THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409110134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Where the Mean Streets meet Whitaker Lane, a homecoming of sorts took place Saturday morning.
As Mayor Paul Fraim, city officials, friends and people from the old neighborhood looked on, Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker unveiled a street sign bearing his name.
Whitaker did the honors while standing on a ladder. Then, to loud cheering from the small crowd, he wrapped his arms and legs around the sign post, a bright smile creasing his face.
Throughout the short ceremony held in Young Terrace, the world welterweight boxing champion managed to strike a nice balance between playful boy from the 'hood and successful man of the world.
After coming down from the pole, Whitaker stood behind a lectern and got serious.
``We have to stop the madness,'' he said. ``If we stop the madness and put our arms around these kids, they can become fighters, football or basketball players, lawyers or doctors. Then we can have some other streets named after people around here.''
Vice Mayor Paul Riddick also is a product of Young Terrace, or Young Park as the housing project was once called.
It was Riddick's idea to rename Cumberland Street, the place where Whitaker grew up.
``Just about every prominent fighter in the country has a street named after him in his hometown,'' said Riddick. ``This is the street where he decided to take to the ring instead of doing some other things.''
There is no need to explain what those other things could have been. Or how Whitaker's life has changed since he left Young Terrace 10 years ago.
``It was in this neighborhood,'' he
said his fans, ``that I told my mother in 1976 I'd win a gold medal for her.''
After winning the gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Whitaker returned to Young Terrace for a block party. Soon after, his family moved to the suburbs.
Saturday, Sweetpea returned in style, arriving from his home in Virginia Beach in a stretch limo, a dark blue Lincoln. Wife Rovonda and their three boys followed in a white limo.
The cars pulled up in front of the Young Terrace Rec Center, the birthplace of Whitaker's boxing career. City employees had prepared for the occasion by removing graffiti from the center's walls. A group of young cheerleaders, dressed in blue skirts and white T-shirts, danced at the intersection of East Olney Road and Whitaker Lane.
After Whitaker playfully hung from the signpost, Riddick said, ``That's the Sweetpea everybody around here remembers.''
But Young Terrace is not as Sweetpea and his family remember. They don't recognize the madness.
Whitaker dedicated his street ``to the mothers of Young Park who watched out for me, who pushed me inside to help keep me out of trouble.''
Sweetpea's mother, Novella Whitaker, talks frequently on the phone with friends from the old neighborhood. Every couple of weeks, she drives in from her home near Lake Whitehurst for a visit. Best she can tell, this isn't the same place.
``Back then, it was real nice,'' she said. ``Then the bad people moved in with their guns and drugs. You heard what he said about the mothers taking care of everyone. I don't think it's the same.
``We used to sit out on the grass all night. Sleep on the grass. Now you can't sit out because of all the shooting. It's changed a lot.''
For a few moments Saturday, Sweetpea helped turn back the clock. Following the ceremony, he sparred 12 rounds in the rec center for those who can't afford to see him defend his title against James ``Buddy'' McGirt at Scope on Oct. 1.
Watching from a folding chair, Rovonda Whitaker mentioned how she and Sweetpea have given thought to building another new home in the burbs. In some ways, Whitaker has forever outgrown the old neighborhood. In other ways, not.
``This is where my roots are,'' he said. ``I don't care if they call it Young Terrace. This is Young Park. It'll always be my Young Park.''
There's a street sign to prove it. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JIM WALKER/Staff
``This is where my roots are,'' Pernell Whitaker said, admiring the
new ``Whitaker Lane'' sign in his old Norfolk neighborhood.
by CNB