Speaker 1: This is Black History Month Inspirations, a seventy sixers Podcast
Speaker 1: Network miniseries, Part one made in Maywood. On a good day,
Speaker 1: you can get from Chicago to Maywood, Illinois in about
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes, just a straight shot west on two ninety
Speaker 1: from the Windy City. In a town less than three
Speaker 1: square miles in size, It has seventeen homes on the
Speaker 1: National Register of Historic Places. Incorporated in eighteen eighty one,
Speaker 1: Maywood was early on promoted as a delightful suburb with
Speaker 1: large and beautiful trees, high elevation, pure water, air free
Speaker 1: from dirt and smoke of factories, with every convenience of
Speaker 1: a great city. As stately and debonair as this description
Speaker 1: may sound, Maywood would begin to undergo drum attic change.
Speaker 1: A half century leader. The town was used as a
Speaker 1: base for the Illinois National Guard during the Second World War.
Speaker 1: More than half of the soldiers trained there never returned,
Speaker 1: and in the nineteen sixties, like so many other places
Speaker 1: around the country, both urban and suburban racial tensions brought
Speaker 1: an inflection point. Good Evening, I'm Harry Reasoner. Not quite
Speaker 1: two months ago, as we reported the President's Advisory Commission
Speaker 1: on Civil disorder warned that race hatred threatened to tear
Speaker 1: this country apart. Events this month have made the warning
Speaker 1: more imperative than before. In more than one hundred cities,
Speaker 1: violence broke out, forty persons died. Chairman Otto Kerner reads
Speaker 1: from the report, this is our basic conclusion. Our nation
Speaker 1: is moving toward two societies, one black, one white. Separate
Speaker 1: and unequal. Discrimination and segregations have long permeated much of
Speaker 1: American life. They now threatened the future of every amount.
Speaker 1: For Doc Rivers, life was still relatively new born in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one. Rivers remembers being obsessed with one thing
Speaker 1: during that time, basketball And Doc wasn't just obsessed with basketball.
Speaker 1: He was obsessed with a team, and in particular, a
Speaker 1: specific player on that team, My uncle Jim. Jim Brewer
Speaker 1: was from Maywood Providerwise now as I think eleven or
Speaker 1: twelve NBA player from one school, which is unbelievable, But
Speaker 1: Jim Brewer was the first. That was my dad's brother,
Speaker 1: and I watched every game that he played in high school.
Speaker 1: I was a second grader, third grader. I didn't miss
Speaker 1: a game. I didn't miss one of his high school
Speaker 1: basketball game from the time he was a sophomore until
Speaker 1: he was a senior graduated, they won state. Brewer was,
Speaker 1: as Rivers put it, a tough guy, a defensive player.
Speaker 1: More than anything, Brewer was a worker. I go to
Speaker 1: my grandmother's house. We called him Baba Brewer. He was
Speaker 1: out in the backyard playing or at the parks playing.
Speaker 1: I would ride my bike and go sit down and
Speaker 1: watch him play at the park. So I'm just used
Speaker 1: to work, you know, and you gotta do the preparation,
Speaker 1: you know, you got to go through the process and
Speaker 1: then you can have the parade. Brewer's focus left a
Speaker 1: lasting impression. I think that's what That's why I made
Speaker 1: it is because I saw him make it. I watched
Speaker 1: him work. I watched him in high school. I watched
Speaker 1: him go to University of Minnesota. He was the second
Speaker 1: pick in the draft. Doug Collins was the first pick
Speaker 1: that year and went to the Sixers. Jim Brewer went
Speaker 1: to the Cleveland Cavaliers. So I saw that happen and
Speaker 1: I knew you could make it. You know. It's funny.
Speaker 1: In my journey, I never thought I couldn't make it
Speaker 1: because I saw Jim Brewer make it. I thought that
Speaker 1: was a pivotal reason why I made it. Even though
Speaker 1: there was a ten year age gap between the two,
Speaker 1: Rivers and Brewer stayed close. After Brewer went pro, Doc
Speaker 1: would stay with his uncle from time to time when
Speaker 1: he was still in school. For a budding hoops head,
Speaker 1: the chance to work out with NBA players was priceless.
Speaker 1: We're in over time. They got a car. He can
Speaker 1: fire from long range. The guy on the Cavaliers that
Speaker 1: used to grab me and work out with me was
Speaker 1: Austin Carr. For whatever reason, he took a liking to me.
Speaker 1: And so you know, I'm in sixth grade and I'm
Speaker 1: working out with Austin Car, you know, which for me
Speaker 1: it was normal, you know, But now when I look back,
Speaker 1: that's abnormal. You don't get a chance to do that
Speaker 1: very often. And you know, it's it's cool, Like a
Speaker 1: lot of people don't know Austin. My son is named
Speaker 1: after Austin Carr, and his middle name is James, which
Speaker 1: is named after Jim Brewer. So that's the story. For
Speaker 1: as much as Brewer inspired Rivers on the court and
Speaker 1: helped him achieve his dream of making it to the NBA,
Speaker 1: Rivers also came to a far more powerful realization over
Speaker 1: time that while he was soaking in every shot, rebound
Speaker 1: and victory of his uncle's renowned high school career at
Speaker 1: Proviso East, there were bigger forces at play in the sixties.
Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty nine, when they won the state championship
Speaker 1: of Illinois, it was also the same year of the
Speaker 1: race riots at Proviserwise in Maywood. They brought in different speakers,
Speaker 1: they brought in different people. Nothing could stop the fighting.
Speaker 1: But in March of that year something changed and then
Speaker 1: Proviserwise goes down state and Wednesday state title. A Provisoist
Speaker 1: has won their first sever They stopped football battle and
Speaker 1: that was what stopped the riot. Finally, Brewer, at his night,
Speaker 1: he did indeed, and he led the team in scoring
Speaker 1: with seventeen fun Jim Brewer, you're asking me a while ago,
Speaker 1: how many points you got? Do You don't know how
Speaker 1: any points you got? Do you? No, you don't know
Speaker 1: how any rebounds you got? No, what would a score
Speaker 1: of the game. You're a member. All I wanted to
Speaker 1: do was win. What do you think you had to
Speaker 1: do with it? Also showed me the power of sports
Speaker 1: and basketball. But Jim Brewer the fact that he was
Speaker 1: my uncle and in my community showed me that I
Speaker 1: could do what he could do. Black History Month Inspirations
Speaker 1: continues at a moment. Hey, it's Brian Seltzer and here
Speaker 1: at the seventy six podcast Network, we strive to bring
Speaker 1: you sound content as much as we possibly can. Mondays,
Speaker 1: Leave a voicemail and listen to your calls two on
Speaker 1: five four zero three seven six three seven unmail Bag
Speaker 1: Mondays with myself and Lauren Rosen. Every other Tuesday it's
Speaker 1: co Check focusing on the Delaware Bluecoats, and every other Thursday,
Speaker 1: listen to Tom's Talks Tom mccas. On Fridays, it's the
Speaker 1: weekly Deep Dive with Divine Gibbons. And we're also really
Speaker 1: excited to be rolling out a brand new feed, The Scoop,
Speaker 1: a five minute update just about every day. All you
Speaker 1: gotta do search seventy six or Scoop wherever you get
Speaker 1: your pots to subscribe or follow. Thanks for listening and
Speaker 1: we'll talk to you soon. Now back to Black History
Speaker 1: Month Inspirations. Back in Maywood in the nineteen sixties, there
Speaker 1: was a store that became a gathering place for residence
Speaker 1: and passer by a like. It was called Nation Time
Speaker 1: Record Mart and Doc Rivers worked there growing up. That
Speaker 1: was the first black owns record store in Chicago. It
Speaker 1: was back in the day with albums in forty fives
Speaker 1: where you had to you know, customers would come in
Speaker 1: and that note the name of songs, and I would
Speaker 1: work after school and you have to put them song
Speaker 1: on and play it and get it wrong and keep
Speaker 1: guessing until you found it and then you would give
Speaker 1: it to him in a little album sleeve and they
Speaker 1: would walk off. Nation Time wasn't just a first black
Speaker 1: owned record store in Chicago. It was owned by Grady Rivers,
Speaker 1: Doc's father. For me, it gave me a musical background
Speaker 1: that you couldn't get into school. You know, everyday, different music,
Speaker 1: different genres. You learned it all. It also allowed you
Speaker 1: to meet everyone because everyone just come in and socialized
Speaker 1: and hang out in the record store because we played
Speaker 1: live music or music you know, on speakers, and back
Speaker 1: then couldn't get that many places, so it was a
Speaker 1: special place. Record store owner was just one of the
Speaker 1: many hats Grady Rivers war. He was also the baseball coach,
Speaker 1: the football coach, the basketball coach. He was you know,
Speaker 1: the therapist for the town. But first and foremost, Grady
Speaker 1: Rivers was a Chicago policeman. I can't tell you that
Speaker 1: how many times I came home from school and there
Speaker 1: was a mom and some child sitting on our couch
Speaker 1: and my dad give them counseling on you know, what
Speaker 1: they need to do to not get in trouble and
Speaker 1: to move on in life. Grady Rivers wasn't just a policeman.
Speaker 1: He was a community policeman. He cared and looked out
Speaker 1: for others, not because it was his job, but because
Speaker 1: that was the type of person he was at his core.
Speaker 1: But Dad at this thing about saying hi to everybody,
Speaker 1: even if they don't speak back. It's amazing I do it.
Speaker 1: I've learned that. My kids used to laugh at me, like,
Speaker 1: you speak to everybody as well. I'm walking by a
Speaker 1: human being, speak to him, let them know you're alive,
Speaker 1: and show them you know by saying hello. Love. My
Speaker 1: dad was a big believer in communication, and he was
Speaker 1: very consistent as a person. And so those are the
Speaker 1: probably the traits that I've learned from my dad the most.
Speaker 1: For as much as Jim Brewer was a star in
Speaker 1: the Maywood community, Grady Rivers was a town pillar. While
Speaker 1: Rivers always seem to have time for others, he was
Speaker 1: also there for his two sons. My dad communicated directly.
Speaker 1: He was a big reader. I think I've heard every
Speaker 1: saying verse in the universe because of that. You know,
Speaker 1: one of his big things was finished the race. He
Speaker 1: always told me that finished the race. I don't care
Speaker 1: what you start. When you're in the middle of a
Speaker 1: race and you get the lead, that's the worst place
Speaker 1: to be sometimes because then you slow down, or you
Speaker 1: look back, or you want to celebrate, or when you fall,
Speaker 1: you have to get up. His whole thing is it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter if you're leading or behind. Run hard, run
Speaker 1: through the finish line, and finish the race. From an
Speaker 1: early age, Doc understood the perilous nature of his dad's profession.
Speaker 1: It was hard. I think the anxiety for me with
Speaker 1: my dad being a police officer. You know they have
Speaker 1: the three shifts, but that midnight shift, you know that
Speaker 1: twelve to eight. As a little child, I couldn't stand
Speaker 1: when he worked that shift. I was worried. I didn't
Speaker 1: sleep well knowing that you know he's out at night.
Speaker 1: You know, for every little kid, the dark time. The
Speaker 1: nighttime is the toughest time, and my dad was out
Speaker 1: of the house and god, you know, for three or
Speaker 1: four months a year doing that time period, doing those shifts,
Speaker 1: and that that's when an anxiety hit for me. I
Speaker 1: was very relieved when my dad retired. I felt like
Speaker 1: I had made it to the NBA and I could
Speaker 1: help him retire as well. But he didn't stop doing
Speaker 1: all the other stuff. You know, when he retired from
Speaker 1: being a police officer, he still held the same thing
Speaker 1: in the community. And this is why a community policing,
Speaker 1: to me, is so important. Everyone knew my dad. Everyone
Speaker 1: in Maywood and Chicago knew my dad. Everyone still came
Speaker 1: to him for help. And so the good news was
Speaker 1: he was now chasing criminals, I guess anymore, he was
Speaker 1: just helping people. And so I thought his work after
Speaker 1: he retired from being a police officer was even grander.
Speaker 1: He could do it more, he could do it more
Speaker 1: full time, and I thought it was great for her
Speaker 1: little time. In November two thousand and seven, just one
Speaker 1: game into Doc's fourth season as head coach of the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics, Grady Rivers passed away. Later that year, the
Speaker 1: Celtics won what to this day is their most recent title,
Speaker 1: and since then, Doc has gone on to become one
Speaker 1: of the most successful coaches in NBA history and respected
Speaker 1: voices in all of sports. He carries the memory and
Speaker 1: inspiration of his father close. My dad died before Barack
Speaker 1: Obama became president. My dad was a big breeder and
Speaker 1: believed in everything, but he also had this one saying that, boy,
Speaker 1: you can be anything in life except for president. He
Speaker 1: always would say that, you know, you can be anything
Speaker 1: in life except for president. And when Barack won, the
Speaker 1: first thing me and my brother actually got on the
Speaker 1: phone and the first thing we thought was about our dad.
Speaker 1: Man dead should be here right now. He would be
Speaker 1: so happy. He would be so proud for me. As
Speaker 1: far as the things that I've been involved in, it's
Speaker 1: all from my dad and my mom. They always told
Speaker 1: us to stay involved. You know, I think growing up
Speaker 1: in Chicago, Chicago such a political city, that is probably natural.
Speaker 1: But it's definitely due to my dad that I've been
Speaker 1: involved and believed that you try to speak your truths
Speaker 1: as much as possible. It's a mindset and a way
Speaker 1: of life that Rivers has owned. Earning the praise of players, peers, executives,
Speaker 1: even leaders far beyond the NBA for his courage to
Speaker 1: speak up and speak out and this nation needed healing
Speaker 1: and Doc Rivers, the basketball coach, joking back tears when
Speaker 1: he said, we're the ones getting killed. We're the ones
Speaker 1: getting shot. We've been hung. It's amazing why we keep
Speaker 1: loving this country and this country does not love us back.
Speaker 1: I think about that. I think about what it takes
Speaker 1: for a black person to love America. That is a
Speaker 1: deep love for this country that has for far too long,
Speaker 1: I've never been recognized. I just do. I do the
Speaker 1: things that I think we should do. Honestly, Sometimes I
Speaker 1: get that right, sometimes I don't. I'm a human being. Obviously.
Speaker 1: When you're sitting at home and you're listening to Joe
Speaker 1: Biden and he mentions your name, it brings pride and
Speaker 1: makes you proud. I don't do it for that. I
Speaker 1: can tell you that I do it because I think
Speaker 1: it's the right thing to do. I want this to
Speaker 1: be a great place. I want everybody to be equal
Speaker 1: or have an equal opportunity, and I want people who
Speaker 1: have an equal opportunity to understand giving someone else an
Speaker 1: equal opportunity is not taking anything from you. It's just
Speaker 1: given everyone the same opportunities that you had. I think
Speaker 1: that's important for people to know so they don't feel threatened.
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's trying to take anything. I think
Speaker 1: people want the same thing that everyone gets. Black History
Speaker 1: Month Inspirations is a production of the seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: podcast network. Our voiceover artist is Nick McCain. Production support
Speaker 1: from Doc Rivers and gar Rivers. Music courtesy of APM Music. Look.
Speaker 1: Traditional installments in this mini series throughout Black History Month,
Speaker 1: with future episodes profiling Danny Greene, Mike Scott, and Elton
Speaker 1: Burn