This month will be the 62nd anniversary of the March on Washington that took place on Aug. 28, 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

There were a number of people that attended that great March on Washington at personal risk to their own careers. One was someone who passed on July 31, 2022. I speak of none other than the champion of champions, William Felton Russell, born Feb. 12, 1934.

Bill Russell is reported to have said, “When I heard the speech, I had no idea that the words of that speech would last so long as they did.” In 2011, he received the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, one of the highest awards a civilian can receive. He said, “It never occurred to me it would be quoted 50 years later.” No wonder President Barack Obama said at the Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony about Bill Russell, describing the Hall of Famer as, “someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men.”

It is better now than it was then, but when Bill Russell took this chance of standing with Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., he was in the middle of his remarkable career – he had five championships at the time and three Most Valuable Player awards on his resume. His presence told the on looking public these problems were for real, and people who are already a success are willing to risk everything to bring it to light. He went on to play 13 years in the league, helped the Boston Celtics win 11 championships, (eight of them in a row, that’s true domination), won 5 Most Valuable Player awards, 12 All-Star selections and an Olympic gold medal in 1956. In 1966 – he ended up becoming the first black head coach in NBA history. He was what they called a Player – coach; he could call his own number to go in and out of the game. This was not just history for the NBA, a Black head coach was history for all four major sports teams in the United States at the time.

Many people did not know that he helped open the first integrated basketball camp in Mississippi. The story goes that Bill Russell was angry over Medgar Evers being murdered in his own driveway on June 12, 1963. Then, Bill was invited to open this historic basketball camp. I don’t know if he knew that the Ku Klux Klan, (including the man that was reported to have kill Medgar Evers), would be there watching him. He had to have armed security guards at his motel room just so he could sleep at night and finish the camp.

The March On Washington was two months after his experience in Mississippi and the death of Medgar Evers. He took a chance just by going to the March. Due to his fame and work, he was invited at a meeting the night before the March by Dr. King to stand beside him at the March the next day. Bill Russell declined the invitation he said, “because the organizers had worked for years to get this together, and I had not done anything.” I say he did do something; he showed up!!

Can you imagine being a star in the NBA during the Jim Crow era? There were actual laws saying that people could be denied places to eat, sleep, an education, the right to vote, and employment based only on the color of their skin. Bill Russell was a giant among men. Very rarely do you hear anyone mention the story of Bill Russell leading a protest refusing to play in 1961 because several players on the Boston Celtics were refused service at the Phoenix Hotel coffee shop in Lexington, Kentucky. The Celtics were in town to play the St. Louis Hawks at the time, (The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968). Russell told the other Black Celtics, “I don’t think we ought to play,” and they did not play. Neither did the Black players on the Hawks play in that game. They all protested that kind of treatment. It should not be forgotten that in 1964, the Celtics were the first team to ever start five African- American players. While Coach Red Auerbach and the Celtics were putting their best available team on the floor, they did not realize at the time, they were creating NBA history.

One of his greatest accomplishments in my mind was not even about him. It was called the Cleveland Summit in 1967. It was a meeting of influential Black athletes joining together in their support of Boxing Champion of the World, Muhammad Ali.

Ali at the time was facing intense backlash over his refusal to be drafted for the Vietnam War. He was facing jail time and being stripped of all his accomplishments and boxing titles, as well as losing a great deal of money, he still refused to sign. Interesting to me was some of the men standing with him had or were serving in the military, but they were willing to risk it all for someone else to have a choice. 12 Black men met in Cleveland, Ohio, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, (historic running back for the Cleveland Browns), seven other football players, majority Cleveland Browns players, the Mayor Carl Stokes, (1st black mayor of Cleveland, Ohio), and two NBA players. One was Lew Alcindor, who changed his name in 1971 to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers super-star and Bill Russell. They all risked everything their careers had gotten them for someone else.

Bill Russell wrote in 1960 of the events, “To be part of this is one of the most significant things that can happen,” he went on to say, it is the first-time in four centuries that the American Negro can create his own history.”

Who will take his place in this generation? He is gone to his reward. Who will be the next to pick up the mantle and fight for justice?

Last week, I met several women of the Ohio Valley, some white, some black, some Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, who have stepped up and picked up the mantle of heroes. Since the flood in June every weekday they have been loading and unloading products to help flood victims. Some of them retired, some still working eight-hour days or nights, some of them dealing with flood and health challenges of their own. Yet they kept showing up to help others. In the future, we hope to share some of their stories. God bless them and God Bless America.

Editor’s note: Suff. Bishop Darrell Cummings is pastor of Bethlehem Apostolic Temple and a monthly contributor to The Times Leader. His column appears in this position, usually occupied by the column of Managing Editor Jennifer Compston-Strough, this week due to staff vacations.