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FREEHOLD, N.J. — They pulled weeds on a June Saturday. They cleared fallen trees and scooped up debris. They revealed a nondescript burial ground where Civil War veterans have rested for 156 years. The honored dead, who fought to end the enslavement of black Americans, were black themselves.

The June 26 cleanup at the Squirrel Town Historical Cemetery in the town of Freehold drew a multiracial crowd of more than 50 people, intent on making the rundown burial ground a landmark instead of an afterthought lost to time. Nearly three dozen men lay underground, forgotten.

Bethel AME Church in Freehold owns the property, which dates back to a Union victory in May 1865.

“It’s history for not only the church, but also for the town, for people of color, and the United States,” said Rev. Ronald Sparks, the church’s pastor. “It’s important for the descendants that their families be recognized, and that’s what we want to do. It’s time to tell our story and get that story out there.”

The graveyard rests on a hill where the unpaved Illene Way and Old Monmouth Road meet, just off Route 522. The area known as Squirrel Town was once the home of segregated blacks who worked the land on nearby farms.

While it’s designated an historic site, it does not register on GPS and is not visible from any main road. The church had lacked the funds and manpower to properly maintain it, Rev. Sparks told Zenger, but the church’s trustees launched a social media campaign to fix that, soliciting support and setting a date to clean up the two-acre property.

Volunteers showed up after a local news broadcast featured the effort. Some brought landscaping equipment to clear away the brush.

“It was time to take care of it because honored veterans shouldn’t be laid to rest in such a place,” said Robert “Babe” Warrington, a church trustee.

“We used to solicit help from the Boy Scouts, and even some inmates from jail have cleaned things up in the past. But it’s in a remote spot and it’s hard to get equipment up there. It got to the point where we needed to do something. The response was tremendous.”

After Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, approximately 190,000 black men served as soldiers for the Union Army. Another 19,000 joined the Navy. All were part of the United States Colored Troops, which grew to 175 regiments within the U.S. Army. Those units, church members say, validated abolitionist Fredrick Douglass’s proclamation that “he who would be free must himself strike the blow.”

An estimated 1,185 black soldiers and sailors came from New Jersey, according to William Gladstone’s book “United States Colored Troops, 1863-1867.”

Historical records show those regiments won victories on the battlefield. About 40,000 black soldiers died from either battle or disease before the Civil War ended in 1865 — a death rate about 35 percent higher than white Union troops.

Knowledge of their sacrifices remains sparse, even in Freehold.

“It’s important to know that even though there were segregated troops, these black fallen soldiers paid the ultimate price for the freedom that we have now,” said Warrington. “Unfortunately, things like this don’t get taught in the school system.”

“I don’t think a lot of the school systems around here know about Squirrel Town or other black cemeteries that exist,” he said. “I grew up in Freehold and didn’t know anything about Squirrel Town until I joined the church in 1989, and I’m 68 years old.”

The Bethel AME Church is also working on an updated list of those buried in Squirrel Town.

Among the names is Cpl. David Limehouse of Company A in the 127th United States Colored Troops. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left hand while seeing heavy action at the “Siege of Petersburg” in Petersburg, Virginia, where a nine-month battle ended with a victory. He died in 1896.

Lewis Conover, who fought in Company rests near him. Conover served from August 1864 to September 1865 and saw action in the First Battle at Deep Bottom Virginia, also part of the Siege of Petersburg. Conover was discharged at Brazos, Texas before moving to Freehold, where he died in 1910 at the age of 65.

Alongside the Civil War heroes are buried black veterans who served their country in other armed conflicts. Pvt. James William died while serving in a segregated unit during World War I. American forces were segregated until after World War II.

Freehold’s black pioneers are buried here, too, including Alex and Julia Hawkins, whose children served in World War II.

“A lot of our history is forgotten. It’s swept under the rug,” said Tracey Reason, their great-great-granddaughter. “History likes not to give homage to black people. But these lives and legacies are too important to be forgotten.”

Reason’s niece Kelly Guerra, another Bethel AME Church member, said she is scouring the Internet and archives to gather names of others buried in the cemetery.

Guerra told Zenger she plans to send the list of names to the Veterans Administration, which provides free headstones in recognition of each veteran’s service. “I’m glad people are finding out about the history of Squirrel Town and about Bethel and their own people,” she said. “We’re also connecting family members with history they never knew.”

Capt. Robert C. Meyer of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, which helps clean up and restore grave markers, attended the June cleanup and put “Grand Army of the Republic” plaques on or alongside broken and unreadable headstones.

“Honoring any veteran by clearing an unmarked, overgrown grave is very important,” Meyer said. “It adds to the community when you clean up these kinds of areas and bring them back to light. We still need to get some headstones out there, some new signage and other things that need to be addressed. The veterans buried there deserve that.”

About a half-acre of the property still needs clearing.

Long-term plans call for a fence, new signs, crosses and a flag pole to make the cemetery easier to locate. Neighbors whose property borders the cemetery support all of it.

“Since our cleanup we’ve gotten a lot of calls and a lot of interest in the cemetery,” Rev. Sparks said. “It’s obviously important to people, especially when you’re talking about civil war soldiers and the history of families in this area. This is a predominantly white county. But people both black and white want to know the story.”

The church plans a celebration of the restoration on Veterans Day in November.

“We want to hold ceremonies there on Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Juneteenth,” Rev. Sparks said. “These will be annual events that will help us tell the story so young people can understand the history they may or may not learn in school.”

“We want to be a historical site where when people visit Freehold — this is a stopping place — as well as the original church. It’s not just our church history and New Jersey history. it’s U.S. history.”

(Edited by Alex Willemyns and Hugh Dougherty)

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SYDNEY — As Sydney’s iconic Sirius building is transformed from social housing into multi-million dollar apartments, the New South Wales government has revealed where money from the sale of the harborside icon is going.

The building, at the edge of Sydney Harbor, was sold to private developers in 2019 for AU$150 million ($111.3 million) in the face of a public campaign against removing existing residents.

State Housing Minister Melinda Pavey said on July 3 that 19 regional and suburban areas around New South Wales would benefit from new social housing development approvals.

“The proceeds of the sale of the Sirius Building have funded the construction of over 330 new social housing dwellings throughout NSW,” she said.

“A total of (AU)$150 million is being injected directly into modern social housing for around 630 people, who are some of the most vulnerable in our community.”

Sirius was built in the 1970s to provide 79 apartments for low-income public housing tenants displaced from Sydney’s historic Rocks area.

While the brutalist style of raw concrete and little extraneous detail isn’t always popular outside architecture circles, the building is a familiar landmark to anyone crossing the Sydney Harbor bridge.

For residents inside its distinctive form of stepped boxes, there are spectacular views of Sydney Harbor and the opera house as well as proximity to the city.

But as Sydney’s property values skyrocketed, the government argued the now extremely valuable harborside site could be sold to fund more social housing elsewhere.

Pavey said more than 38 new social homes have already been built with the Sirius funds with another 300 on the way, addressing the social housing gap in regional New South Wales towns such as Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Gosford.

The largest projects are in Warwick Farm and St Marys (52 and 44) western suburbs of Sydney, Gosford (41) north of Sydney and Tweed Heads (40) south of Gold Coast.

Meanwhile, the Sirius developers are now advertising for buyers for the top end apartments, with prices of up to AU$12 million dollars ($8.9 million). One of the ads in a Sydney-based financial publication was widely criticized by sympathizers of the former social housing residents kicked out of the building, and defenders of the building.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said the approval of the refurbishment and restoration of the Sirius Building would create hundreds of jobs and better public spaces in The Rocks.

“It will also establish a new public forecourt to provide enhanced community access between Cumberland Street and Gloucester Walk, add new street lighting to improve safety and plant more than 75 new trees which will add to the beauty of The Rocks (at Sydney Harbor),” Stokes said.

(Edited by Vaibhav Pawar and Krishna Kakani. Map by Urvashi Makwana)

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WASHINGTON — Ray McFarland and his wife, Leslie, have mastered the art of pivoting. They have “remixed” the business model of their 21st Century Expo Group three times since 2001. When 9/11, the 2008 stock market crash and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic struck, the McFarlands altered their company to change with the times.

That’s just one of many lessons they’ve passed on to their daughter, Iman. Though she is a talented basketball player who could have played in the WNBA, she wanted to be a doctor. But her father saw a corporate superstar within. She is now chief operating officer and general manager of The Campus DMV, an athletic training and media production conglomerate that she co-owns with her parents.

Based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Capitol Heights, Maryland, the minority-owned business has positioned itself as a multifaceted academic, athletic and wellness facility. The new enterprise is building a full TV studio and production facility to accompany a sports complex that features a state-of-the-art sound stage.

If Tyler Perry Studios merged with an IMG Sports training facility, that would describe the direction this family-owned conglomerate has pivoted to this time.

As a national champion basketball player at the University of North Carolina, Iman was projected to be one of the top players selected in the WNBA draft. However, the former All-American chose graduate school to prepare for her role in running the family business on campus.

“It was never about playing pro basketball for me,” Iman said. “I wanted to play college basketball at the highest level, hopefully for free.”

Her parents coached and guided her through their version of business school. Growing up in the family business, she saw firsthand what it was like to struggle. Their recovery from the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, and the financial hardships of 2008 led to a corporate resilience that served as a blueprint for survival during the pandemic.

“Once she decided that she wanted to join the company, we encouraged her to work for other companies in the industry to learn things,” Leslie said.  “She brought back ideas to us that helped make us a better company.”

Like many entrepreneurs who became innovative during the height of the pandemic, Iman’s parents pivoted to remain solvent so that she could inherit the family business.  21st Century Expo Group’s specialty was in event productions. The company had been successful in trade shows and displays and set-ups at conventions, expos and other events around the country. However, as the company pivoted once again, it diversified — and Iman’s ascent became apparent.

“Once the pandemic hit and there were no more trade shows, our company faced a hard pause,” Iman said. “My father, who is very much a visionary, figured out how to empty out our 40,000-square-foot warehouse that held 30 years’ worth of trade show equipment and turn it into a facility like no other.”

As a general services contractor in the trade show industry, 21st Century Expo had been producing more than 120 events annually with many high-profile clients, including Google, Intel, McDonald’s, Major League Baseball and Time Warner.

When lockdowns began, the events industry suffered. Without trade shows, concert, and corporate events, there was no revenue stream. Employees were furloughed.

But while the lights were out, the family made a bold bet to remake their company.

“When all of your clients cancel all of your trade shows for the rest of the year in the first quarter, we knew there was an immediate shift in gears that needed to take place,” Ray said.  “Our intent was to first survive the pandemic and figure out what resources we had available to us that could be converted in the lowest amount of time and for the least amount of money.”

The first major project was transitioning the first of the company’s three leased warehouses into the athletic training and competition facility. Three basketball courts, bleachers and a youth boxing ring became a training ground for youth basketball teams. Future Olympic hopefuls replaced the equipment the company had been using at live events.

The facility now serves as home for several nationally ranked AAU basketball programs, including one sponsored by Kevin Durant of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, and will host a women’s semi-professional basketball league this fall.

Another warehouse in the complex has been converted into a state-of-the-art soundstage and practice studio for bands. Many of the area’s local “go-go” bands use the private setting to stay sharp during late weeknight practice sessions. With establishments beginning to loosen COVID-19 restrictions, these bands have resumed with mini concerts playing the “official music” of D.C. throughout the area.

“There were bands that had been practicing in their basements virtually, and we know that isn’t the best way to build a sound,” Iman said.  “We partnered with another black-owned business who had the engineering technology in place, so we flipped the space in a matter of a few days.”

Iman has followed in her father’s footsteps when it comes to business acumen. After earning an MBA from Howard University, she developed a proprietary online software for staff and clients that allows them to process orders more efficiently and reduce administrative costs. That helped spawn the development and expansion of the family’s empire, with Iman becoming chief operating officer of her own company at age 29.

Iman is also inspired and influenced by her mother. Leslie is a Howard University basketball hall-of-famer who also played volleyball from 1974-1977. As a child, Iman remembers watching her mother compete in the National Senior Games Association. A more lasting impression was watching her mother operate as a successful minority businesswoman in a male-dominated industry.

“My mom is an absolute baddy,” Iman said. “She has been fighting for us to keep the doors open every single day. I’m in awe of her. She empowers me.”

(Edited by Matthew B. Hall and Judith Isacoff)

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WASHINGTON — Fired African American election officials in Georgia have backed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s move to sue the state over new voting laws Democrats have compared to Jim Crow.

Democratic elections board members told Zenger that they were fired as soon as Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed a new law that he said was about “election integrity,” but which opponents have called racial voter suppression.

Garland announced last week that the U.S. Department of Justice was bringing a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Election Integrity Bill.

It contains a series of measures passed by the state House and Senate and signed into law by Kemp on March 25, and which was originally known as Senate Bill (SB) 202.

Among its most high-profile measures are a ban on distributing water to voters waiting in line and stripping Georgia’s secretary of state of many of the office’s powers to oversee elections.

The current secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, certified Joseph R. Biden’s narrow win the November presidential election in the face of claims from then-President Donald J. Trump and his supporters of widespread fraud, none of which have been proven in court.

Democrats say the legislation was prompted by those fraud claims and by racial animus after a record turnout in the state by African American voters, thanks to intensive organizing by Stacey Abrams, the party’s failed 2018 gubernatorial candidate. Biden called the act “the new Jim Crow.”

Republicans, including Kemp, say the Jim Crow claims are a smear and that the act is intended to “make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”

Another provision hands control of local boards of election to county commissioners, instead of members being appointed by both parties. It is the part of the act which has had the most immediate effect.

A series of African American elections officials have told Zenger they were fired from local elections boards as soon as the law came into force, and said they believe they were purged for their race and their party affiliation.

“I was the newly elected chair of the Spalding County Board of Elections and I was removed without cause,” said Vera McIntosh, 80, who had served on the board since 2019. McIntosh said she lost her job as soon as Kemp signed the law but did not learn about her removal until the board’s next meeting on April 21.

Largely rural Spalding County, population 64,073, in west central Georgia, voted for Trump 59.9 percent to 39.1 percent.

“The board was very non-partisan with two members appointed by the Democrats, two appointed by the Republicans and then the four would select the chair,” she said.

“I think what has happened to me is absolutely against my constitutional rights. We tried to function as a non-partisan group. We tried to do the right thing,” said McIntosh, adding that she and other elections officials joined meetings via Zoom to get through the pandemic.

In addition to McIntosh, other Georgia elections officials who have been removed include Helen Butler, who was one of the five members of the Morgan County Board of Elections for more than a decade, said she had been targeted.

Butler, 72, an African American appointed by the Democratic Party to the role, told how she was removed as soon as the new law allowed the county commission to replace its members.

The 19,276-population county in northeast Georgia voted for Trump 70.3 to 28.6 for Biden.

“First they removed my entire board, that had two Blacks and three whites,” Butler said.

“Then they brought back the chairman and one Black. So now there are four whites and one black on the board. Because of SB 202 you can only remove four people at a time.”

Also removed from the board was Avery Jackson, another African American Democratic appointee.

Butler is the executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, which was started by the Civil Rights campaigner Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery. She said regardless of the outcome of the federal lawsuit she is in this battle for the long haul.

“We are going to continue to educate voters and find people to elect who will do the right thing,” she said. “People are making the connection between lawmakers who want to do the right thing versus those who don’t.”

In west central Georgia’s Troup County, population 67,044, Trump won 78 to 22.

Lonnie Hollis, Vice-Chair of the Board of Elections, who is a Black Democratic appointee, will be fired along with the rest of the board by January 1, 2022, and replaced by a new board appointed solely by the Republican-controlled county commissioners.

“I think it is a blow against Black people,” Hollis told Zenger.

“I have been on the elections board since 2013, and I am the only third Democrat to be on the board,” she added. “They want to get rid of me because I talk, and I am outspoken. I was put on the board by the Democratic Party.”

Hollis said she hoped to see the Justice Department lawsuit succeed.

“I just want the lawsuit to get rid of these Jim Crow tactics. I grew up in LaGrange, I moved away but then I came back to Georgia in the early 1970s. These people think that they can do anything, because the Blacks don’t complain,” she said.

Garland cast his lawsuit as the first of many he expects to bring to uphold voting rights in the face of what Democrats have said is an attempt to suppress their voters.

“This lawsuit is the first step of many we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote; that all lawful votes are counted; and that every voter has access to accurate information,” said Garland in a statement.

Kemp called the attack “lies” and linked it to the failure of Democrats so far to pass the national Senate Resolution One on voting rights and elections reform which Republicans filibustered earlier this month.

Kemp said: “This lawsuit is born out of the lies and misinformation the Biden administration has pushed against Georgia’s Election Integrity Act from the start.”

“Joe Biden, Stacey Abrams, and their allies tried to force an unconstitutional elections power grab through Congress — and failed. Now, they are weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out their far-left agenda that undermines election integrity and empowers federal government overreach in our democracy.”

The decision by Garland to sue Georgia first emphasizes the ferocity of the political battle over the state, which had last voted for a Democrat for the White House in 1992.

For decades the real power base in Georgia was not Atlanta — where a large number of African Americans live — but it in the smaller counties which are heavily white and held by Republicans.

But there was a shift during the 2020 elections because more minorities have moved to counties beyond Metropolitan Atlanta. Democrats and African American voting rights groups see the shifting demographics as one of the reasons for the new Republican electoral law.

Melanie L. Campbell, President of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, backed the Justice Department stepping in.

“There are attacks against voting going across the country and what is going on in Georgia is really egregious. Prior to the law there were two Republicans and two Democrats [on each county BOE]. The new law allows one party to control who sits on the board.

“Our voting rights are being attacked by autocracy and not democracy.”

But African American Republicans say Democrats are wrong to attack the electoral law.

Raynard Jackson, a Republican activist who is African American, said that the lawsuit should be thrown out because “there is not one mention of Black folks Georgia it applies to everyone.

“If there was a Beyoncé concert and Pooky and Raheem were picking up tickets, and they received an email that the concert was canceled, don’t you think that they would pick up the phone and verify this information. They can do the same thing in terms of voting,” Jackson said.

“I still support a two-party system, but the Democrats must think that Blacks are too stupid and can’t follow the rules on how to vote. This is insulting.”

(Edited by Hugh Dougherty and Alex Willemyns)

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The Coca-Cola Co. has pledged to almost double its ad spending with minority-owned media, the latest in a wave of major companies responding to pressure — and a $10 billion lawsuit — over how they allocate such dollars.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola North America said in June its ad spending with such companies will be five times higher than in 2020, with 8 percent of its total annual media budget will be allocated to black, Hispanic and Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned media by 2024.

Other major corporations have made similar pledges in recent weeks. Twenty companies — including Uber, General Mills, Adidas, Tyson Foods and Target — signed on to GroupM’s Media Inclusion Initiative, pledging in June to commit 2 percent or more of their total annual media budgets to black-owned media.

In addition, McDonald’s Corp. announced in May it would bring its national ad spending with black-owned media up 2 percent to 5 percent between 2021 and 2024, and with black, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander, LGTBQ and woman-owned media up to 10 percent over that stretch.

And a month earlier, General Motors announced a five-point action plan to alter how it deals with “diverse-owned and diverse-targeted media,” including bringing its ad spending with those companies up to 2 percent by 2021, up to 4 percent by 2024 and up to 8 percent by 2025.

“There are a couple of forces at play right now helping to increase ad spending for black-owned media companies,” Keonte Coleman, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at Middle Tennessee State University, told Zenger.

“The racial reckoning taking place across this country has made social justice issues a higher priority for Fortune 500 companies. Black-owned businesses have a consumer base that’s paying attention to how these companies are addressing systemic inequities through their social responsibility policies.”

Daphne Dickerson, brand and business communications lead with The Coca-Cola Co., told Zenger it is acting now because “in previous years, we focused more on minority-targeted media companies to reach diverse consumers, but as we learned through a thorough analysis of our media mix, our consumer targets continue to evolve, and to be effective and efficient with our spend, we need to invest in both minority-owned media and minority targeted media.”

Sarah Bobas, head of marketing communications North America for GroupM, told Zenger a 2 plus-percent goal “is significant and an achievable target for our clients based on the inventory available” from private industry. Like Dickerson, Bobas declined to quantify how much that is in dollars because it would reveal confidential budget information.

The pledges come, in some cases, after a public calling-out of companies over their practices. In April, music mogul Sean Combs wrote “If You Love Us, Pay Us: A letter from Sean Combs to Corporate America,” which particularly criticized General Motors for spending only an estimated $10 million of its $3 billion ad budget on black-owned media.

Combs’ essay came after seven leaders of black-owned media companies took out a full-page ad in March in the Detroit Free Press and other newspapers that stated GM spends less than 0.5 percent of its “billions in advertising” with black-owned media, a level GM disputes. The seven executives — Byron Allen of Allen Media Group LLC, Junior Bridgeman of Ebony Media, Todd F. Brown of Urban Edge Networks, Ice Cube of BIG3 and Cubevision, Earl “Butch” Graves of Black Enterprise, Don Jackson of Central City Productions and Roland Martin of Nu Vision Media — distinguished black-owned media from black-targeted media “because minority includes white women, and large corporations like General Motors can hide behind and tout their minority records while continuing not to do business with Black Owned Media Companies.”

The ad called for a Zoom meeting with GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, and not Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl, owing to her previous tenure at McDonald’s.

The fast-food giant came under criticism in May over its ad spending with black-owned media in a different newspaper ad that called for a meeting with president and CEO Chris Kempczinski. The same day the ad appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Studios and Weather Group LLC, divisions of Allen Media Group, filed a $10 billion lawsuit against McDonald’s.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, charges racial discrimination in contracting, stating that the company spends less than $5 million of its $1.6 billion TV ad budget with black-owned media. The lawsuit asserts McDonald’s places Allen Media Group’s networks and platforms, including The Weather Channel, Comedy.TV and Cars.TV, outside of its “general market” advertising tier. Instead, according to the lawsuit, the Allen Media channels and platforms are relegated to the much-smaller tier reserved for black-targeted audiences, although many of their offerings are for general-interest audiences and compete with white-owned media.

“This is about economic inclusion of African American-owned businesses in the U.S. economy. McDonald’s takes billions from African American consumers and gives almost nothing back. The biggest trade deficit in America is the trade deficit between White corporate America and Black America, and McDonald’s is guilty of perpetuating this disparity. The economic exclusion must stop immediately,” Allen said in a statement.

The company denies it is being discriminatory when it comes to such spending.

“McDonald’s does not tolerate discrimination in any part of our business, and these unfounded allegations are inconsistent with our values and belied by our actions,” the company told Zenger. “We remain committed to doing our part to advance the growth of diverse-owned media, which is why we joined with our franchisees to increase our spend with diverse-owned partners from 4 percent to 10 percent, and with black-owned media from 2 percent to 5 percent of total national advertising over the next four years. As we defend against this lawsuit, we will continue to collaborate with diverse-owned partners that keep the brand at the center of culture and create deeper relationships with our customers, crew and employees.”

Middle Tennessee State University’s Coleman said “the fact that prominent black media moguls like Byron Allen have taken their concerns public has placed more pressure on Fortune 500 companies to support black-owned businesses and causes through public statements or financial contributions.”

(Edited by Matthew B. Hall and Judith Isacoff)

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When LeBron James won his first NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2012, a reporter asked, “How do you feel?”  James answered, “It’s about damn time.”

Those same words could well have been uttered more recently by Bob “The Greyhound” Dandridge. The former Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Bullets [now Wizards] great had to wait three decades before finally being elected last month to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. His resume was sterling: He won NBA titles in Milwaukee and Washington, and he played with four previous greats whom he helped earn their first or only championships.

“It’s a shame that it took 30 years for Bob Dandridge to be voted into the hall of fame,” said Charlie Neal, the longtime signature voice of Historically Black Colleges and Universities sports for Black Entertainment Television (BET) and ESPN. “I’m glad the veterans committee made up for the sportswriters’ mistakes.”

Dandridge’s omission from the sportswriters’ ballots remains a mystery — why they consistently overlooked the 13-year veteran who was a two-time world champion and an HBCU legend. His distinguished resume also includes four All-Star Game appearances, 15,530 points, 5,715 rebounds, and 2,846 assists.

“For me, it’s more about enjoyment,” said Dandridge, 73, as he counts down to the induction ceremony on Sept. 11, when he will be enshrined along with 15 others. “There has been no point during these 30 years I haven’t felt anything less than being a champion or hall of famer. I have never felt like I didn’t deserve to be in the hall of fame.”

Dandridge was one of the most versatile performers in the history of the game. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists while playing alongside transcendent performers throughout his career. His teammates in his first seven years in Milwaukee were legends Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  He capped his career in Washington playing alongside Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes. All preceded him into the hall of fame.

“Some [basketball experts] have compared him to [Los Angeles Clippers forward] Kawhi Leonard because he was only 6-foot-6-inches and played a mid-range game that was off the charts,” said Carl “Lut” Williams, an HBCU sports historian and publisher of the Black College Sports Page.

If he had been on lesser teams, Dandridge would probably have been a prolific scorer and more of an icon or celebrity. However, he may not have been a two-time champion. That was the motivation from the lessons he learned starting in high school and through his time playing at Norfolk State University.

“I learned to be a champion while playing at Norfolk State from coach Ernie Fears,” said Dandridge, who played for the school from 1965-69. “Championship character was built from running four miles a day for two months and still going into the gym and practicing for two-and-a-half hours every day.  That’s where champions are made. They aren’t made through the sport itself but through intangibles such as work ethic, integrity and self-confidence.”

The legend of Bob Dandridge still resonates at the university and throughout the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.  Before integration allowed the best black athletes to compete at majority colleges, the CIAA was arguably the most talented conference in America. Many great players from cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C., migrated south to play college basketball in this segregated intercollegiate crucible of the game because they were denied access from 1940 to 1970.

That conference also produced hall of fame coaches such as John McClendon. Known as the father of fastbreak basketball, and Clarence “Big House” Gaines, who at one time was the winningest coach in the game’s history.

There were hall of fame players such as Sam Jones of the Boston Celtics who was a part of their early NBA dynasty under venerable coach Red Auerbach. Al Attles, coach of the first Golden State Warriors championship team in 1974, played at North Carolina A&T. Harlem Globetrotters clown prince and dribbling wizard Curly Neal from Johnson C. Smith University They are also members of the distinguished basketball alumni from the CIAA.

Dandridge earned his place among the conference of HBCU basketball legends from that league for his performance in the 1968 CIAA Championship Game. NSU defeated North Carolina A&T 134-132 in three overtimes, with Dandridge scoring 50 points, making 20 of his 26 shots and going 10-of-11 from the free-throw line in an era where there was no three-point shot.

“During that time, the competition was great,” Dandridge said. “The CIAA got the best of the best from the high schools up and down the East Coast. It may not have been the best conference in America, but it was certainly in the top 10.”

The CIAA has produced contemporary legends such as Hampton’s Rick Mahorn, who was a part of the Detroit Pistons’ first edition of the “Bad Boys” championship teams in 1989. Then there’s Charles Oakley, who had a storied career with the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks.  Dandridge will be joined by Ben Wallace — who also won an NBA Championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 — and played college basketball at Virginia Union of the CIAA as a member of the 2021 hall of fame class.

“The style of basketball that was played in the CIAA back in the day is the style of play in the NBA today,” said Black College Sports Page’s Williams. “Watching the Duke and North Carolina teams on TV in the ’60s, there was no comparison to me.”

Dandridge was initially drafted by teams from both pro basketball leagues at the time. The battles for prime talent between the fledgling American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA were heated, and he was right in the middle of it. However, it was always his dream to play in the NBA and the Bucks made it come true.

“Milwaukee gave me the opportunity and I embraced it — and the city embraced me too,” Dandridge said.

(Edited by Matthew B. Hall and Judith Isacoff)

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