Friend, I wanted to take a second to reflect on my family’s story of perseverance and progress — with a highlight on my Uncle Dolly, one of the first African-Americans to integrate the National Basketball League. 

Like so many in my family, my uncle, William ‘Dolly’ King, truly valued his education at a time when it wasn’t readily accessible to Black Americans. He was a talented basketball player at Long Island University before he joined the New York Rens, an all-Black barnstorming team, and then the Washington Bears down in DC where his team went undefeated and then won the World Championship of Professional Basketball in 1943 (competing against the nation’s best all-Black and all-White teams).

My Uncle Dolly pictured here with his team, the world champion Washington Bears.

In 1946, my Uncle Dolly was one of four Black athletes signed to play in the National Basketball League, playing for the Rochester Royals, and integrating professional basketball. Fittingly, they later moved to California where they became the Sacramento Kings of the NBA. The legacy of my uncle, at the forefront of integration in national sports, is something that I and so many others still hold dearly. But, his storied career was never without struggle. It’s a true testament to his character that no matter how much harassment and discrimination he faced, he never once stooped to his opponents’ levels and kept his head held high.

Here Uncle Dolly is again in his Rochester Royals uniform.

So much progress has been made since the time of Uncle Dolly’s career. But, we cannot pretend that Black Americans have fully equal access to opportunities in our schools, economy, and through our judicial system.  I am tired of lip service being paid to address inequity while there is too little investment. That’s why I’m running to be Maryland’s next Democratic governor — to honor the work of previous generations of activists and change-makers, bringing real progress to the state my family and I call home.

It’s not lost on me that if elected, I would be Maryland’s first Black governor and only the third ever elected Black governor in our nation’s history.

Friend, our campaign is breaking barriers and gaining tremendous momentum, but we need the resources to get us to the finish line in July. Please, can you pitch into our progressive movement today?

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Thank you, 

John