Proceeds from book sales to fund civic effort
EDWARDSVILLE - Mannie Jackson's book is populated by a vast array of characters, from Nikita Kruschev to legendary Edwardsville coach Joe Lucco, but the book is about hope and conquering cynicism and intolerance.
Jackson, a former executive with Honeywell and owner of the Harlem Globetrotters, said he was motivated by fear when he was born and raised in a boxcar.
"The only thing I've ever known that is stronger than fear is hope," Jackson said at an announcement Tuesday of the new book, "Boxcar to Boardrooms," and the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities that will benefit from it.
Jackson's book tells of his fears as a young man, like the fear of not having enough to eat, or of being beaten or hung because of the color of his skin.
He said had it not been for some of the people like Lucco and other longtime friends in his hometown of Edwardsville, he might have ended up in prison or died at an early age, and accomplishments like giving $50 million to charity never would have happened.
He questioned how it was possible for a man like him to become a top corporate executive and owner of a sports franchise without the element of hope.
Jackson said he is concerned about the rising tide of cynicism in America. He said he has been in 105 countries, and people abroad look to the United States as a land of great possibilities.
However, people here seem to be down on their neighbors and down on the system of free enterprise that has brought us prosperity.
"Free enterprise is mostly good," he said.
"This is a plea for tolerance, not just for some kid next door, but tolerance for all people who may have a different point of view. We need to learn tolerance very quickly," he said.
Jackson promised those who read the book lots of juicy details. He tells about the time he paid $1 million to have the Argentine National Team play the Globetrotters.
He said he learned basketball from Charles Barkley and played golf with Michael Jordan. He tells about meeting Nelson Mandela, who told Jackson, "My mission is to see that no one is ever treated as I have been treated."
He also has some tales to tell on the NCAA, which he calls a "cartel" heavily influenced by venture capitalists at taxpayers' expense.
Jackson urged people to buy a copy of his book, or six or seven copies, and give them to friends.
The proceeds will all go to charity, including cancer research and the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities.
Edwardsville Mayor Gary Niebur said the center will not have a specific location at first, but SIUE, Lewis and Clark Community College and other venues will be "a locus of activities."
Later, Phase II of the center's development will include the renovation of the former Lincoln School building into a physical center for the humanities. The mayor said Jackson purchased the once-segregated school to preserve its history.
Jackson's friend Edwardsville School Superintendent Ed Hightower said the development "is not by accident."
"It is an intentional act by Mannie Jackson because of his love, passion and hope for this community," Hightower said. Niebur said he and others in town are proud that Jackson has always called Edwardsville his home, no matter how far and wide he has traveled.
The center will be funded by proceeds from the book and by a National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant of $500,000, said Jill Lane, dean of liberal arts for Lewis and Clark Community College. Its leaders also will seek other funding.
She said the idea sprung up about six months ago among LCCC President Dale Chapman, Jackson and Hightower.
She said the subject of humanities covers a broad spectrum, but it boils down to "what it means to be human." LCCC was one of only six community colleges nationwide out of 1,400 applicants to be awarded a challenge grant, Lane said.
Jackson, a former Edwardsville High School basketball standout and all-Big Ten basketball star at the University of Illinois, spoke at the N.O. Nelson campus of Lewis and Clark Community College.
"Boxcar to Boardrooms" focuses on how Jackson was born in a railroad boxcar in Illmo, Mo., before moving to Edwardsville and finding success on the basketball court. He was recruited to play college basketball at the University of Illinois, where he became one of the school's first black student-athletes. He then went on to a playing career for the Harlem Globetrotters.
He went on to rise through the ranks at Honeywell to become one of its senior corporate officers.
Jackson later bought the Harlem Globetrotters and became the nation's first African-American owner of a global sports and entertainment brand.