Just Some Of The Shit I Dig.

Michael Gerard Tyson (June 30, 1966) is a former boxer, wrestler, and actor. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion. He was the first heavyweight boxer to hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles simultaneously, and the only heavyweight to unify them. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, he holds the record as the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title.

He was known for his ferocious, intimidating boxing style and his controversial behavior inside and outside the ring. Nicknamed “Iron” and “Kid Dynamite” in his early career, and known as “The Baddest Man on the Planet”, he is one of the best heavyweights of all time. He holds the third-longest unified championship reign in heavyweight history at eight consecutive defenses. He ranks #14 in BoxRec’s ranking of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history. He was ranked #16 on The Ring’s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, and #1 in the ESPN.com list of “The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History”. Sky Sports described him as “perhaps the most ferocious fighter to step into a professional ring”. He has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Corporal Clayton A. Pitre (June 30, 1924 - December 31, 2020) was an activist, former Chief Housing Developer for the Central Area Motivation Project, and a retired Montford Point Marine.

Born to Gilbert Pitre and Eugenie Lemelle, he was the fourth child of seven siblings. He was born and raised in Opelousas, Louisiana. He attended Catholic schools until the ninth grade, when he left school to work in various defense plants in early WWII Texas.

He was drafted into the military in 1943. He signed up to become one of the first African Americans to join the US Marine Corps and was trained at Camp Montford Point. In December 1943, he was sent to Saipan. His unit was sent to Okinawa as a decoy for the other forces that invaded the southern end of the island. He was an infantryman in the 1st Marine Ammunition Company, sending ammunition to the front lines. He had earned his corporal stripes.

He was sent to China to oversee the evacuation of the Japanese Army. He was honorably discharged on February 8, 1946. He was persuaded to join one of his brothers in Seattle, where he got a job at Fort Lawton. He enrolled at Seattle’s Broadway Edison Technical School in a program specifically for military veterans who had not earned a high school diploma. He passed his vocational tests.

He married Gloria Tony (1958), a Seattle language teacher. The couple had three children. He graduated from Seattle University with a BS in accounting. He worked as a postal clerk and was active in the Seattle chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He worked with the First AME Church and the Urban League to help fund and build low-income housing across the city.

He joined the Veterans Administration. He continued his community involvement with the Knights of Columbus and the African American Dollars for Scholars program.