ST. LOUIS 鈥 Rochelle Mosley sat outside the new chain link fence at West Florissant and College avenues, trying to keep an eye on her 8-year-old grandson as he darted among the other kids dribbling on the new Black Power Vanguard Basketball Court.
A flyer distributed on his last day of school at nearby Hickey Elementary had advertised the Saturday grand opening.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been waiting since school got out,鈥 Mosley said.
He wasn鈥檛 the only one waiting. Over 75 people made their way to this corner of North 最新杏吧原创 to shoot some hoops and celebrate the new, $160,000 court in a neighborhood pockmarked with vacant buildings and overgrown lots.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what this basketball court is about 鈥 we are tired, like you are, of living in circumstances where our children cannot see the sky, and they can鈥檛 see the sky because of artificial limitations that have been imposed on us, in many instances at gunpoint,鈥 African People鈥檚 Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela told the crowd during an opening ceremony. 鈥淚nstead of a sky, what they see is bombed out buildings all around us.鈥
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Yeshitela鈥檚 wife, Ona Zen茅 Yeshitela, runs the affiliated African People鈥檚 Education and Defense Fund. It developed the new court on a corner that had been occupied by two vacant buildings owned by the 最新杏吧原创 Land Reutilization Authority, the city鈥檚 land bank. She said her group has spent over $1 million on community development, including the nearby Uhuru House that serves as office space for the two organizations along with a community garden and pavilion.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 just talk about it,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e do it.鈥
Among those who came to celebrate the opening was Olympic track and field gold medalist and East 最新杏吧原创 native and philanthropist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She said her nephew is Matsemela Odom, who is president of the International People鈥檚 Democratic Uhuru Movement, an affiliated group.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee joins Omali Yeshitela, center right, in a ribbon-cutting for the new Black Power Vanguard Basketball Court in north 最新杏吧原创 on Saturday, June 17, 2023.聽
鈥淚 truly understand what this means for the community and bringing the community together,鈥 Joyner-Kersee said at the ribbon-cutting.
The new court is part of a flurry of basketball activity in 最新杏吧原创, including city efforts to finally add basketball courts to its two largest parks, Forest Park and Tower Grove Park. But the Yeshitelas say the north side court is especially significant because it eliminated a vacant building and beautified the neighborhood with an in-demand amenity, one many area kids were risking injury to play in the street.
鈥淢y little nephews, they鈥檙e 6 and 7, they love to play basketball,鈥 said Durnisha Jackson, who was watching the event Saturday.
But right now, the family has to buy a membership at the YMCA-operated O鈥橣allon Park Recreation Complex to access safe courts in the neighborhood.
鈥淭hey need it,鈥 Jackson said of the new courts. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no playgrounds around here.鈥
But the courts come as Omali Yeshitela fights federal charges of working with Russian intelligence operatives to spread propaganda and sow discord in the U.S. He was charged two months ago in federal court in Florida, headquarters for his party鈥檚 operations, after federal prosecutors said he and others in the group worked with Russian agents to promote pro-Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine. He has said Ukraine is an instrument for the 鈥渃olonial powers鈥 to carry out war against Russia.
Yeshitela alluded to the impact Saturday, saying 鈥渢he banks have even begun the process of trying to make it difficult for us to get resources.鈥 and Facebook and GoFundMe have also begun to block fundraising efforts.
African People鈥檚 Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela speaks at a grand opening of a new basketball court built by the African People's Education and Defense Fund on Saturday, June 17, 2023.
But he told the Post-Dispatch that the 鈥渁ttacks鈥 on the group from the FBI 鈥渉ave really grown our support and solidarity鈥 and the APEDF would still be able to raise money for future projects.
鈥淪uccess is in the people鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never in the banks and politicians. If we waited for the banks and politicians, we wouldn鈥檛 have done a thing.鈥
And he reiterated what attorneys for the APEDF told the newspaper last month: that the community development efforts of the APEDF are separate from his legal issues. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which he called 鈥渟illy.鈥
鈥淲hy would anyone,鈥 Yeshitela said, gesturing to the crowded basketball court in the heart of north 最新杏吧原创, 鈥渨ant to do something to keep this from happening?鈥
