A pkjl
h
, 1993 • T he P ori land O bserver
P agi - B2
Magic Johnson Foundation Buoys
Minority Bank With $1 Million Deposit
Portland Trail Blazers’ Buck Williams
Teams Up With National Kidney Foundation
Portland T rail B lazers' A ll-Star
pow er forw ard Buck W illiam s has
team ed up w ith the N ational K idney
foundation, Inc. (NK F) as a national
celebrity spokesperson to step up the
fight against kidney disease.
“O ff the c o u rt, kidney disease has
affected my family, and our fam ily is
ju st one o f 20 m illion A m erican F am i­
lies w ho have to deal w ith kidney and
urinary D iseaseseveiyday,” W illiam s
said In 1992, W illiam s’ m other died
<W blC
M A G IC JOHNSON FOUNDATION IN C
Hi
pay to
4TWN INC
THE CfXfB O f
™
2
10002
1 0 0 0 .0 0 .0 0
O tR S NATIONAL BAN K
<zr 7/lftfïfw
\
OPM**
z
no 100
<X¿, n
at
-
DOLLARS
f c
•
_
O O O O I*O O O O O O O i OOOOOHI
people.
Founders national B ank o f Los
A ngeles (FN BLA ) began d oing busi­
ness as national bank on January 22,
1991. It acquired certain assets and
assum ed the deposits o f w hat h ad been
Founders Federal Savings an d Loan
A ssociation from the Resolution T rust
C orporation (RTC). T here are six
shareholders w ho w on all o f the issued
and outstanding com m oncapital stock
o f FNBLA w hich is a certified A frican
A m erican ow ned financial institution
“O ur m ission is to m ake a differ­
ence
in the com m unities we s e n e by
Bry son stated.
providing,
on a personalized basis,
T he m ission o f the foundation
quality
fin
an
c ial services th a t are
is to raise money as a public chanty
needed
by
th
e
consum er, sm all and
to fund H IV and AIDS organizations
m
edium
businesses
and professionals
specializing in education, prevention
located
in
our
m
arket
areas," said
an d c a r e g e a re d to w a rd s y o u n g
V incent M l Bryson, president
and C E O ofT h e M agic Johnson F oun­
dation, Inc. (M JF), announced that
the foundation has m ade an initial
deposit o f $1 m illion in C a lifo rn ia's
only A frican A m erican ow ned com ­
m ercial bank, th e F ounders N ational
Bank o f Los A ngeles
"M agic Johnson F oundation" is
com m itted to being actively involved
in all aspects o f its com m unity. W e
w ant to contribute to econom ic em ­
pow erm ent as well as the educational
em pow erm ent o f our com m unity,”
“ Magic
Johnson
Foundation " is
committed to
being actively
involved in all
aspects o f its
community. We
want to
contribute to
economic
empowerment
as well as the
educational
empowerment
o f our
community, ”
Bryson stated.
C arlton Jenkins, m anaging director
o f the bank
"B elieve me, a deposit such as
th is by the M agic Johnson Foundation
is very m uch welcom ed It w ill enable
us to continue to take an active role in
the rebuilding o f our com m unities
an d expand F ounders’ products and
services,” Jenkins added.
T he M agic Johnson Foundation
w as founded in D ecem ber, 1991 as a
national public charity by E a rn n John­
son, R. and is recognized u nder sec­
tion 501 (C) (3) o f the Internal Rev­
enue Code M em bers o f the B oard of
D ire c to rs in c lu d e, D ebbie A llen -
N ixon, A rsenio Hall, Earv in Johnson,
Jr., M ichael Jordan, Lon Rosen, Joe
Sm ith, A lonzo W allctte an d D enzel
W ashington.
Blazers, Z100 And Local Musicians Jam
For Boys And Girls Clubs Of Portland
o f chronic kidney failure.
"W e are th rilled to have Buck
W illiam s on board w ith the N ational
K idney F o u n d atio n ,” said D onald
W ilson, N K F C h airm an “ It’s so im ­
portant th at people like W illiam s are
w illing to becom e involved an d help
us reach the public.
"W illiam s is a very enthusiastic
individual, and w e’re looking forw ard
to his w orking on our aw areness cam ­
paigns, including a future public ser­
vice an n ouncem ent for television,
T he leading causes o f kidney failure
are h igh blood pressure and diabetes.
"H igh blood pressure is a silent
d ise a se -o n e that may not cause any
sy m p to m sat a ll- a n d A frican-A m eri­
cans need to be particularly are o f high
blood pressures," W ilson said. "They
tend to develop h igh blood pressure
m ore frequently, at an earlier age and
m ore severely th an w hites, an d to
suffer more com plications such as
chronic kidney disease,” he said
“ If th e re 's one th in g w e w ant
everyone
to learn, it’s to have your
plants.”
blood
pressure
checked regularly,' said
W hile 80,000 A m ericans die each
W
illiam
s.
"B
etter
screening an d ear-
year o f kidney diseases, m any kidney
licr
treatm
ent
can
improv
e every o n e 's
diseases are preventable or treatable.
W ilson said.
“ I’ve seen how kidney failure
affected my m other, and I w ant to
h elp a n y o n e w h o is e ith e r in a
s im ila r s itu a tio n o r w h o h a s a
c h a n c e to ta k e ste p s to p re v e n t
kidney failure,” W illiam s said "T he
N ational Kidney Foundation w orks
throughout the country to teach people
how to prevent kidney diseases, and
they have w onderful program s and
services for people on dialysis and
those w ho hav e received kidney tran s­
In support o f the P o rtlan d com ­
m u n ity , A m e r ic a n H o n d a a n d
Concord ia Col lege, i n cooperation w ith
the local H onda A utom obile D ealers,
arc sponsoring a Sum m er B asketball
League for the second year in a row.
T he league starts June 20th and
BY HAROLD BELL
O n Tuesday M arch 2, 1993, the
W ashington Post published a story,:
“ T hey D id A D em o litio n Job O n
B ig h o u sc ,” by sta ff w rite r Jo n ctt
H ow ard, about the forced resignation
of W inston-Salem State University leg­
endary basketball coach C larence “
G aines, w ho despite being the second
vviningest coach in college basketball
history, never received the respect he
G otta Love it” w ere w ritten, produced
an d arranged by John Sm ith o f Nu
S h o o z , R ic k W a r itz a n d T o n y
M artinez.
T his year m arks the fourth tim e
the Blazers have team ed w ith the Z 100
M orning Zoo and local recording a rt­
ists to produce a m usic cassette P ro­
ceeds from the sale o f th is y ear’s cas­
sette, and a special "B lazertow n” T-
shirt, produced by S tarter Sportsw ear,
will go tow ards ex panding activity
program s for the Boys and G irls Clubs
o f P ortland
PDX Sportsline On Paragon Cable
Hosted by John Phillips
Day
Monday
Tim e
8 30pm
Channel
30 & 38 (live)
* f 4 * • •
reer.
T he N K F, w hose w ork is funded
entirely by the public, helps more
A m ericans prevent, treat an d cure k id­
ney an d urinary tact diseases th an any
oth er voluntary agency'.
ends w ith an aw ards banquet in A u­
gust. Practices w ill be once a week. an d to help the kids b uild self-esteem.
S ign-up for the league is going on
G am es w ill be on Sunday s at Concordia
now.
Just go to the P eninsula G rade
College.
T he league is open to boys and School G ym on any M onday evening
girls from the 3rd to the 10th grades. betw een 6:30 an d 8:30pm and ask for
We encourage all skill levels to jo in Jam es Johnson.
lacks In Media... And
ighouse- Short Changed
crom left to right (back row) Blazers Terry Porter, Reggie Smith, Tracy Murray and Joe Wolf; (front row)
members of the Columbia Boys and Girls Club o f Portland who participated in the recording of
‘Blazertown, ” Tomeco Qualls, Clyde Bell, Elijah Jackson, Detoya Burrell and Janyell Miller.
“ B laz erto w n ” sh o w cases lead
vocals from H akim M uham m ed and
J M a c k o f th e P o r tla n d - b a s e d
rap group, U-Krew. Local R & B
m u s ic ia n A ndy S to k es p ro v id e d
lead vocals for the flip side, “Ya
G o tta L ove it.” w h ile M a rg a re t
L inn, V alerie D ay, T racy H arris,
along w ith m em bers o f the Blazer
D an c ers a n d C lyde B ell, D etoya
B urrell, Janyell M iller, E lijah Jack-
son and T om cco Q ualls o f the C olum ­
bia Boy s an d G irls Clubs sang backup
on both songs “Blazcrtovv n” and "You
treated by either dialysis treatm ents or
transplantation.
W illiam s has been a m em ber o f
the T rail B lazers since 1989. T his
year, he becam e one o f only 18 players
in NBA history to record 10,000 points
and 10,000 rebounds during his ca-
Summer Basketball League Sign-Up
O u r goal in this league is to have fun
deserved.
He only needed 49 m ore w ins to
beat out the late A dolph Rupp o f K en ­
tucky to becom e the all-tim e w iningest
N C A A coach.
O ne reason th is 70-ycar-old A fri­
can A m erican know n as B ig h o u sc-6
foot-6,275-pounds—nev cr received the
credit he so richly deserved, according
to D ean Sm ith o f the U niversity o f
N o rth C a ro lin a , co ach o f co lleg e
b ask etb all’s N O 1 ranked team , is
because o f an insensitive racist sports
m edia
Ms. H ow ard’s colum n not only
explained how B ighousc got the shaft
from his univ ersity fam ily-C hancellor
C leon T hom pson, Vice P resident o f
A cadem ic Affairs Dr. A lex Johnson,
and A thletic D irector Albert Roseboro-
-but ironically reflected a glarin g lack
o f respect for the Blacks m entioned in
L ast year, the B lazers produced
B ust-a-B ucket,” w hich w on the Port-
and M usic A w ard for Song o f the
fe a r T he T rail B lazers are now hit-
ing the airw aves and boom boxes
vith th is y e a r's cassette project fca-
u rin g two new songs, "B lazertow n”
ind “Y ou G otta Love It.”
B lazers Terry Porter. Joe Wolf,
rra c y M urray an d R eggie S m ith
earned w ith an assortm ent o f local
n u sician s to record the cassette w hich
vill benefit the Boys and G irls Clubs
)f M etropolitan Portland
chances o f av oiding kidney failure.
C hronic kidney failure is treated by
either dialysis treatm ent or kidney
failure.” C hronic kidney failure is
men from m edia an d academ ia to jo in
in a rountable discussion o f W hite
m ale attitudes tow ard Black m en O ne
o f the fiv e panelist included A ndrew
Hacker, the au thor o f the 1992 best­
seller, “Tw o N ations Black And White;
S ep arate, H o stile, U n e q u a l.” Mr.
H acker had th is to say about Black
m en and success: “ W e decide how
many o f you will be allow ed into w hich
positions and how m any is too many.
A nd we pick the Bill C osby’s, we pick
the C ollin P ow ell’s. W e do that, and
we are very careful about the n u m ­
the m edia in term s o f recognition, and
frequently robbed o f our identity. I
called Jim that very sam e day an d told
him how I felt. He apologized for the
oversight an d prom ised he w ould make
it up to me. T h at was three years ago
an d I h av en ’t heard from him since.
B u t tr u ly . I ’ u n d e r s ta n d h is
problem , an d I forgive.
I have been a m edia personality
(athletics, com m unity and sports jo u r­
nalist) for close to 35 years in this
town.
A s a pioneer in D C. radio and
television
sports shows I have set trends,
bers.”
Yet w hen you ask W hite editors not follow ed them . “ Inside Sports”
about slights and oversights tow ard w as my b rain child, my original tag
B lacks in m edia, they point out that Today you find T V an d radio shows,
we arc a little too sensitive. B ut n oth­ new spaper an d m agazines, using that
tag in w hole or part. B ut before I
ing could be further from the truth.
I was not identified in the colum n started an d in s id e Sports” radio show
as a sportscaster or talk show host, but in 1974 there w as "Inside” nothing.
I w as the first to w rite sports com ­
as a W ashington, D C. consultant.
C onsultant o fw h a t? T h is k ind o f non­ m entaries for radio an d T V shows. I
recognition put dow n o f Blacks by the conceiv ed the first sports m edia round
m edia brought back a painful memory table at W O O K Radio in 1974. T he
o f another interview w ith W R C-TV 4 p articip an ts were G erald Burk o f the
A fro -A m erican N ew spaper, C huck
anchorm an Jim Vance.
T
aylor the W ashington B ullets color
T he interview took place on a
analyst
for T V 20. an d the late Ron
N orthw est corner at 14th and V in
w h a t w a s th e n th e h e a r t o f Sutton and G reg M osso o f W HUR
Radio. In 19751 becam e the first Black
W ash in g to n ’s D rug Com bat Zone
Since his arrival from P h ilad el­ to host an d produce my own T V sports
phia in the late ‘6 0 ’s, Jim V ance and special on NBC affiliate W R C-TV 4
h er story’.
It w as the kind o f blatant insensi­ I had b ecom e—so I th o u g h ,—good th an k s to and assist and support o f Jim
tivity that is so often accorded Blacks friends We w orked together on nu­ Vance.
In 1980 I becam e the first sports
in the W hite m edia I had a serious m erous com m unity projects an d were
m
edia
personality to be cited by the
often
tennis
partners
w
hen
our
busy
problem w ith the w ith the disrespect
W
a
s
h
in
g to n ia n M a g a z in e as i t ’s
schedules
allow
ed
us
the
tim
e
T
his
show n m yself and my colleagues Earl
“W
ashingtonian
o f the Y ear.”
particular
interview
focused
on
the
M onroe, a W inston-Salem and NBA
Inside
Sports
has grow n from a
accidental
death
o
f
a
little
child
at
one
basketball legend, and Ted Blunt, a
W inston-Salem basketball A ll-A m eri­ of the com m unity program s in the local talk show to a talk show w ith a
can an d now a city councilm an in area, and M r V ance w anted some national flavor
Rad io a nd T V c ri t ic N orm an C had
W ilm ington, Delaw are, that I called "in sid e” inform ation on the how and
why o f th is tragedy He w ondered o f the W ashington Post says, “ Inside
the sports editor, G eorge Solom on
O ur conv ersation rem inded me of w hat the com m unity could do to avoid Sports is the best sports talk show I
hav e ever heard ”
w hat D ean Sm ith said about racist som ething sim ilar
W illiam Taaffe, form er radio and
T hat night on the six o ’clock
sp o rts ed ito rs, an d rein fo rced my
T
V
critic
for the W ashington Star and
aw areness o f our need to celebrate new s w hen Jim V ance introduced me
S
p
o
rts
Illu
stra ted M a g az in e says,
Black History M onth for 12 m onths o f as a "com m unity activist” all I could
"H
arold
B
ell’s
Inside Sports is easily
the year For W hite A m erica, p articu ­ do was shake my head
the
most
reflective
and provocative
W
hat
a
shallow
introduction
If
larly the W hite m edia (assisted by a
radio
sports
show
in
W ashington Its
G
eorge
M
ichael
had
done
that
I
w
ould
few h and picked house boys and girls)
guests
actually
say
som
ething T he
have
not
taken
it
personally.
But
Jim
refuses to accurately report on A frican
other
shows
arc
bland
by
co m p ari­
V
ance7
A
m
an
w
ho
blam
ed
his
co­
A m erican accom plishm ents and co n ­
son
”
caine
use
on
the
pressures
o
f
being
a
tributions to this country In the 1992
N ovem ber issue o f Essence M agazine,
an article tilled, "Why W hite Men Fear
Black M en ” Essence inv ited five w hitc
Harold Hell writes for The New-
black m an in a W hite m edia He cer­
tainly understood how we (B laekscol- Observer in Washington, D C.
leclively) have been short changed bv
Continued next week
. *
>• »Cs* f t' <
*