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Celebrating Bill Russell’s Slade’s Bar and Grill, a historic haven for Boston’s Black community

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Bill Russell left his mark on more than the Boston Celtics in the city where he won an NBA-record 11 titles. He also opened and ran Slade’s Bar and Grill, a place as renowned for its soul food as its reputation as a safe haven for Black clients to stop and eat without worry as a stop listed in the “Negro Motorist Green Book,” according to a new article by Boston 25 News’ Crystal Hayes.

Sold to Russell by the Slade family who then sold it to retired Celtics assistant executive director of basketball operations Leo Papile and his daughter Britney Kyle Papile, Slades would host people of color from the neighborhood and the world over.

Mattapan native and co-owner Jay Howard shared how Malcolm X was a server there, a place where “people being able to come here for safe haven and NAACP meetings to be able to be there even when they couldn’t be anywhere else.”

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“What we’re really trying to do is tell the story of Slade’s to the community, to Boston, to the world, really get people excited about the food here, get excited about the events, get excited about the experience that you will have when you come in,” added Papile.

And as a way to honor how Russell brought so many people in the city of Boston through the community and history Slade’s became a part of, now is an ideal moment to spread the word as Russell’s legacy is celebrated in Boston and across the landscape of the NBA during Black History Month.

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