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 "