📍West Oakland, Oakland, California, USA
1943 – 1952“I was born in Monroe, Louisiana, where segregation and racist humiliation were part of daily life. My father, Charlie, refused to bow to it, and my parents decided they would not raise their sons there. When I was about nine, we moved north, first briefly to Detroit and then to West Oakland, California, where my father found work in the wartime shipyards. Oakland was not paradise; we lived in public housing and money was tight. But it was a fresh start, and my father's pride and refusal to be humiliated stayed with me. My mother, Katie, was the centre of our family. When I was twelve she became ill and we lost her, but her love and her expectations stayed with me. My father raised my brother Charlie and me alone, working hard and teaching us dignity. I was a tall, awkward boy and not much of an athlete at first. I was cut from my junior high team and barely made the junior varsity at McClymonds High School, but the coach, George Powles, believed in me and gave me a chance. I spent hours in the library, too, and I loved reading. I grew, learned to block shots and to read the game, and won a scholarship to the University of San Francisco, where we won two national championships. With the Boston Celtics I won eleven championships in thirteen seasons, became the first Black head coach in the NBA, and marched for civil rights. My father's courage and my mother's love made me who I was, and the awkward boy from West Oakland grew into a man who spoke for justice as forcefully as he played.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today