Mayor Butts leads praise of the late Willie Brown
By Kenneth Miller|Publisher
The life of the late Inglewood Today owner and publisher Willie Brown will be celebrated on July 18 at The Centerpointe Club located at 6200 Playa Vista Drive in Playa Vista, but New Orleans native who retired as a million dollar insurance salesman to become a staple in the City of Inglewood was hailed by city officials at the Inglewood Music Festival on July 5th at Darby Park in Inglewood.
Brown died of complications of blood clots and a brain aneurysm on June 26 at Cedar Sinai Hospital after investing time life and soul in his Inglewood Today weekly publication for more than three decades.
He enjoyed a supportive relationship with Mayor Butts who contributed money from his own pocket to support the newspaper.
On a bright and festive Saturday afternoon amid loud music, dancing and singing, Mayor Butts paused to remember his longtime friend.
“We lost more than a friend, we also lost an anchor of the community. Willie and Inglewood Today was an institution. He started it little after I left to go to Santa Monica (as police chief) and he was here when I came back and I’ve been back for 14 years and I have to tell you there was no paper no community publishing vehicle that was more informative and reliable on in the City of Inglewood and we are good to miss him he was a good man,” Mayor Butts shared with South Bay Black Journal.
The Mayor elaborated farther. “I lent him $10,000 so that he could get on the multimedia and internet platform and I feel proud to have been there when it was pivotal time for him to make a transition from the print media to the internet.” The Mayor was also instrumental in persuading The Rams, Chargers and Clippers to spend $15,000 each on advertising during COVID to prevent Inglewood Today from going out of business.
Brown has persuaded me to return to the newspaper business after I came home from Cleveland, Ohio where I served at President and CEO of the Call and Post Newspapers owned by Don King.
He offered me ownership of Inglewood Today for which we consummated a contract and for four years it was one of my most rewarding experiences since bring into the industry in 1977. I served as the publisher from October 2019 to August 2023.
“You carried it (Inglewood Today) so much further that I could have ever dreamed,” Mayor Butts concluded.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts and former Inglewood Today Publisher and current South Bay Black Journal owner Kenneth Miller at Inglewood Music Festival on July 5th at Darby Park in Inglewood.
Other Council members also recalled fond memories of Brown.
Council member Alex Padilla said: “Willie Brown was an amazing man, friend, and a person who cared about people and the community that he served. He was inclusive and that’s what I like about Inglewood Today. It’s about what’s happening today and he got everybody involved. To know a guy like Willie Brown is truly a blessing because he cared about people.”
“It was a big loss for the City of Inglewood because he’s been one of pillars of the community publishing important Inglewood news for decades so we will miss him,” Council member Faulk added.
Councilmember Morales echoed their sentiments.
“Willie Brown was a friend and he was someone that I respected highly but more importantly for the City of Inglewood he was part of our history. He belongs to the group that I would describe as old Inglewood. The Inglewood that was transitioning from a place that need a change and bringing it about and he was there to tell our stories, but he was a man of Inglewood and that’s what made his story more unique it was about helping us tell our story,” concluded Council member Eloy Morales.
