activist and business leader Valeisha Butterfield Jones will be featured speaker

The sixth biennial African American Philanthropy Summit, presented by the African American Philanthropy Committee of the Cleveland Foundation, is going virtual and will take place Saturday, May 30, from 1-3 p.m. This year’s Summit, “2020 Vision: Disrupting the Cultural Landscape Through Philanthropy,” will highlight philanthropy in our community and focus on how to raise the visibility of those who have the passion and drive to create meaningful change.

Valeisha Butterfield Jones

The 2020 African American Philanthropy Summit keynote will be delivered by Valeisha Butterfield Jones, business leader and co-founder and CEO of WEEN (Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network). Butterfield Jones will discuss how strategic giving can be a compass for transformational change during uncertain times.

Butterfield Jones’s career started at HBO Sports and has been centered at the intersections of technology, politics and entertainment. She formerly served as the National Youth Vote Director for President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the International Trade Administration, as the Executive Director of Rush Communications and as the National Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Clark Atlanta University graduate has been recognized for her work by Forbes Magazine, Essence Magazine’s Top 40 under 40, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, TheRoot100, and others. Butterfield Jones hosts the podcast “Off the Record with Valeisha” and is the author of The Girlprint, a career mentorship guidebook for young women.

Ronald V. Johnson, Jr.

Ellen Burts-Cooper, PhD

The African American Philanthropy Committee [AAPC] is co-chaired by Ellen Burts-Cooper, Ph.D., Senior Managing Partner, Improve Consulting and Training, and Ronald V. Johnson, Jr., Senior VP and Senior Counsel, KeyBank.

The AAPC was created as an advisory committee of the Cleveland Foundation in 1993 under the leadership of former Cleveland Foundation Executive Director and President Steven A. Minter. The committee launched the Summit in 2010 as a signature event to engage the African American community around charitable giving and to honor African American philanthropists in the region. The Committee also maintains a legacy fund at the Cleveland Foundation that supports a variety of nonprofit organizations within the African American community.

Honorary co-chairs for this year’s Summit are: Lonnie Coleman, President, Coleman Spohn Corporation; Donté Gibbs, Manager of Community Outreach, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History; Don Graves Jr., Head of Corporate Responsibility & Community Relations, KeyBank; Alex Johnson, Ph.D., President, Cuyahoga Community College; Connie Hill-Johnson, Owner & Managing Director, Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services, and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors;

Also serving as honorary co-chairs: LaRese Purnell, Managing Partner, CLE Consulting; Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, M.D., Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals; and Ronald B. Richard, President & CEO, Cleveland Foundation. 

The virtual Summit is free. Donations are encouraged to the African American Philanthropy Committee Legacy Fund, which supports the work of charitable organizations serving Greater Cleveland’s African American community. Proceeds from this event will be distributed by the committee to nonprofit organizations whose work is vital to helping those most impacted recover from effects of the current pandemic.

Register here by Friday, May 29. More details are available here.  A link to the Zoom presentation will be emailed to registrants.

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Criminal Justice and COVID-19

Just as any halfway astute student of American history knew it was premature to declare that the election of Barack Obama was proof that America had become colorblind, there was little likelihood that the novel coronavirus would be an equal opportunity disease. Many of the reasons this silent killer of a disease is far more lethal for people of color are rooted in pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and heart disease.

But not to be overlooked are the socioeconomic conditions under which too many black and brown people live, the consequences of hundreds of years of racism effected by private American citizens and public policies intentionally drawn to reinforce subjugation.

So we certainly are not surprised that the coronavirus pandemic has proven a blessing to the likes of certain Americans, like Frank Russo, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Michael Avenatti, and a host of other white complexioned, white collar criminals. And we are even less surprised that tens of thousands of people of color whose crimes were far less heinous than those of Russo et al remain incarcerated in Ohio and across the country, where they remain sitting ducks for COVID-19.

The Greater Cleveland YWCA is one of our community’s institutions working to eradicate many of the inequities baked into our society. Education and dialogue are among their tools.

All this month, under the rubric, “Go Live for Equity”, the Y has been offering weekly sessions that have highlighted racism as a public health crisis, and the impact of COVID-19 on our fragile democracy and our uneven system of public education.

The series wraps tomorrow from 10-11am with a fourth and final Zoom webinar session that will examine our criminal justice system under the glare of the COVID spotlight.

Register here. The webinar is free and open to the public.

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Rabbi to speak on “Faith in Cleveland” at S.E. United Church of Christ

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking in 1963, described Sunday at 11am as “the most segregated hour in America”. While there has been some change, it is still largely true today.

Cross-cultural exchanges do take place across our community, and we like to acknowledge those that appear especially genuine.

This Sunday, Rabbi Nosanchuk, senior rabbi of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, will speak at the worship service of South Euclid United Church of Christ [SEUCC]. He will speak on "Faith in Cleveland".

The service will be livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, and SEUCC’s homepage.

The Rev. Courtney Clayton Jenkins, senior pastor at SEUCC, spoke at an Anshe Chesed sabbath service in January of this year.

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Chickens and Consequences

The new normal is no escape from old problems

 By R. T. Andrews

 

Like many of you I have been self-quarantining for over two months.

It’s been quite an adjustment. I felt confined at first, unable to go places or do things that were routine.

But after a period of adjustment I feel in some ways liberated. I have more time than I used to. I’ve reconnected with some old friends. I have spent time reading and learning. I’ve pulled a lot of weeds in my yard.

I think the change in attitude and outlook began when I started to walk around my neighborhood. I’ve cultivated a fast walking pace since I was about 14, especially if I’m around other walkers.

But when I started walking my neighborhood with no schedule and no destination, I affected a very leisurely pace that allowed me to discover new things about my environment.

On one early evening stroll down a not too familiar street, I chanced suddenly upon a couple of chicken broods. I thought some of the chickens were loitering perilously close to the street, but since there was no traffic, perhaps they were enjoying the opportunity to roam.

I took the opportunity to engage a woman standing nearby on her porch who as I suspected  was one of the chicken keepers. I gently peppered her with questions about my newly discovered neighbors. (Apparently, we were both delighted for the opportunity to speak face to face — we stayed 20 feet apart)

She had a natural reply to my query about the chicks’ independence: “Oh, they always come home.”

Bingo!

I’m about as non-agrarian as they come, so my immediate reference was to Malcolm X: chickens come home to roost.

Malcolm famously used that phrase to reference the American propensity for violence when asked by a reporter to comment on the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.

That barnyard knowledge reverberated again this morning as I read a brief essay about why the United States is leading the world in so many negative categories with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic:

No other nation has endured as much death from Covid-19 nor nearly as a high a death rate as has the United States.

With 4.25 percent of the world population, America has the tragic distinction of accounting for about 30 percent of pandemic deaths so far.

And it is the only advanced nation where the death rate is still climbing. Three thousand deaths per day are anticipated by June 1st.

No other nation has loosened lockdowns and other social-distancing measures while deaths are increasing, as the U.S. is now doing.

No other advanced nation was as unprepared for the pandemic as was the U.S. …

No nation other than the U.S. has left it to subordinate units of government – states and cities – to buy ventilators and personal protective equipment. In no other nation have such sub-governments been forced to bid against each another.

In no other nation have experts in public health and emergency preparedness been pushed aside and replaced by political cronies like Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who in turn has been advised by Trump donors and Fox News celebrities.

In no other advanced nation has Covid-19 forced so many average citizens into poverty so quickly. The Urban Institute reports that more than 30 percent of American adults have had to reduce their spending on food.

The entire column, by former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich, is worth a read.

Elections — and history — have consequences. Our chickens have come home to roost.

CPT • Primary Reflections and School Integration

Cuyahoga Politics Today

Wrapping Up this Year's Primary

Face off on County's Outskirts

 By R. T. Andrews

Last month’s primary election was probably the longest Election “Day” in Ohio history. It took on a surreal aspect when Gov. DeWine, acting wisely if belatedly, on March 16 ordered the state’s health director to declare a health emergency necessitating the closing of the polls the following day, March 17.

After considerable confusion, Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced intentions to extend the election until June 2. A meddlesome General Assembly then exercised its authority and shortened the extension by five weeks. So voters had until April 28 to cast their primary ballots but with restrictions that all but eliminated in-person voting for most registered voters, who were forced to resort to Ohio’s unnecessarily cumbersome and slow two-step voting process.

 

Given the circumstances, and the fact that most candidates were out of money and voters were understandably preoccupied turnout was down for a Presidential election year primary. But the most enduring thing is always the results. And even for a ballot light on contests, there were some truly memorable results.

 

First, who would have imagined even two years ago that a Greater Cleveland  state representative district that is whiter than the state’s population [84.5% vs. 80%], less black than the state’s population [6.9% vs. 11], and with the smallest percentage of residents below the poverty line of the state’s 99 districts, would be heading to a November face-off between a first-term incumbent and a political newcomer who are both African American males?

That’s the case in State District 6, which serpentines around the eastern and southern edges of Cuyahoga County, capturing outer ring suburbs whose unifying characteristics are their racial homogeneity and their wealth. 

 

 

The District cannot be characterized as liberal  by any means. Comprised of fourteen communities before Phil Robinson broke through to win the seat two years ago in Ohio’s modest blue wave, the seat had been long been a Republican stronghold.

 

Robinson’s challenger this fall will be Shafron “Shay” Hawkins of Lyndhurst, who defeated veteran Highland Heights councilman Ed Hargate in the GOP primary. 

Phil Robinson, D-6, Solon

Shay Hawkins

This may turn out to be an unusually issues-based race. While the Plain Dealer endorsed Hargate, saying they were troubled by Hawkins’ vagueness on some issues, the challenger appears in fact to be possessed of very strong views, as might be expected of one with his impressive educational and policy credentials. He has undergraduate and law degrees from Ohio State and an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School. He’s a registered financial representative and a member of the Washington DC bar. Additionally, he has legislative experience, most notably as a key advisor to US Senator Tim Scott, R-NC, relative to the opportunity zone legislation.

 

Hawkins, 45, won the GOP nod with 54% of the vote, no doubt aided by the endorsement of the county party.

 

A second notable result was one on the Democratic side where Cleveland Municipal Court judge Emanuella Groves defeated three other candidates to win the nomination for an open seat on the county Court of Appeals. With three women in the race, including another African American municipal court judge, South Euclid’s Gayle Williams-Byers, the math did not seem particularly favorable for either black candidate. But Groves’ 42.7% share of the vote made the race a catwalk, as she more than doubled each of her rivals.

 

As a side note to this race, the lone male in the race, ran an offensive campaign, mailing campaign literature that targeted Williams-Byers in one piece and Denise Rini — until recently a Republican — in others. Carlin’s lit pieces referencing Williams-Byers ran alongside the devil’s strip of color-coded politics that have plagued this community for too long. We don’t want to call it racist, but it definitely stunk. We will be looking carefully at any future political efforts involving Carlin’s campaign honcho, Chris Glassburn, a longtime confidant of county exec Armond Budish.

 

A third primary race that captured our attention was the mid-twentieth century campaign mounted by Gabriella Rosalina in another contest for a county appellate judicial seat. This was also a three-woman, one man race, the other candidates being Lisa Forbes, who won handily with 56% of the vote, James W. Satola, and Alyson Monroe Brown.

 

Our intrigue in this race was watching how Rosalina’s father, Basil Russo, a former Cleveland city councilman who represented the Little Italy neighborhood back in the 1970s, spent so profusely and wildly to get his daughter the nomination.

 

Russo was council’s majority leader when he challenged Dennis Kucinich in the city’s nonpartisan mayoral primary in 1979. He came in third behind Kucinich and primary winner George Voinovich, who was also victorious that November. Russo later served as a county judge before leaving the bench to make money.

 

Thirty years after his departure from politics he tried to call in every marker he had. He secured endorsements for his daughter from George Forbes — who was last on the ballot 30+ years ago, losing his only citywide campaign to Mike White in the 1989 mayor’s race — and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who has at best a modest track record when it comes to her endorsements. Russo also got endorsements from a host of other long-forgotten or never-remembered public officials with zero ballot box office appeal. Even where one of the sitting council people might have helped the campaign — virtually every one of them endorsed her — the campaign failed to call upon them for any help.

 

Note we say Russo did all this work. In the few times we saw the candidate on the trail, we were underwhelmed. In fact, she never made it clear that she actually wanted the job.

 

In the end we can be relieved that the best candidate won. Many of us remember the last time a political pop — a beloved Congressman — supported a daughter for a judgeship. That did not end well.

 

Forbes will face off against incumbent appellate judge Ray Headen for the two years remaining on the unexpired term.

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The elusive search for equity in public schools 

Today is the 66^th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Brown vs. Board of Education, in 1954 and the unanimous 9-0 opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren that outlawed de jure segregation in public education.

 

FWIW, we think the people who are clamoring today to reopen businesses prematurely in the face of this pandemic, the vigilantes who hunt down joggers and hoodie-wearing Skittles eaters, and who echo every alternative fact uttered over at Fox News, seem like the spiritual descendants of those who opposed the Brown decision.

 

We’ll say more about the Brown decision this week when we review a book that discusses how the charter school movement adapted from the massive resistance movement that emerged in the South following the decisions in Brown I and II.

 

Kind of the way a virus mutates to counter a vaccine that restores health.

 

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