The late Earl Lloyd, NBA pioneer, on racism in America

by Coach Poore

Waking up this morning and seeing the body cam footage of the Atlanta police officer shooting and killing Rayshard Brooks was sickening. When will it stop? Clearly he was drunk, passed out behind the wheel in a Wendy’s drive thru line and he shouldn’t have resisted arrest, but he shouldn’t have been shot and killed for it!!I grew up in a home with no racist views, feelings, biases, etc. As a matter of fact my father has told me a story of him in his early 20s (late 1950’s) as a construction foreman in Charlotte, NC and getting reprimanded by his boss for having a black co-worker ride in the front of the company work truck. I have been blessed to coach basketball at a historically black college and university for over 20 years. I became close friends with the first black player to ever play in the NBA, Earl Lloyd, and have been pushing for his legacy to be recognized through a statue in our Convocation Center and a documentary which will hopefully be out this fall. I truly loved the guy and told him so many times!! This photo will always be in my office!! I have coached hundreds of black players and have always had a black assistant coach since I received a funded position. Many of these players and coaches are my dearest friends to this day! Heck, I have been accused of not recruiting white players!! But the fact of the matter is, I don’t see color!! I see people!! We all must take ownership in what is going on!! We all must call out wrong doings and injustices!! We all must learn to love other human beings!! There will always be bad people out there, it’s our job to put them in their place!! #blacklivesmatter#beapartofchange