All articles tagged with #black athletes
Arthur Ashe's groundbreaking victory at Wimbledon in 1975, as the first Black man to win the tournament, continues to inspire and impact the sport, highlighting issues of race, resilience, and legacy in tennis.
Coco Gauff credited Donald Trump's re-election for inspiring her French Open victory, motivated by representing and supporting Americans who feel unsupported, especially Black Americans, and celebrated her win with Spike Lee, emphasizing her patriotism and hope for her community.
The NAACP has urged Black student athletes to reconsider playing for public colleges and universities in Florida due to the state's crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The organization's leader, Derrick Johnson, called on Black NCAA prospects to boycott Florida universities, citing the state's anti-Black policies and Governor Ron DeSantis' devaluation of Black America. This comes in response to Florida's recent actions to limit public funding for DEI programs, with DeSantis declaring that "Florida is where DEI goes to die."
The sudden cardiac arrest of Bronny James, son of NBA star LeBron James, has brought attention to the dangers faced by Black basketball players. A 2020 study found that Black male NCAA Division I basketball players had the highest incidence rate of sudden cardiac arrest and death among athletes aged 11 to 29. The study also revealed that nearly half of the cases were caused by cardiomyopathy, a chronic heart disease. The incidents involving Bronny James and Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin highlight the need for immediate access to life-saving care and the importance of implementing measures such as increasing CPR training and providing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in sports facilities. The NOLA Network, founded by a mother who lost her son to sudden cardiac arrest, advocates for health care equity and prevention of sudden cardiac arrest.
The US Department of Justice has reached an agreement with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office in Georgia after Delaware State University filed a civil rights complaint when the Black women's lacrosse team was stopped and searched while traveling. The sheriff's office will review its traffic stop and search policies and develop new data collection procedures. The Liberty County Sheriff, who is Black, denied racial profiling and said the search was conducted after a drug-sniffing dog signaled there could be drugs on the bus. The DOJ will work with the sheriff's office to eradicate any biased policing practices and facilitate a dialogue with the students involved in the incident.
The film "Air" tells the story of Nike's signing of Michael Jordan, but obscures his presence, with the basketball star uttering only three words in the entire film. The film's true power is its ability to convey an unnerving truth about the sneakers' mystique: Jordan's athletic ability was crucial to the success of Nike and Air Jordan; not so much his face – and definitely not his words. "Air" becomes the story of how a struggling company created one of the most successful brands in the world on the back of a Black body, a tale as old as the nation itself.