Welcome to the first Voices Behind Walls Newsletter for 2010, and the 9th newsletter overall. I started creating these on a monthly basis this past year,
posting our 1st in April 2009. From now on, because of missed attempts to prepare newsletters by the end of the month (this should be January's Newsletter), I've decided to que off of
two of my favorite magazines, Waxpoetics and Slam. Instead of subtitling these newsletters by month, they'll simply be identified
with a number. So this is No. 9, the "Nolan Richardson" issue.
Hitting the shelves February 9, 2010, through Amistad (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), was Forty Minutes of Hell; The Extraordinary Life
of Nolan Richardson, by Rus Bradburd. It wouldn't be until a few months prior that I was aware there would be a book written about one of El Paso's own. The
February 2008 issue of Slam should've clued me in. In that issue was an article by Bradburd titled "Run for the Border; "Why was Nolan Richardson, a Coaching
Pioneer and One of College Basketball's Biggest Winners, Coaching the Mexican National Team this Summer? Because He Had To." Here is a quote from that
article, "Richardson's hoops journey and list of "firsts" reads like a tour through the old south with a Howard Zinn history text: First African-American student
at the Mexican-American Bowie High School in El Paso. First African-American high school coach at a desegregated school in Texas. First African-American coach at
a desegregated Junior College in Texas. First African-American coach to win the Juco national championship. First African-American coach at University of Tulsa.
First African-American coach to win the NIT. First African-American coach at a major school in the old Confederacy."
I'm intrigued by the timing of the Slam article, the book Forty Minutes of Hell and the experiences that Coach Richardson's story is connected to. As a kid, I was
familiar with his name. By default, I credit that familiarity to being born and raised in El Paso, TX and spending a considerable amount of time on
basketball courts growing up. Eventually, whether you're paying attention or not, especially if El Paso's your home, his name is bound to pass by your conscious in big bold
letters.
"Timing feels like everything" and as I type out what I want to say here, I keep returning to that phrase. Half way into reading Forty Minutes of Hell, I think
about the time it took to become familiar with Richardson's story, which is just as much a chapter of El Paso's
story as well. In becoming familiar, Forty Minutes of Hell has had quite an impact on me in the past couple of weeks. I've always appreciated El Paso for what it is, and its interesting
watching news outlets allow themselves to engage in the topics this book addresses. Not too many people want to talk about what went on or goes on. And I
love the game of basketball, but can appreciate it even more when it's able to coexist in a much larger conversation.
Towards the end of January, I caught an article in the El Paso Times titled Biographer Finds Story of Racism in Famed Coach's El Paso Childhood | click here |. The article listed
several "Signings & Talks" that were going to take place that upcoming week. On February 5, 2010, Richardson spoke at UTEP's Natural Gas Center as part of the Black History Month
activities. I had no idea where the building was and with the rain coming down hoped it would be one of the first buildings I'd run into coming out of the parking area. Luckily I walked into former UTEP Miner basketball player and current radio
commentator, Steve Yellen, and he led us the rest of the way. The link below will direct you to a page that includes the final 10 minutes of Coach Richardson's discussion along with
pictures of Dr. Maceo Crenshaw Dailey, Jr., Rus Bradburd, Nolan Richardson and another individual involved with the introduction who's name I missed.
Nolan Richardson | February 5, 2010
UTEP Natural Gas Center | Video | Photos: click here
Check out the new book, browse the content included in this newsletter and pass the word. Also, in recognition of several other February releases, check out
the new record from Gil Scott-Heron, titled I'm New Here and the latest from Sade, Soldier of Love,
which will be noted in further detail next newsletter. Towards the end of the
page you will also find a BBC interview with Gil Scott-Heron along with a new
video for a track titled "Where Did the Night Go". Please also take some time to
listen to the poetry recording included below from VBW poet Gerardo titled
"Basketball Passion". At the Voices Behind Walls Audio Page you will also find a rap recording from Mike J, titled "Basketball" | click here |.
In conclusion and as quoted in the banner above, "If it is to be, it's up to me."
