50 Years Later

YEARS LATER

LATE GREAT ALTHEA GIBSON

IF all we did was cover

Sports just like the White Media

WHAT would be the Point ?

ANSWER

There wouldn’t be any

YES we are the ONLY ones asking the impertinent questions.

YES it was so so nice for a Who’s Who of Black Women to gather at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, at the start of the U.S. Open to honor the 50th Anniversary of The Late Great Althea Gibson becoming the FIRST African American to win the U.. Open and the FIRST African American Tennis STAR but …..

whether its Althea or Jackie Robinson or

you name the Black Athlete Pioneer

on the occasion of Major Anniversaries

what is ALWAYS the missing element

THINK real hard it will come to you

or don’t stress your Brain and

we’ll tell you right now

We always get the proverbial Flowery Speeches, the reminiscences that bring a Tear To The Eye, the obligatory and brief stories in the Major Media BUT WHAT IS ALWAYS MISSING DEAR READER …..

Whether it’s Althea or others and most notable of ALL Jackie Robinson what is ALWAYS missing from that Black Rhetoric is the REAL issue. The LACK of progress since these Revolutionary Athletes took the field and in many cases the backsliding that has taken case the “perfect ( read imperfect ) example is Major League Baseball of course. But Tennis just as well.

Eliminate the incredible phenomenon that is The Williams Sisters and to a far lesser extent James Blake WHERE ARE ALL THE BLACK TOUR TENNIS PLAYERS, ANSWER …….. they almost don’t exist. ………

So here is the Point ….

Althea is DEAD Jackie is DEAD unless you know something the rest of us don’t and IF you do shame on you for keeping it a SECRET …. if you don’t then guess what Althea Gibson, Jackie Robinson et al.. could not care less because they are very very far away in some Spirit World or just as likely simply stone DEAD rotting away as the maggots feast on what might be left.

( no photos or vivid descriptions thank you )

Honoring these FALLEN Heroes needs to be about the present and the future. Rather than participating in a BS Feel Good Revival Session “sanctioned” by the White Tennis Hierarchy the real beneficiary of all this empty talk really meant to promote the speakers not Althea or Jackie certainly NOT Change.

INSTEAD FAMOUS BLACK WOMEN ….

( no names why give them ink for nothing )

HOW ABOUT THIS RADICAL THOUGHT holding a rally OUTSIDE of the US Open Stadium to PROTEST the lack of African Americans in the World of Tennis. More accurately known as The White World of Tennis.

How about putting The Tour

and ALL its many sponsors

on notice that …..

What they think of as “good” business isn’t any such thing.

WHY IN 2007 for all practical purposes are there no more African American women and men on the Tour then there were back in 1957 when Althea Gibson won the U.S Open.

HOW CAN THAT BE IN THE TENNIS WORLD 50 YEARS LATER ….

Here’s how ……

The Tennis World does not give a DAMN about African Americans or their absence from Tennis. Even worse than the situation involving Althea Gibson are The Williams Sisters. They are the most exciting TWO ever to be part of the Tour. They have done MORE for Tennis than any other TWO players in Women’s Tennis history absolutely but we’ll include the men’s side ……..

So what happens …..

LOGICALLY if TWO African American Tennis Players can do so so much for this Sport ANYONE would conclude we need MORE fiery endlessly exciting talented BLACK players in Tennis. No not the “majority” (of course) but among a few hundred WHITE Tour pro players female and male certainly 10%-20% let’s say 50 AFRICAN American players on Tour between the two sexes.

Go find them they

DON’T exist

( maybe in the Great Beyond ….

NO sorry )

and how about a POLICY by the Tour

to develop more African Americans

for the Tour you must be JOKING

so when what’s her Black name or

what’s her Black face got up

Monday evening in

Center Court to

PRAISE

Althea Gibson

to the High Heavens

so what it means here

is The Answer Dear Readers

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

Whenever you want to reach us with comments or better yet an idea for a topic for the Box ……. blackbox@blackathlete.net

” WAKE UP BLACK AMERICA “