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Reginald F. Lewis: A Wall Street Titan

By 1983, Reginald F. Lewis’ dream was to “do the deals himself,” thereby establishing the venture capital firm TLC Group, LP. The firm purchased the failing McCall Pattern Company for a reported $22.5 million. After successfully reviving McCall, Lewis sold it for $90 million. He later outbid Citicorp and purchased TLC Beatrice International for $985 million. It was the largest offshore buyout in American history at the time.

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Reginald F. Lewis. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. (Photo: reginaldlewis.com)
Reginald F. Lewis. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. (Photo: reginaldlewis.com)

By Tamara Shiloh

In 1965, a select group of Black students participated in a summer school program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and held at Harvard Law School. Each student lobbied for acceptance in the program, which introduced them to legal studies. One student’s confidence and leadership skills made him stand out: Reginald F. Lewis (1942–1993).

Lewis made such an impression that Harvard Law welcomed him as a student that fall. This acceptance made him the only person in the law school’s 148-year history to be admitted before applying.

In 1968, Lewis began his career with the New York City firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he practiced corporate law. He served as counsel to the New York–based Commission for Racial Justice and represented The Wilmington 10, a group of civil rights activists who had been unjustly convicted of an arson fire in 1971. He successfully forced North Carolina to pay interest on the Wilmington 10 bond. In 1970, after networking with colleagues, he opened Wall Street’s first African American law firm.

By 1983, Lewis’ dream was to “do the deals himself,” thereby establishing the venture capital firm TLC Group, LP. The firm purchased the failing McCall Pattern Company for a reported $22.5 million. After successfully reviving McCall, Lewis sold it for $90 million. He later outbid Citicorp and purchased TLC Beatrice International for $985 million. It was the largest offshore buyout in American history at the time.

Looking back, in 1960, Lewis told a friend, “I know that what I’d like is to be the richest Black man in America.” He was on his way. TLC became the first Black-owned company to pass the billion-dollar mark with its annual sales of $1.8 billion.

Lewis had strong influences in his life from childhood. Growing up in East Baltimore, his parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts always encouraged him to “be the best that you can be.”

Young Reginald’s grandmother instilled in him the importance of saving, “even cutting and peeling strips from the bottom of a tin can and nailing it to the floor of a closet to protect his savings,” according to his website.

He set up a delivery route at age 10, selling the Afro American newspaper. What began with 10 customers grew to more than 100 over two years. Even then young Reginald had the business savvy to sell his route at a profit.

About Lewis, former-president Barack Obama commented: “[He] had the work ethic, the skills, and the know-how. Beyond that, he had the temperament, the self-assurance, and the confidence that he belonged there. Being the first of anything requires a certain mindset. Reginald Lewis had it.”

Lewis’ life was cut short by his untimely death after a short illness in January 1993. He was 50 years old.

Learn more about young Reginald Lewis and the challenges he overcame as he transformed himself from ordinary to extraordinary in Lin Hart’s “Reginald F. Lewis Before TLC Beatrice: The Young Man Before the Billion-Dollar Empire.”

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Oakland Post: Week of February 5 – 11, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 5 – 11, 2025

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OP-ED: Like Physicians, U.S. Health Institutions Must ‘First, Do No Harm’

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same. It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

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Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.
Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.

By Albert L. Brooks MD
Special to The Post

Presidential administrations significantly impact the health and wellbeing of our patients and communities.

Through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the agencies within it, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Institutes of Health, this new administration will decide how financial resources are allocated, dictate the focus of federal research, and determine how our public health care insurance systems are managed, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Vaccines for Children program, Medicare, and Medicaid.

The decisions made over the next four years will impact all Americans but will be felt more acutely by those most underserved and vulnerable.

As physicians, we are greatly concerned by the nominations announced by President Trump to critical healthcare related positions. Many of their previous statements and positions are rooted in misinformation.

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same.

It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

Vaccines, in particular, have been a target of disinformation by some HHS nominees. In fact, research continues to confirm that vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines go through multiple rounds of clinical trials prior to being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for administration to the public.

Vaccines protect against life-threateningdiseasessuch as measles, polio, tetanus, and meningococcal disease and, when used effectively, have beenshowntoeliminateorsubstantiallyreducediseaseprevalenceand/orseverity.

Because of vaccine mis- and disinformation, there has been a resurgence in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough, endangering those who are too young or unable to be vaccinated.

Several nominees have spread disinformation alleging that fluoride in public drinking water is harmful. In fact, fluoride in drinking water at the recommended level of 0.7 parts per million, like we have in our EBMUD water, is safe and keeps teeth strong. Because of public health interventions dating back to the 1960s that have resulted in 72.3% of the U.S. population now having access to fluoridated water, there has been a reduction in cavities by about 25% in both children and adults.

We also encourage the next administration to invest in our public health infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role of public health agencies in preventing and responding to health crises in our communities.

Health departments at the state and local levels rely on federal funding support and technical assistance to develop public health response plans, implement public health strategies, and work with on the ground organizations to serve hard to reach communities. Public health agencies are critical for protecting everyone in our communities, regardless of income-level, insurance status, or housing status.

Health officials should also work to protect the significant improvements in insurance coverage that have occurred since the passage of theACAin 2010.According to HHS, the numberofuninsuredAmericansfellfrom48millionin2010to25.6millionin2023.

California has led the way by investing in Medi-Cal and expanding eligibility for enrollment. In fact, it reached its lowest uninsured rate ever in 2022 at 6.2%. Voters affirmed this commitment to expanding and protecting access to care in November by passing Proposition 35, which significantly expanded funding for California’s Medi-Cal program. The administration should advance policies that strengthen the ACA, Medicaid, and Medicare and improve access to affordable health care.

Regardless of the president in power, physicians will always put the best interests of our patients and communities at the forefront. We will continue to be a resource to our patients, providing evidence-based and scientifically proven information and striving to better their lives and our community’s health. We urge the new Trump administration to do the same.

Albert L. Brooks MD is the immediate past president of the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association, which represents 6,000 East Bay physicians.

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Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

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