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Henry “Champ” Winston, 84, Fought the Good Fights, Kept the Faith

Published

11 years ago

December 4, 2015

By Barbara Fluhrer

From humble beginnings in Memphis, Tennessee, Henry Calvin Winston fought his way to the top of the world of sports and entertainment promotion.

During his storied career, he championed many causes, but he also worked with and promoted boxing and entertainment icons, including: James Brown, Jackson Five, Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, George Forman, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, The Ed- win Hawkins Singers and Don King.

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He was born in Memphis on Dec. 11, 1931 to John and Rose Ella Winston, who had five other children including: John Jr., Charles, Herbert, Peggy and Joyce.

In 1944, his family moved to California to join his uncle, Mr. Louis C. King, who owned the Kings Hotel at 1208 7th St. in West Oakland.

“When we moved to California, it was paradise for me, after my experiences in Memphis with racism and prejudice. I wasn’t a top student, but I knew what to do with money. My sisters and brothers got good educations and somehow or other I got left at the train station. My uncle wanted me to go to school and said he would set me up in business,” said Winston in a 2008 Post interview.

Winston was an avid churchgoer his entire life.

“In Memphis we went to Gospel Temple Baptist Church and my mom sang in the choir. My mother was a graduate of Jackson State University in Education and a psychology. She always knew when I was lying and she punished me for it as well.”

“My mother’s brothers owned King’s Hotel and a night club in Berkeley on Adeline, past Alcatraz, around the corner from DG Gibson’s home and Bryon Rumford’s Pharmacy on Sacramento, next to Tom Berkley’s newspaper building. As a kid I used to talk to them.”

“I attended Beth Eden while Rev. Dones was pastor, and Johnny Cochran was a church member there. I left Beth Eden to go to Evergreen and left there after Rev. J. L. Richard died and started going to Pastor Loggi’s Interdenominational Gospel Chapel before I joined the Market Street Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

He attended McClymonds High School, but “I refused to graduate with the class, because I thought I was too big-time. I opened the pool hall on 7th Street in the building my uncle owned, and we had a soda fountain.”

“Roosevelt Cobb, a regular customer, was a pretty good pool player for an old man; he never beat me, though; I was very good at pool. Cobb always wore a longshoreman’s coat with big pockets and a stevedore hook. The hustlers would try to hustle him, and he would always end up with their money. Ron Dellums’ uncle used to come to my pool hall for a shoe shine from Post publisher Paul Cobb,” said Winston.

Paul Cobb said Winston protected him and helped him establish a movable shoeshine stand, while selling out-of- town newspapers and Black magazines on Seventh Street in front of the historic nightclubs that Cobb was too young to enter.

“My love for newspapers grew from national papers given to me by the Pullman Porters that Henry introduced to our family,” said Cobb.

In the early 50s, Winston joined the Navy and was stationed in Hawaii.

He married Georgia “Tiger” Burkhardt and had four children; Lenet, Lamonte, Pamela and Kevin.

He made sure his children valued their education. His children are Lenet, who lives in Baltimore with two boys; Pamela, a lawyer who lives in Fairfield, specializing in Intellectual Properties Law, with two children; Lamonte is Director of Player Personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs, with two children.

Winston’s accomplishments as a businessman started with his restaurant named The Rosa Lenet. He also expanded the Winston East Bay Ambulance Company to five locations.

Henry “The Champ” championed many causes, but his love and passion for boxing took him to unbelievable heights, travelling around the world and working with boxing icons like Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, Muhammed Ali, George Foreman, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson and Don King – just to name a few. He traveled Europe with The Edwin Hawkins Singers to launch their “O Happy Day” debut album.

Winston fought diabetes for more than 10 years. The City of Oakland will proclaim Dec. 5 as Henry Winston Day.

His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, at the Market Street SDA Church, 900 34th St., Oakland. His internment will be at 9:30 a.m., Monday, Dec. 7 at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, California.

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Not Just a Southern Issue: Advocates Say SCOTUS Voting Rights Decision Has Already Started to Reshape Black Political Power

OAKLAND POST — Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, constitutional amendments expanded Black citizenship and voting rights across the South, leading to dramatic increases in Black political representation. But those gains were quickly met with violent backlash and the rise of Jim Crow laws designed to suppress Black voting through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other “race-neutral” restrictions.

Published

4 weeks ago

June 17, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) whose district spans parts of Los Angeles County, joined fellow CBC member U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA-2) for a May 21 briefing with Black media outlets in California.

The lawmakers highlighted what they describe as a mounting threat to Black political representation resulting from an April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened key protections under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Kamlager-Dove and Carter warned that the decision, which narrowed the role of race in redistricting, is already reshaping congressional districts across the South and undermining Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of their choice.

“While we are a super blue state, we have far to go when it comes to Black representation; we tend to take that for granted,” Kamlager-Dove said of California, noting that the Golden State has the fifth largest Black population in the country and only has three Black members of Congress.

“While I support building coalitions, we have to make sure that as a Black community we are not yielding our power,” she added.

Calling the fight “not unique to the South,” Carter urged Black communities nationwide to recognize the broader implications of the legal and political battles unfolding in Southern legislatures and courtrooms.

The Supreme Court ruling centers on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the portion of the law that prohibits voting systems or district maps that dilute the voting strength of racial minorities. For decades, Section 2 allowed civil rights groups to challenge district maps that weakened Black political representation even when lawmakers did not openly state discriminatory intent.

Now, advocates fear that standard has fundamentally changed.

“You have to have smoking gun evidence,” said Mitchell Brown, senior voting rights counsel at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, during a recent media briefing hosted by American Community Media on May 15. “Legislators are not going to say the quiet part out loud.”

The implications could stretch far beyond congressional elections, Brown said.

Section 2 protections have historically applied not only to U.S. House districts, but also to state legislatures, school boards, county commissions, judgeships, and local governing bodies. Voting rights advocates warn that weakening those protections could reshape political representation throughout the South, particularly in states with large Black populations.

“This is not just a Southern issue,” said Amir Badat, manager of Black Voters on the Rise and voting special counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Badat described the current moment as part of a much longer historical pattern.

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, constitutional amendments expanded Black citizenship and voting rights across the South, leading to dramatic increases in Black political representation. But those gains were quickly met with violent backlash and the rise of Jim Crow laws designed to suppress Black voting through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other “race-neutral” restrictions.

“This is the same move,” Badat said.

Advocates also emphasized that the consequences of weakened voting protections extend into everyday life.

Local elected offices such as school boards, city councils, county commissions, and judgeships often determine funding priorities, public safety policy, education standards, and infrastructure investments.

“These are not abstract numbers,” Badat said. “These have real political consequences and policy consequences on people’s day-to-day lives.”

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Rest in Peace: A.M.E. Pastor and L.A Civil Rights Icon Cecil “Chip” Murray Passes

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94. “Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Published

5 months ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94.

“Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Murray oversaw the growth of FAME’s congregation from 250 members to 18,000.

“My heart is with the First AME congregation and community today as we reflect on a legacy that changed this city forever,” Bass continued.

Murray served as Senior Minister at FAME, the oldest Black congregation in the city, for 27 years. During that time, various dignitaries visited and he built strong relationships with political and civic leaders in the city and across the state, as well as a number of Hollywood figures. Several national political leaders also visited with Murray and his congregation at FAME, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Murray, a Florida native and U.S. Air Force vet, attended Florida A&M University, where he majored in history, worked on the school newspaper and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He later attended Claremont School of Theology in Los Angeles County, where he earned his doctorate in Divinity.

Murray is survived by his son Drew. His wife Bernadine, who was a committed member of the A.M.E. church and the daughter of his childhood pastor, died in 2013.

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Court Throws Out Law That Allowed Californians to Build Duplexes, Triplexes and RDUs on Their Properties

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional. Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

Published

5 months ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional.

Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the cities, pointing out that SB 9 discredited charter cities that were granted jurisdiction to create new governance systems and enact policy reforms. The court ruling affects 121 charter cities that have local constitutions.

Attorney Pam Lee represented five Southern California cities in the lawsuit against the state and Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“This is a monumental victory for all charter cities in California,” Lee said.

However, general law cities are excluded from the court ruling as state housing laws still apply in residential areas.

Attorney General Bonta and his team are working to review the decision and consider all options that will protect SB 9 as a state law. Bonta said the law has helped provide affordable housing for residents in California.

“Our statewide housing shortage and affordability crisis requires collaboration, innovation, and a good faith effort by local governments to increase the housing supply,” Bonta said.

“SB9 is an important tool in this effort, and we’re going to make sure homeowners have the opportunity to utilize it,” he said.

Charter cities remain adamant that the state should refrain from making land-use decisions on their behalf. In the lawsuit, city representatives argued that SB 9 eliminates local authority to create single-family zoning districts and approve housing developments.