Aug. 19, 2001 – Speaking to an audience including top government officials, fans and fellow athletic role models, former world champion boxer Julian "The Hawk" Jackson didn't pull any punches Saturday night in faulting the territory for failing to support the current crop of V.I. athletes in regional competitions.
The occasion was the induction of Jackson and six other Virgin Islands sports heroes simultaneously into both the new Virgin Islands Sports Hall of Fame (VISHF) and the international African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame (AAESHF). The ceremonies, the first of their kind in the territory, took place at the Palms Court Harborview Hotel on St. Thomas.
Jackson, at 40 the youngest of the honorees, used his acceptance speech to plead for additional community backing on behalf of his athletic protégés.
At a recent Caribbean sporting event, he recalled, "Our team members didn't even have Virgin Islands T-shirts to trade with the competing teams' members." He added, "We need your help."
Sharing the limelight with Jackson as inductees were fellow former world boxing champion Emile Griffith; major league baseball players Horace Clarke, Alvin McBean and Valmy Thomas; Negro Leagues baseball player Alfonso "Piggy" Gerard; and pro basketball player Glen "Kimble" Williams. Mora Gerard represented her grandfather, who was unable to attend because of illness. Each of the inductees received both an engraved plaque from the VISHF committee chair, Edgar "Baker" Phillips, and an engraved trophy from the AAESHF president, Arif Khatib.
Khatib said that all of the inductees had "demonstrated community leadership as well as great athletic accomplishments." Induction will be an annual affair, and he noted that he expects "at least one female" to be included among the 2002 AAESHF inductees.
According to Phillips, plans are "in the works" for a temporary home for the V.I. Sports Hall of Fame, with a permanent site as the eventual goal.
During the induction ceremony, Delegate Donna Christian Christensen stated that, "Each inductee, far beyond their contribution to their respective sports, has put the U.S. Virgin Islands on the world stage, bringing positive publicity and renown to the benefit of all of us who live here."
Also offering congratulations in brief remarks from the podium were Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd, Sen. Adelbert M. Bryan and Sen. Celestino A. White Sr.
The AAESHF co-sponsored the induction ceremonies along with the VISHF and the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department, according to a Government House release.
The mission of the AAESHF, as stated on its web site, www.afrosportshall.com, "is to broaden the public's understanding of African American ethnic history and the role of diversity and cultural tolerance in the growth of professional sports. The Hall of Fame gives the world the opportunity to better understand the impact African American and other ethnic groups throughout the world have had on American sports and society." The AAESHF is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in Oakland, Calif.
For biographical information and photos of Clarke, Gerard, McBean and Thomas, see the vibaseball web site.
