Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court
stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times.
This week, Luke eulogizes one of Miami's unseen black leaders.
Miami's
black community recently lost a great person, a man who touched the lives of a
lot of folks from Liberty City to West Perrine. His name is Michael Wright, but
anyone familiar with Miami-Dade County football knew him as McAdoo.
He passed
away a couple of weeks ago at the Orlando home of NFL superstar Edgerrin
James.
Although he was never a politician, McAdoo was black
Miami's
unofficial mayor. He got his nickname because as a kid, he shot the
basketball
like NBA great Bob McAdoo, now an assistant coach with the Miami Heat.
City and
county commissioners counted on McAdoo to quietly get out the vote on
Election
Day. From every superstar athlete to every rapper to every drug dealer
to every
gangster knew McAdoo. When he spoke, everyone listened because they knew
his
love for the black community was genuine.
He lived not too far
from
Charles Hadley Park, where he would confront the hardest criminals and
tell them
to leave the kids alone to play. He wasn't the type of activist who
would go in
front of the city commission and beg for money. All he had to do was
pick up the
phone and speak to the politicians directly. He did the same with
professional
athletes he had looked after during their days playing Pop
Warner/NYFLA and their time suiting up for the
University of
Miami Hurricanes.
He practically raised guys like former
Northwestern
High football all-stars Snoop Minnis and Nate Webster, who went on to
become NFL
athletes. McAdoo paid for those boys to attend their senior proms and
bought
dresses for their dates. He also helped other ex-Hurricanes players such
as
Edgerrin James, Willis McGahee, Santana Moss, and Andre
Johnson by giving them a little money or food or anything they
needed.
McAdoo's generosity is a big reason he had no problem persuading James
to
sponsor a scholarship program for kids playing Pop Warner at three
different
parks in Miami. Every year, McAdoo and James put together a fun-filled event with rides and kid shows in
Immokalee, the former UM running back's hometown. McAdoo would get the
buses and
take the Miami kids up there himself.
He taught the children about
respect and
winning with class. He had them singing songs about honoring their
mothers and
fathers. And when the games were over, he would tell all the boys to
love one
another - that life wasn't about warring over turf and territory.
But
McAdoo also looked out after the kids who didn't make it out of the
inner city,
as well as the elderly folks in the community. He created an aerobics
class for
senior citizens and teenagers at Hadley Park that was a
huge
success. There was a waiting list for people to join.
I remember one
time I was
walking with him in Liberty City, and McAdoo pointed out the children
whose fathers were part of a drug gang whose members were sent
to
jail. Those kids and their mothers had the biggest smiles on
their
faces. They were so happy to see McAdoo. He made every child feel
accepted.
He created things that brought everybody
together.
At his funeral this past Saturday,
McAdoo was
eulogized for several hours. The funeral director read the name of every person who brought McAdoo flowers. Minnis read from a letter McAdoo sent him when he was
attending
FSU. I don't see anyone ever replacing McAdoo's legacy. He will
be
sorely missed.
Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1.
