Category: Sports

Black in the Day…A True Champion

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September 9, 1968 On this date in 1968, Arthur Ashe won the US Open singles tennis Championship. This accomplishment was the first time a Black man had won this title in professional tennis. Ashe was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked World No. 1 by Harry Hopman in 1968 and by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and World Tennis Magazine in 1975.[2][4] In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976.[5] Arthur…

Black in the Day…The Disenfranchisement Continues

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September 1, 1898:   Black in the Day: On this date the state of Louisiana joined the list of many other southern states in the continued alienation of Black folks having  basic human rights. The disfranchisement of Black folks has been an ever present hurdle that Blacks have had to jump over.  From the late 1870s, racists have worked tirelessly to weaken Black political power. They employed violence and intimidation to scare many Blacks from voting. White landlords would sometimes threaten or bribe Black sharecroppers and renters not to vote…

Black in the Day…An MLB legend

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August 31, 1935:   Black in the Day   On this day, Frank Robinson, the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win MVP in both leagues, was born. Frank was born in Beaumont, Texas. He was the youngest of ten children born to Frank Robinson and Ruth Shaw. An outfielder and first baseman, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 in his first year of eligibility. A fearsome hitter, Robinson ranks 10th on the career home runs list with 586. He won…

Black in the Day…Althea Gibson. The She-ro who changed sports.

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August 25, 1927: Althea Gibson was born in South Carolina on August 25, 1927. At an early age, she developed a love of sport. Her great talent was in tennis, but in the 1940s and ’50s, most tournaments were closed to African Americans. Gibson kept playing (and winning) until her skills could no longer be denied, and in 1951, she became the first African American to play at Wimbledon. Measuring 5-feet 11-inches, and possessing superb power and athletic skill, Gibson seemed destined for big victories. In 1956, it all came…

Jay-Z’s Partnership with the NFL and Why We Really Don’t Give a Damn

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Jay-Z partnering aka working WITH (not for) the NFL got some of y’all worried. Why, though? Surely it isn’t because of some boycott, is it? How many boycotts are we fake boycotting now? I can’t keep up. Because while most of us are outwardly boycotting the NFL in order to satisfy the mass woke populist, we simultaneously sneak to our fantasy drafts, praying to the NFL gods that Antonio Brown’s frozen foot thaws before the start of the regular season. Or just like how most of us “should” boycott Starbucks…