Legendary Boston Celtics big man Bill Russell was known for his efforts to foster a better world off the court, and the Celtics Hall of Famer passed that ethos on to his children. One notable such example came to light in a recent interview by the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach with Karen and Jacob Russell.
Karen related how her father encouraged her and her brothers to read the newspaper so they would have fodder for conversation at the kitchen table — and how that habit brought the struggles of a striking local union into their pantry.
“I remember I read another story about the United Farm Workers, and there was this boycott of grapes,” she recalled.
“And my dad loved grapes,” added Russell. “Loved, loved, loved grapes. So I was like, ‘Here’s our breakfast, Daddy. And I think we should boycott grapes.’ And we read the article and we boycotted grapes. It was such a perfect thing.”
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When Karen learned about the (then) novel concept of recycling via the newspaper, the Russell household picked that up as well. She eventually carried forth that same mantle of civic engagement, pushing back against her high school mascot, a problematic portrayal of a Native American with a bone through the nose of the caricature.
“It was terrible and super-racist,” she remembered. “And my dad said, ‘Well, ask them to change it,” and so she did. It would take being rebuffed by the administration of the school and a visit from her father’s friend and fellow civil rights activist The Rev. Jesse Jackson.
But her efforts eventually got the goods.
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