Monroe acknowledged he probably lost some Charm City support when he forced a trade from the Bullets to the New York Knicks, but he said his days in Baltimore are still near and dear. It was a special time to be a young black man, he said.
Before tip-off each night, Monroe would sit in the locker room, carefully studying Lerone Bennett's What Manner of Man, learning about the early work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The reverend's speeches would still be echoing in Monroe's ears well after the first whistle blew. "That was what had me so juiced up," Monroe said.
"When I see this film, each time I sit down and watch it, it's just like reliving that era," he said. "Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad."
Monroe and Klores say they hope the film connects generations. Basketball is the vehicle, but the message and lessons are much bigger.
Sport has changed since then, evolving at a quicker pace than much of society. The race forward makes it easy to focus your eyes solely on the future. Jalen Rose, an NBA veteran and current television analyst, watched an early version of Black Magic and said today's players are in the midst of a "corporate revolution." They're mostly ignorant to the "cultural revolution" men like Monroe witnessed and endured. That's too bad.
We should all remember. The struggle. The successes. Men like Cleo Hill and Woody Sauldsberry.
"The younger guys who get a chance to see this, I don't know if they'll be able to relate to it, but it's all fact. It's history," Monroe said. "And we need to remember this history, so we can all learn from it."
rick.maese@baltsun.com
