Ollie Matson

Mar 3 2011

Bill Cosby tribute on DVD

Memorial services for Ollie Genoa Matson were set for Saturday, March 12, at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, 760 S. Westmoreland Ave.

Matson, for whom the Los Angeles Rams traded nine players in 1959, played with the team from 1959 to 1962.

He died at 80 on Feb. 19. His remains will be cremated.

Former Rams teammate Deacon Jones will be in attendance along with Stephen A. Perry, the president and executive director of the NFL Hall of Fame.

Bill Cosby has sent a DVD with a tribute.

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Feb 24 2011

Traded to L.A. Rams for nine players

The best football player some say they ever saw—Ollie Matson—will be laid to rest some time in early March. Funeral arrangements for Matson are pending.

Matson’s nephew, Art Thompson III, a sports writer, said his 80-year-old uncle had been bedridden for years due to dementia, possibly caused at least in part to the pummeling he took as a running back over 14 seasons with mediocre teams. Matson died recently of respiratory failure.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.