The sad news of the Dec. 30 passing of John H. Givens—the city’s foremost civil rights pioneer-activist in the 1960s-’70s and one of my oldest and cherished friends—came crashing down like a thunderbolt from on high. And, as he used to say in his frequent phone calls to me in New York, “I been thinking on you…”
Recently, standing outside the storied Apollo Theater in Harlem—sidewalks dripping people—I found myself thinking of John, especially a June night in 1992.
That’s when John and his wife, Rosa, hosted a wonderful gathering at their Grant Boulevard home following my “Father’s Day Eve” concert featuring the Spaniels, of “Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight” fame at the Varsity Theater on the downtown Marquette University campus.
John and I used to hang out on Walnut Street, share classes and basketball at Lincoln High School, share the late, great educator Tom Cheeks’ mentoring in the Knights social club as a teenager and share triumphs and heartaches as adults.
During that memorable Spaniels’ night at the Varsity—for which I served as emcee—John presented the legendary doo-wop group with a proclamation from the Milwaukee County Executive, for whom he worked. After my authorized biography of the Spaniels was published in 1995, I recall his support at two of my book signings at Harry W. Schwartz downtown and the Readers’ Choice on King Drive.
A Remarkable Life
John Givens’ remarkable public life includes service as first chairman of Milwaukee’s chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality in the early 1960s, adviser to the NAACP Youth Council prior to Father James Groppi and his historic sit-in at City Hall protesting the racism of inner-city merchant Fred Lins on West Burleigh. And I said to myself, “Right on, John!”
He also oversaw the Model Cities program under Mayor Henry Maier, was twice president of the La Varnway Branch of the Boys and Girls Club and Executive Director of the Milwaukee County Community Day Reporting Center.
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I recall John’s gracious eloquence at a family picnic in 1989 at Kern Park on Humboldt Ave. Attending, among others, were Alderwoman Vel Phillips, author Jake Beason, activist George Sanders, the Milwaukee Journal’s Dave Behrendt and Jay Anderson, me, my wife, Janice and John’s own family.
I sorely miss John. I miss the barbecue cookouts at his home, where he was the world’s most gracious and generous host to Janice and I. I miss his outspoken knowledge of important issues at parties I threw at my place, and I loved the morning he was such an authoritative guest in 1994 on my “Carter-McGee Report” on WNOV radio.
Back in 2003, I received an invitation to a testimonial for Givens, scheduled for the black-owned Onyx Restaurant. It read, “Friends of John H. Givens III, invite you to celebrate his distinguished career in promoting and advancing civil rights and youth in the Milwaukee community.”
As I read the invitation, I glanced at the wall over my desk at a cherished, black-and-white photo from my Milwaukee youth. It was taken at the conclusion of a 1952 Christmas holidays basketball tournament at the downtown YMCA.
In addition to myself holding a basketball were Ralph Jefferson, who coached our team, Chuck Johnson, Jesse Nixon, Carl Ray Witherspoon, William Wade, George Lott and, of course, John Givens. All household names in black Milwaukee in the rollicking days of our youth and beyond.
Alas, I certainly was not a star on this team, which boasted some fine high school athletes. But John surely was. Skinny as a rail, he knew the game, possessed a deadly shot, an uncanny court sense and a searing will to win. And while he may not have spent much of the last 60 years playing hoops, he never forgot how to win.
Significantly, there was the time after graduating from high school in the 1950s, that John was in the military in France and “adopted” by a small town. Its grateful denizens appreciated him so much for his good nature and for helping them out, they seemed to feel as if he was one of their own. And I beamed with pride reading about this in both the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel.
John Givens was truly a Milwaukee man for all time. His high-profile, selfless struggles against racial oppression lifted the spirits and warmed the hearts of countless Milwaukeeans—black and white. I will always cherish his friendship.
Now, my life-long pal John, is gone. He belongs to the ages. May he rest in peace.
