Celebrate Black History Month with these activist athletes
Story by Fuad Hassan, Sports Editor
Black History Month is a time to commend the important figures in African American history and the impact they had. There were many prominent black athletes that have used their status to promote and fight for equal rights over the years—here is a spotlight on five of them.
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time winning with a record of 56-5. He was a gold medal winner, a four-time WBA heavyweight champion, and two-time WBC heavyweight champion. Ali used his superstar status to fight for the rights of African Americans during the 1960s as well as speak up against the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. He was even banned from bo...
Tommie Smith & John Carlos
Tommie Smith and John Carlos won the gold and bronze medals respectively for the 200 meter dash in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. While the American National Anthem played, they raised their fists with black gloves in protest of the racial injustices African Americans endured. This protest was broadcast for the entire world to see and brought attention to the civil rights movement in the Un...
Players and coaches of the WNBA & NBA
Players and coaches in the WNBA and NBA led a general strike during the 2020 playoffs. After the attempted murder of Jacob Blake by the Kenosha police, the Milwaukee Bucks did not enter their game against the Orlando Magic in August. After this, every other team followed in their footsteps and did not play their scheduled games. The reasoning for this was they did not want their games to take away f...
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is arguably one of the greatest tennis athletes of all time. She is a 23-time grand slam champion and has won four Olympic gold medals in her career. She proved that it is possible for all African American women to compete at the highest level. Williams is also a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and promotes social change on her social media. “The day I stop fighting for ...
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick was a quarterback for the NFL team the San Francisco 49ers for six seasons. He led his team to the Super Bowl in 2012 but lost. Although he could not win in the end, he had a bright future ahead of him as he was still young. This all ended when Kaepernick decided to kneel during the national anthem during the 2016 season after multiple incidents of police violence against African Americ...
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