You're up! Calling all my Athletes! It's your time to shine.
Another facet that is intrinsically ingrained into Black culture is sports. It doesn't matter the sport, but there are so many gifted black athletes. For many, these sports were their only chances at the best lives possible. For many, these sports were the only opportunity to escape the bonds of a system that attempted to perpetuate the stereotypes of poverty, violence, and failure.
So, below are nine stories of ten athletes who beat the odds and became absolute stars, excelling in an area that they loved and gave their absolute all to.
Kobe Bryant
"Kobe Bryant spent his early years in Italy and joined the NBA straight out of high school. A dominant scorer, Bryant won five NBA championships and the 2008 MVP Award with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant played on both the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, winning consecutive gold medals with teammates Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, among several other top players. Although later seasons were marred by injuries, he surpassed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring list in December 2014 and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final game. In November 2015, Bryant announced his upcoming retirement from the Lakers with a poem on The Players' Tribune website, titled "Dear Basketball." The athletic great soon sought the best in other fields to turn his poem into a short film, including Disney animator Glen Keane and composer John Williams. The result was a beautifully rendered five-minute, 20-second film, which debuted at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2018, Bryant earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball. On January 26, 2020, he was in a helicopter crash that killed Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gigi and seven others."
Alice Coachman
"If Audrey Patterson had lit the path for black athletes in 1948, Alice Coachman followed it gloriously. The day after Patterson's historic Bronze medal, Alice Coachman became the first black woman from any country to win a gold medal in track and field.
Coachman had come from a poor background in Georgia with little parental support for her sporting ambitions, while segregation in America had also restricted her access to top-quality training facilities. Undeterred, she relied on the support of others to develop her strength and technique. She knew she wanted to compete and so made a high jump crossbar out of rope and sticks, while she developed her stamina by running barefoot on hard dusty roads.
Her sport was High Jump but she showed an aptitude for many events. She grew up to take national titles in the 50m and 100m as well as the 400m relay and was also a tremendous basketball player. But in the high jump she was truly outstanding, taking the American national title ten years in a row in the run-up to 1948. She was received by President Truman and her city of Albany held an “Alice Coachman Day”. A 175-mile motorcade was held in her honour, and she was cheered by black and white supporters alike. Four years later, she became the first black female athlete to endorse an international consumer product when she was signed up to promote Coca-Cola."
Serena and Venus Williams
"Venus got her first real lessons when she was just 4 years old. Serena tagged along and was soon begging to play, too. The young sisters hardly ever left the courts, grinding through practice sessions that started as early as 6 a.m. and stretched into the dark of night after school was out. They sometimes had to return 500 volleys just to earn a rest for the evening. Venus Williams was just 17 years old when she played in the first tennis match against the woman who would soon become her greatest on-the-court rival: her sister, Serena Williams, who was only 16 when the two met at the 1998 Australian Open. Venus won that match in straight sets, then won the rematch that followed later that year at the Italian Open. From that point on, the sisters took the tennis world by storm, revolutionizing the game and taking home an unprecedented number of championships and trophies. Combined, they have won 122 singles titles, including 30 Grand Slam singles titles, and earned over $175 million in prize money. And while they’re considered rivals on the court, they’re actually very close — together, they’ve won 22 doubles titles as teammates, 14 of which have been in Grand Slam competitions. The Williams sisters have dominated the tennis world for decades. You can chalk a fair amount of it up to preternatural talent, but had it not been for the dedication of their father, Richard Williams, and their disciplined childhoods, they probably wouldn’t have ever played tennis at all."
Gabrielle Douglas
"Gabrielle Douglas is a US Women's Artistic gymnast. At the 2012 London Summer Olympics, she won gold medals in both the team and individual all-around competitions. Gabrielle is the first woman of color of any nationality and the first African-American gymnast in Olympic history to become the Individual All-Around Champion. She is also the first American gymnast to win gold in both the gymnastic individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympic games.Gabrielle was introduced to gymnastics by way of a cartwheel. Her older sister, Arielle – a former gymnast and competitive cheerleader, was determined to teach the toddler the sport she loved. Gabrielle immediately picked up her older sister’s love of the sport and soon taught herself how to do a one armed cartwheel.
Although a four year old Gabrielle vividly remembers flipping around the house and off the furniture, there was a bit of a delay in beginning her formal training. After four years of poking and prodding, Arielle convinced their mother, Natalie Hawkins, to allow Gabrielle to train at a local gym. Once formal training began, another two years was all it took for Virginia to crown Gabrielle as the new 2004 Gymnastics State Champion. Since leaving home in 2010, Gabrielle helped Team USA win gold at the 2011 and 2015 World Championships, placed first at the 2012 Olympic Trials (earning the only guaranteed spot on the Olympic Team), was a silver medalist in the all around at the 2015 World Championships, and won the gold medal in the all around at the 2016 AT&T American Cup. Gabrielle also had the highest all around score at the 2012 American Cup, however her scores did not count because she was competing as an alternate athlete. "
Muhammad Ali
"Muhammad Ali was a boxer, philanthropist, and social activist who is universally regarded as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Ali was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.
At an early age, young Clay showed that he wasn't afraid of any bout — inside or outside of the ring. Growing up in the segregated South, he experienced racial prejudice and discrimination firsthand. At the age of 12, Clay discovered his talent for boxing through an odd twist of fate. After his bike was stolen, Clay told a police officer, Joe Martin, that he wanted to beat up the thief. Clay started working with Martin to learn how to spar and soon began his boxing career. In his first amateur bout in 1954, he won the fight by split decision. Clay went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament for novices in the light heavyweight class. Three years later, he won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, as well as the Amateur Athletic Union's national title for the light heavyweight division. Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. Following his suspension for refusing military service, Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title two more times during the 1970s, winning famed bouts against Joe Frazier and George Foreman along the way. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984, Ali devoted much of his time to philanthropy, earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. He was also known for his brave public stance against the Vietnam War."
Book: "Becoming Muhammad Ali"
Jackie Robinson
"Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. The youngest of five children, Robinson was raised in relative poverty by a single mother. He attended John Muir High School in Pasadena, California, and Pasadena Junior College, where he was an excellent athlete and played four sports: football, basketball, track and baseball. He was named the region's Most Valuable Player in baseball in 1938. Robinson's older brother, Matthew, inspired Robinson to pursue his talent and love of athletics. Matthew won a silver medal in the 200-meter dash — just behind Jesse Owens — at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. From 1942 to 1944, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. However, he never saw combat. After his discharge from the Army in 1944, Robinson began to play baseball professionally. At the time, the sport was segregated, and African Americans and white people played in separate leagues. Robinson became the first Black athlete to play Major League Baseball in the 20th century when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Throughout his decade-long career, Robinson distinguished himself as one of the game's most talented and exciting players, recording an impressive .311 career batting average. He was also a vocal civil rights activist."
Colin Kaepernick
"Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016, became known for protesting injustice by refusing to stand for the national anthem. Kaepernick was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1987. Athletic at a young age, Kaepernick, who moved with his family to California when he was 4 years old, began playing youth football at age 8. His strong arm quickly elevated him to the quarterback position. That same arm also made him an elite high school pitcher, one capable of throwing a fastball at 94 miles per hour.But football was Kaepernick's first love. In the fourth grade, he even penned a letter predicting that he would be the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. An athletic and mobile quarterback, Kaepernick attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he set several school and college records. The San Francisco 49ers drafted Kaepernick in 2011, and he led the club to Super Bowl XLVII less than two years later. In 2016, Kaepernick drew attention for refusing to stand for the national anthem, a form of protest that was adopted by other players and became a hot-button political topic. He filed a grievance against NFL owners the following year for colluding to keep him out of the league, before agreeing to a confidential settlement in February 2019."
Lisa Leslie
"Former professional basketball player Lisa Leslie was born July 7, 1972 in Gardena, California. Standing six feet tall in seventh grade, Leslie hated it when people would ask her if she played basketball. But after reluctantly picking up the sport in middle school, she was hooked. In college, Leslie led the University of Southern California to a record of 89-31 and four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. She set Pac-10 conference records for scoring (2,414) rebounding (1,214) and blocked shots (321). She was named 1991 National Freshman of the Year and 1994 National Player of the Year while at USC. In twelve seasons in the WNBA, Leslie led the Los Angeles Sparks to two in 2001 and 2002 being named the Finals MVP. Leslie was a eight-time first team All-WNBA, seven-time WNBA All-Star, four-time second team All-WNBA, three-time WNBA MVP, three-time All-Star Game MVP, and two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She still remains the Sparks’ career scoring and rebounding leader and she was the first WNBA player to reach 6,000 points. Leslie became the first player to win the regular season MVP, All-Star Game MVP and WNBA Finals MVP in the same season. She was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Leslie guided the USA National Team to four Olympic Gold Medals in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. She set an American Olympic women’s scoring record in 1996 by scoring 35 points versus Japan. Leslie was named the 2001 Sportswoman of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation."
Jack Johnson
"Boxer Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1878. The son of ex-slaves and the third of nine children, Johnson possessed an air of confidence and drive to exceed beyond the hardscrabble life his parents had known.After a few years of school, Johnson went to work as a laborer to help support his family. A good deal of his childhood, in fact, was spent working on boats and sculleries in Galveston. By the age of 16, Johnson was on his own, traveling to New York and later Boston before returning to his hometown. Johnson's first fight came around this time. His opponent was a fellow longshoreman, and while the purse wasn't much — just $1.50 — Johnson jumped at the chance and won the fight. Not long after he earned $25 for managing to stick out four rounds against professional boxer Bob Thompson. In 1908 he became the first African American to win the world heavyweight crown when he knocked out the reigning champ, Tommy Burns. He dated white women, drove lavish cars and spent money freely. But trouble was always lurking. In 1912, he was convicted of violating the Mann Act for bringing his white girlfriend across state lines before their marriage. Sentenced to prison, he fled to Europe, remaining there as a fugitive for seven years. He returned to the United States in 1920 and ultimately served out his sentence. The fast-living Johnson held on to the title until 1915 and continued to box until he was 50. He died in an automobile accident in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1946."
P.S. I did not have time to list source information this time. If you're interested in a source list, please let me know! These sources are available upon request. :)
NOTE: All the links lead to the book sourced on Amazon. Of course, you can take the name and author of each book and search through other retailers if you wish. In the future, I will make a blog post about some great discount stores to buy books from.
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