All This And That News And More

For those who don’t know Dr. Eugene Williams is a local author and school teacher who has created a series of word search books using influential African Americans with the intentions to improve literacy throughout young America. He began making these books after realizing that the majority of his high school students did not know the meaning of words in the curriculum, how to spell them or use them in sentences. There have already been books made about Martin Luther King and Barack Obama and now there is one about LeBron James and has 94 pages with word puzzles, word charts and definitions. These books are not only for students but parents as well due to the face that they not only educate about word but give you a brief background on LeBron about his lifestyle and his dedication to basketball.

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Dr. Eugene Williams, one of the authors of Outstanding African-Americans: A Text Reconstruction Program for Improving Writing, Reading, and Reasoning Skills, says:

"Text Reconstruction is a powerful method for improving writing, reasoning, and reading skills. Working through these exercises strengthens a student's ability to write papers with fewer spelling and grammar errors, and with better logical organization.

In addition, I believe it would be useful for all students to read these biographies and learn about the history of racial discrimination in America -- the discrimination that Satchel Paige and Marian Anderson encountered, that Thurgood Marshall, Dr. King, and Jesse Jackson fought -- in order to better understand the need for continued vigilance to ensure that prejudice in educational and economic opportunities can no longer exist.

It would also be useful for all students to read these biographies to learn about the work of black Americans such as Charles Drew and Garrett Morgan, so that they would see the contributions to human progress that African-Americans can make if given a fair chance."

Dr. Eugene Williams Sr., Director
Potential National Merit Scholars Program
Washington, D.C.

NBA basketball player LeBron James, right, is shown with director Kristopher Belman in the documentary "More Than a Game."

At a press conference recently to promote "More Than a Game," the new documentary about his early years playing basketball, NBA star LeBron James singled out the journalists he liked the most. Most of the press assembled in Manhattan’s Four Seasons Hotel seemed more interested in taking James’ photograph than anything else, except for a cadre of especially earnest journalists who appeared to be around the age of 12.
Even after a publicist called an end to the press conference James continued to call on the young professionals.
They had the kinds of questions 12-year-olds could be expected to ask. The basketball star’s shoe size, for instance — "I walk around and just relax in 15s," answered James, "but when I play in basketball games I wear 16s because I need a little bit more room so I can cut and do the moving around that I do."
While it’s not exactly breaking news, James also confirmed for the kids that he enjoys playing in the NBA — the Cleveland Cavaliers, specifically — because "it’s the best league that the world has to offer."
However, said James, now 24 and in his sixth year with the Cavaliers, "To be an inspiration to kids like yourself means more than anything, even more than going out on the basketball court, to inspire kids to want to become better or be the next LeBron or Dwayne Wade or Chris Paul."
"More Than a Game," now playing in Manhattan, concerns itself with the inspiration James and his four best friends — Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee and Romeo Travis — found playing basketball for Joyce’s father, also named Dru, during their teenage years growing up in Akron, Ohio. It was a nine-year journey that brought them a national high school championship.
But the film isn’t about wins and losses so much (actually, they were virtually all wins) as it is the friendships formed. During senior day at their high school, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s, James is seen stepping out on the basketball court not with his parents like most of the players, but his teammates.
"On that day I felt like those four guys were more than just my friends, they were like my brothers. I felt like I wouldn’t have gotten to that position without those four so that’s why I made that decision," said James. "Kids always have dreams, and sometimes they feel like a dream is unreachable. As kids we had dreams and Coach Dru gave us a way to remove a lot of obstacles to get to a point where we made that dream become reality, and I think it’s important for kids to realize that."