William Felton Russell, Feb-12-1934 to Jul-31-2022, had his #6 Boston Celtics jersey permanently retired across the entire NBA on Aug-11-2022. A first in the 76-year history of the league. Russell was most famous for being the winningest champion in United States major sports history. He won 11 NBA titles in 13-years, two NCAA basketball championships and an Olympic Gold Medal. He was also the first African American head coach of a major professional sports team in the modern era. His endurable basketball accomplishments tended to overshadow his humble civil and human rights advocacy that culminated with him being honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. As a lifelong Boston Celtics fan I'm keenly aware of Bill Russell's persona of respect, and justice for all! Bill Russell stood with Muhammad Ali, walked with MLK and rests among the giants of our times. He was a man who walked the walk with joyful sorrow, and sorrowful joy. “Boston itself was a flea market of racism. It had all varieties, old and new. The city had corrupt, city hall-crony racists, brick-throwing, send-’em-back-to-Africa racists, and in the university areas phony radical-chic racists. . . . Other than that, I liked the city.” ― Bill Russell The intent of this Part 1 segment it to introduce and reacquaint our listeners with the incalculable impacts Russell had in every space he occupied. We start with a radio edit of the official National Basketball Association "In Memoriam " video published on August 1st. Bill Russell was an astounding story teller, with one hell of a life experience to share. The Civil Rights History Project, from the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American history and Culture, interviewed Bill Russell in May of 2013. The 3+ hour video interview is deeply insightful, raw and personal. Like the man himself. We end the part 1 segment with a 12-minute portion. We urge our listeners to stream the full The Civil Rights History Project interview with Bill Russell via tinyurl.com/RussellCivilRights.