Jim Brown: More than an athlete

The GREAT JIM BROWN...Big Jim, as he was referred to by close friends and acquaintances, transitioned, as of May 18, 2023. Brown was much more than a Hall of Fame Football Player, Actor, and Celebrity. He was a mentor, advisor, and a life changing figure for young people from coast to coast.

Brown put forth the effort to make a change for the positive in South Central Los Angeles, Watts, and some of the most notorious neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California, at a time (late 1980s) when it seemed like no one cared. Very few made any efforts to change the direction of at risk youth & young adults, living in gang and drug infested areas in and on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Jim Brown stepped up to the plate and actually did the work. He summoned gang leaders and members of Blood, & Crip Gangs, as well as various other sets, to meet at his house every Tuesday...in order to come up with solutions to ending the violence. Eventually, a Gang Truce & Peace Treaty among warring gangs in Watts came about, as well as the birth of The Amer-I-can Program (Singer Dionne Warwick came up with the name), which teaches self determination and accountability. Rather than throwing them away & feeding them to the Prison Industrial Complex, he helped to develop some of the brilliant minds to do productive things in society, whereas the system which had failed them wrote them off and threw them away. Before it was in vogue to be surrounded by Gang Members, use them as photo opportunities, & brag on Street Credibility, he gave a damn, and did the work when no one else would. R.I,P. Big Jim., Thank you for all that you did for us.