On Wednesday June 15th 2016 the world lost, not just a great man, it lost a great human being. Preston Blue was one of the most authentic, kind, and selfless human beings I have ever known. And if you knew Preston you most certainly know this to be true. I know many of you knew him affectionately as “Buddy”, however since I had only known him for 2 years, I called him Preston or simply Blue. This simple fact speaks volumes about Preston. I met him in 2014 and within that relatively short period of time he became one of my best friends.
We met coaching against each other within Bowie intramurals. His team practiced during the same time slot my team practiced. We shared a full court and often participated in scrimmages. We would often talk about basketball strategy and coaching philosophy. These conversations established an initial connection based on similarities to coaching. However, those conversations quickly developed into conversations about fatherhood and our adoration of old school Hip Hop. He then started bringing his daughter over to my homemade garage gym to begin working out our daughters each Wednesday at 6PM.
This is when our acquaintance began to develop into a friendship, a friendship founded upon trust and mutual respect. We really enjoyed our conversations with each other. Our daughters also quickly became good friends, despite their two-year age difference.
During one of these Wednesday evening sessions we came up with the idea to start coaching together as co-head coaches. I can sincerely tell you that this could not have remotely been possible if our friendship was superficial. Neither of us have the personalities to coach with someone who we didn’t trust or with someone whose values were far astray from ours. This is one reason we routinely taught our teams about the importance of chemistry. Chemistry is one of the most important aspects of building a successful team, we often told them. It was important to have good chemistry amongst the players, good chemistry amongst the parents and good chemistry with the coaches.
Preston and I had that chemistry. It was never forced; it was completely natural.
After coaching together for less than a season, we decided to turn our love for coaching girls’ basketball into an institution, one that was holistic in nature. We wanted to create something that not only taught girls the game of basketball, but something that also exposed them to cultural edification and media literacy, challenged them to excel academically, as well as something that helped to prepare them for the all important game of life.
This is when we came up with the idea of the Ubuntu Girls Basketball Academy (which is a Zulu term meaning togetherness/I am because you are). It was the perfect word for what we wanted to build and the culture throughout the institution that we wanted to cultivate.
Preston and I would talk all the time about Ubuntu and our families, our basketball team and building the Ubuntu program. Our wives had a running joke about the amount of time we used to spend on the phone talking about life and basketball. It was our passion.
This passion drew us together, however it was a friendship that transcended sports. This is why it is so very hard to adjust to Preston’s physical absence from this world. Not being able to talk to him on a daily basis, not being able to see him, not being able to strategize with him and plan for the future with him, has been a daily challenge. Last Sunday I texted his phone wishing him a Happy Fathers’ Day. I sometimes find myself talking to him telling him how much I miss him and how we will continue to build Ubuntu. I have told our basketball team that Coach Blue is still coaching, however he is helping to coach from heaven. I don’t believe this to be some nice contrived cliché; in many ways I believe this.
Nothing can take away the history of his presence in this world. Nothing. Preston Blue’s kindness, dedication to other human beings, willingness to help others and devotion as a husband, father and son, are indelible. These things cannot be erased and as long as we retain Preston Blue within our memories. Much of what I have said today is nothing new to those of you who truly knew Preston. You know he was an incredibly amazing human being. You know this.
As a historian, I know that history can never be altered. This, history by the way, was also something I loved about Preston—-he loved to learn about new things, especially regarding Black History. We had some incredible conversations about history. This is why we made the decision to introduce a new historical figure—each and every practice to the girls. We wanted the girls we coached to be well rounded.
There are historical figures we can think of, historical figures that are prominent because of their good deeds. However in that same vain there are many more human beings whose good deeds are deserving of being known to the broader masses. Their good deeds and how they lived their lives can serve as inspiration and models of excellence for others to follow. Once we have learned about the work and legacy of folks like Ella Baker, Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and Harriet Tubman, we keep them alive by being inspired by their work and sharing their legacy with others, especially the youth.
We will keep Preston Blue alive. It is upon us to never ever stop sharing the work of Preston Blue to others. Discuss his life, legacy and work with those who were not fortunate enough to know him personally. Let his kindness be a point of departure when discussing what it takes to contribute to make this world a better place.
Preston was authentic—be true to yourself. Preston was a kind man—-be kind to others, especially when you have the opportunity. Preston loved to learn new things—never stop expanding your knowledge base. Preston was generous with his time—-find time to give back to various communities, especially to youth. They are the future and they will follow in the paths we create. Preston, Buddy, Coach Blue may not be here physically here with us, however he will forever remain with us spiritually. He lives within his two beautiful daughters and he lives on within his incredible wife, Donna. Ava we won’t stop training, your father would definitely want it to continue. Preston deeply loved and cherished his family.
He also lives on within our memories and the wonderful gifts he gave this world. He truly made this world a much better place. His actions positively impacted the world around him. Preston, we will forever remember and forever love you. Let us come together in honor of Preston Blue. Let his work continue to inspire us to make this world a better place by way of our good deeds. Ubuntu! Ubuntu!
Coach Solomon Comissiong (Team Ubuntu Co-Founder)
