William Felton Russell CBill Russell) was born on February 12, 1934 to parents Charles Russell and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. Bill Russell died on July 31 2022, aged 88.
Just like all Southern towns and cities of that time, Monroe was very segregated and as a result, the Russells often struggled with racism in their daily lives.
An instance was when Russell’s father was refused service at a gas station until the staff had taken care of all the white customers first.
When Russell’s father attempted to leave and find a different station, the attendant stuck a shotgun in his face and threatened to kill him if he did not stay and wait his turn.
In another recorded incident, Russell’s mother was walking outside in a fancy dress when a white policeman accosted her. He told her to go home and remove the dress, which he described as “white woman’s clothing”.
During World War II, the Second Great Migration began, as large numbers of blacks were moving to the West to look for work there and when Russell was eight years old, his father moved the family out of Louisiana and settled in Oakland, California.
While there, the Russell family fell into extreme poverty, culminating in Russell spending his childhood living in a series of public housing projects.
Russell was closer to his mother Katie than to his father, and he received a major emotional blow when she suddenly died when he was 12 years old.