Remembering Black History Month
Before Serena Williams and Venus Williams, before the Women's National Basketball Association, and before civil rights created equity on the tennis and basketball courts across the United States, there was Ora Washington. Washington was a talented athlete who flourished in her chosen sports of tennis and basketball. She was the reigning champion of the American Tennis Association (ATA) from 1929 to 1935. She was the star player for the Philadelphia Tribunes and Germantown Hornets women's basketball teams. By the time she retired from play, she had played twelve years of undefeated tennis and earned 201 trophies for both tennis and basketball. Her accomplishments have placed her among the top female athletes of the twentieth century.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Corey Jackson on
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"black" history huh? hmm..
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Permalink Reply by Mark / The Mayor on
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Great post Myiesha! I didn't know about Ora before this! Is there a site dedicated to the history of black tennis players?
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Permalink Reply by Myiesha Simmons on
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there is probaly one but that was just my tribute
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Interesting, as I had never heard of Ora before this either. thanks for sharing Myiesha. my initial comment was speaking to how so much that is black in this society is deemed of a lower nature and/or even evil (subconsciously and/or overtly). so much negativity associated with the color black right?... even in the field of electricity for that matter such "somehow" is the case...yeah the color black is assigned to the negative current (red pozitiv).
anyway, let us continue to work toward make'n this a world one where there is no more perceived need for a so-called black history month. history still is so much HIS-story...and that aint right. we need the true story to be told now..the full story (no longer the FOOL-story).
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It began in 1926 and was originally called Negro History Week. Here's an interesting link to the debates usrrounding BHM.
And in 2008, the USTA compiled this list of top 10 achievements in black tennis history.
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Wow! You wrote that? You are quite a good writer. Well done.
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Permalink Reply by Sahai on
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Great post Myiesha. Really interesting and informative. Even I had never heard of Ora before this. All we hear in US Open is Billie Jean King or Arthur Ashe. But Ora was quite the achiever!
But right now, leave alone black tennis players, US tennis as a whole is still trying to find itself.
And Corey - i completely agree with you as well. But thankfully the times are changing for the better - it might take a while, but eventually we will get there.
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