A Sports Civil Rights Story
Many consider St. Augustine High School the model for high schools across America. From forcing integration of the Louisiana’s high school athletic association to creating more national scholars than any other high school, St. Aug is a trailblazer. Ranked as the best school in Louisiana and in the top 50 in America, the school continues to set educational standards.
Oyd Craddock is a highly accomplished graduate of the school. After a 31-year career at IBM, Mr. Craddock returned home and took over the helm at St. Aug. He served as the school’s president and offered a steadying hand during his three-year tenure. Craddock also wrote, produced and directed a film about St. Aug football. During the 70’s, St. Augustine was the dominant football school at the highest division in the state of Louisiana. Led by famed coach, Otis Washington, the Purple Knights executed a running and short passing attack that was the precursor to the West Coast offense that dominated the NFL for over a decade.
The film, Before the West Coast, chronicles the rise and success of the 4 state championship teams. You see interviews with community leaders, opposing coaches, former players and legends of the game, including Coach Wash himself. According to a press release from the City of New Orleans, “Before the West Coast” is the “storyline of all-black St. Augustine High School breaking through racial barriers and integrating Louisiana’s all-white athletic league following a 1967 Federal Court order. The film chronicles the school’s response to adversity and the innovative leadership of Head Football Coach Otis Washington. St. Augustine’s perseverance in public competition with other Catholic schools was one of the change-agents to helped New Orleans win the game over the era of segregation.”
“Before The West Coast” will be shown at the Broad Theater Sunday February 25, 2024, for a 4:30pm showing as part of a notable series of Black History Month events.
“BEFORE THE WEST COAST” FILM TRAILER
Contact: Writer/ Director Oyd Craddock
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu