Isiah Thomas talks PEACE with ESPN Chicago

Scoop: You and I have talked about this pretty often in the past, and we both feel (I think) the same way about Chicago in that it is the greatest city in the world, but what’s wrong here? What’s wrong with Chicago?

Thomas: Well, the first thing people really point to is the violence. The nightly news focuses on the violence. And we need another story told. While the majority of our communities and the majority of people living in Chicago, are doing the right things and making positive contributions, there’s a small percentage of folk in our communities that are, uh, doing the wrong thing.

 

Scoop: And you all are trying to …

Thomas: Trying to get a hold of our youth and trying to make them understand that their lives are valuable and provide and give them access to a quality education, good health and a place to really just be safe and play. If we can provide those three things for all kids, I think they’ll all have a bright future.

Scoop: And you are using basketball as the gateway to get that done?

Thomas: Yes.

 

Scoop: But do you honestly feel basketball is a part of what can really change that perception, that definition of what is now perceived as the norm?

Thomas: I think sport is. Not necessarily just basketball. I think sports gives us an opportunity to bring our kids together. And here’s one of the most powerful answers I can give: The first year that Father Pfleger and I put on the PEACE game, we had to bus kids in from different communities because they were afraid to cross territorial boundary lines for fear that they might get hurt. The second year, and even this year, those same kids that we had to bus in are now carpooling together to the game.

 

Scoop: I read you speak to that in another interview.

Thomas: So we see the power that sport has in terms of breaking down certain barriers and getting people to know one another. Whether it be rival gangs or rival teams. I’ve said this before, we saw the power that Jackie Robinson West had going to the Little League World Series. The experience that those kids got by being able to go outside of their four-block radius, being down there in Pennsylvania, getting to meet kids from all over the world, from different cultures, different countries, different languages that were being spoken. So they got a chance to experience and see and adjust their visions and dreams …

 

Scoop: And that changes lives! That changes all of their lives, basically.

Thomas: Absolutely! Joakim Noah walking into St. Sabina’s [Church] or myself walking into St. Sabina’s, meeting those kids. Those are memories that will last them for the rest of their lives. And those are life-changing moments.

 

Scoop: I’m glad you mentioned that, me-to-you, do you feel the pro athletes in Chicago are getting a bad rap for not doing enough to effect change, for noninvolvement in things like this?

Thomas: From all of the athletes and people that I’ve worked with, they all understand the impact and the meaning that they have, and they have been more than generous with their time and their commitment and effort. I mean, you know Scoop, how hard it is to get these guys to do interviews, so for them to show up, to give up their time, to come sit in a gym on the South Side in the middle of a Saturday afternoon and they are two weeks away from training camp … you know. Man, we are more than pleased with the participation that we’ve gotten.

 

Scoop: I’m glad you said that. And I only put the question to you because I tend to get irritated with folks that one, say these dudes aren’t doing enough and secondly, feel that athletes and entertainers alway have to save us and always come to the rescue. Especially of African-Americans. The naysayers always saying that our athletes aren’t doing enough. Like they are supposed to save and correct all of our community’s ills.

Thomas: The naysayers have not seen or worked with the people I work with, because I have nothing but compliments for the athletes and entertainers that I’ve asked to participate.

 

Scoop: You and I have had the benefit, luxury, beauty, I don’t know what particular word fits, but we’ve had the blessing of having strong mothers in our lives, raising us, to give us guidance. Do you feel that that’s playing a role or better yet is missing in what’s going on right now in the city?

Thomas: I think overall parents need to be more involved in our political and economic system. You know our parents, we were engaged in helping shape the community. They weren’t necessarily looking out for just “our” family, all mothers and fathers were looking out for everybody’s kids and the community as a whole. They were a part of the political process …

 

Scoop: And in this city that’s beyond important.

Thomas: … they voted. You know, they were engaged. What we have to do is while all of us may have grown up in extreme poverty or all are living in a form of poverty, we still have to be engaged in our civic and community responsibilities in terms of voting and making things better in our communities.

 

Scoop: Because as a kid you see that, you see that form of engagement, and at some point it is not foreign to you by the time you become, say, 20 years old.

Thomas: No it’s not, and it’s not a surprise because all of the families that both you and I saw, we believed in being involved in the process to make sure that we had a voice. To say what was right or wrong about the way we wanted to live or interact.

 

Scoop: Do you believe there’s a part of Father Pfleger that wants or feels that this game can turn into the sports version of the House Music Picnic? You know, something that started off small but then continued to grow into something of almost a movement? You know what I’m saying? Something that started out with 150 people and grew into 100,000 people with no incidents, no violence, just a show of love?

Thomas: We are definitely hoping that that day will come. And not only do we want to do that in Chicago, but we also hope to use this PEACE game to have PEACE games in Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, all across the country.

 

Scoop: It’s easy for you and I to say that basketball has played a major role in shaping our lives. But a lot of the dudes hoopin’ in the PEACE tournament don’t have NBA or basketball aspirations. You know, they don’t see the game beyond something that’s recreational. They just like to hoop. So, long term, how does the PEACE tournament work for those who really don’t see basketball as anything but that? Just a game.

Thomas: Well, we see sports and recreation as a way to bring people together. To talk to them about getting their GEDs, about getting them involved back into the system, about helping them get employment, helping them get jobs. So what we’ve done is use this — and Father Pfleger has been very instrumental in doing this — as a way to work with major corporations help teach these kids life skills, get them training. Not only are some of the kids graduating or going back to high school and getting diplomas, but they are also getting jobs and mentoring and training. And that’s important.

 

Scoop: That’s the bigger-than-basketball piece.

Thomas: Yes.

 

Scoop: This isn’t charity for you, is it?

Thomas: No. This is what we call “family business.” This is just what we do. You know, we’ve been activists and dealing in activism since my mother was marching with Martin Luther King and Fred Hampton. You can go back and look at all of my interviews since high school, and I’ve always talked about race, class and gender. Not, how can I say it, not subjects that people wanted to discuss all of the time, but something that always needed to be discussed.

 

Scoop: I’ve always believed and said that hopelessness is a disease akin to any other disease that can destroy or severely impact someone’s life. Gambling, cancer, alcoholism, diabetes, drugs, etc. More than anything, this is what we are dealing with here in Chicago. A systemic epidemic of hopelessness. Does that make sense?

Thomas: I’ll even take it one step further: If you don’t have hope, then you really don’t have anything. It’s more than just a disease. As Rev. [Jesse] Jackson would say, “Keep hope alive.” All we’re trying to do with this is inspire and give hope.