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African American athletes

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Clarence Bouldin, a muscular wrestler.

The Curious Case of Clarence Bouldin

Was the pro wrestler known as “the Cuban Wonder” really the first Black world champion?
by Ian Douglass via The Ringer on February 28, 2025

The Death of Jack Trice

On October 6, 1923, Iowa State tackle Jack Trice lined up for the second half of a college football game. No one’s sure what happened in that third quarter.
by Jaime Schultz, Ashawnta Jackson, Donald Spivey via JSTOR Daily on July 29, 2024
Ansel Williamson, the trainer whose horse won the first Kentucky Derby, is depicted on the right in the 1864 painting “Ansel Williamson, Edward Brown, and the Undefeated Asteroid,” by Edward Troye.

They Were Born into Slavery. Then They Won the First Kentucky Derby.

As the 150th Kentucky Derby kicks off, the achievements of jockey Oliver Lewis and trainer Ansel Williamson at the first Derby have been largely forgotten.
by Dave Kindy via Retropolis on May 4, 2024
Althea Gibson leaving tennis court followed by crowd

Sports Legend Althea Gibson Served Up Tennis History When She Broke Through in 1950

Her athletic performance in New York impressed onlookers of all colors and cracked opened the door for a new generation of Black players to come.
by Sally H. Jacobs via Smithsonian on August 8, 2023
The New York Renaissance basketball team.

The Harlem Hoopsters of the Renaissance

The New York Renaissance, also known as the Harlem Renaissance, was the first Black-owned, all-black, fully-professional basketball team established in 1923.
by Frank Drouzas via The Weekly Challenger on June 26, 2023
Jockey Isaac Murphy on the thoroughbred Tenny, circa 1890.

Born Into Slavery, A Kentucky Derby Champ Became An American Superstar

Isaac Murphy was once called ‘The Prince of Jockeys’ during the fleeting era when African Americans reigned on the nation’s racetracks.
by Sydney Trent via Retropolis on May 6, 2023
Lebron James posing with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Changed the Rules for Black Athletes

How Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's activism set the stage for Lebron James and twenty-first century Black professional athletes.
by Theresa Runstedtler via Humanities on March 22, 2023
Bernard King of the New Jersey Nets driving past Elvin Hayes of the Washington Bullets, in March of 1978.

The Racial Politics of the N.B.A. Have Always Been Ugly

A new book argues that the real history of the league is one of strife between Black labor and white ownership.
by Jay Caspian Kang via The New Yorker on March 21, 2023
Chicago Bulls guard Norm Van Lier drives past Milwaukee Bucks center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs at the United Center in Chicago on April 19, 1974.

How Black Basketball Players in the ‘70s Paved the Way for the All Stars Today

The impact of Black ball players' fight for higher compensation and labor protections in the ‘70s is felt today.
by Theresa Runstedtler via TIME on March 16, 2023
Tyler Adams at a press conference.

What We Ask of Black American Athletes

The captain of the U.S. soccer team is the latest in a long line of sports stars who have had to wrestle with a complex legacy on the world stage.
by Clint Smith via The Atlantic on November 29, 2022
Jackie Robinson addresses civil rights supporters protesting outside the 1964 GOP National Convention.

Jackie Robinson Was a Radical – Don't Listen to the Sanitized Version of History

Before Colin Kaepernick, Jackie Robinson wrote, ‘I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a Black man in a white world.’
by Peter Dreier via The Conversation on April 14, 2022
Members of the Coloured Hockey League pose with hockey sticks and trophies.

The All-Black League That Invented Hockey As We Know It

The Coloured Hockey League doesn’t get a prominent place in most tellings of hockey’s story, but its legacy is undeniable.
by Jasper Hutson via Defector on March 9, 2022
Outfielder Darryl Strawberry of the New York Mets in uniform with bat

MLB Could've Stopped Black Talent Drain But Didn't

Baseball’s failure to get out in front of the problem in the 1970s had real and lasting consequences.
by Louis Moore via Global Sport Matters on October 6, 2021
Hank Aaron.

What Hank Aaron Told Me

When I spoke with my boyhood hero 25 years after his famous home run, I learned why he’d kept going through the death threats and the hate.
by Sandy Tolan via The Atlantic on January 25, 2021
Book Cover for Smokin' Joe: The Life of Joe Frazier

A New Biography of 'Smokin' Joe' Frazier, a Champ with the Common Touch

Allen Barra reviews Mark Kram Jr.’s Smokin’ Joe, a biography of Joe Frazier.
by Allen Barra via The National Book Review on October 23, 2020
Baseball players congratulate each other after a game.

The Black Gap in Baseball

Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Andre Dawson and Derek Jeter sit down to discuss the Black gap in baseball.
via The Players' Tribune on September 10, 2020
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Black College Athletes Are Rising Up Against the Exploitative System They Labor In

Will coronavirus prompt the house of cards of college athletics to come tumbling down?
by Amira Rose Davis via Made By History on August 11, 2020

Althea Gibson, Who Smashed Racial Barriers in Tennis, Honored With Statue at U.S. Open

'It’s about time,' said former doubles partner Angela Buxton.
by Brigit Katz via Smithsonian on August 28, 2019
"Fleet" Walker (middle row, far left) poses with Oberlin College's first varsity baseball team in 1881. Walker went on to become the first African American major leaguer.

The First African American Major League Baseball Player Isn’t Who You Think

As the country celebrates Jackie Robinson Day, let’s consider the career of Fleet Walker.
by Ronald G. Shafer via Retropolis on April 15, 2019
Marques Colston of the New Orlean Saints during a game, Asim Bharwani, Flickr

The NFL and a History of Black Protest

For far too long, Americans have used football to sell the ideas of democracy and fair play. But for Black America, this is an illusion.
by Louis Moore via Black Perspectives on September 12, 2018

Agency, Order and Sport in the Age of Trump

Jim Thorpe, Jack Johnson, and the sporting middle ground.
by Andrew McGregor via Public Seminar on July 18, 2018

How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman

Wilma Rudolph won three Olympic golds and was among the first athletes to use her celebrity to fight for civil rights.
by Kate Siber via Outside on June 8, 2018

The 'Pedestrian' Who Became One of America's First Black Sports Stars

In 1880, Frank Hart wowed audiences at New York’s Madison Square Garden by walking 565 miles in six days.
by David Seideman via Atlas Obscura on April 17, 2018

‘Some Observations on the NFL and Negro Players’

Newly discovered league memo from 1966 anticipates controversies over the Colin Kaepernick protest.
by Paul Lukas via Andscape on February 1, 2018
Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists during a 1968 Olympics award ceremony
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The Black Athlete in America

Colin Kaepernick continues a long tradition of athletes using their celebrity to protest America's racial inequality.
by Matt Spolar, Brian Kamerzel via Retro Report on December 21, 2017

From Louis Armstrong to the N.F.L: Ungrateful as the New Uppity

The belief endures, from Armstrong’s time that visible, affluent African-American entertainers are obliged to adopt a pose of ceaseless gratitude.
by Jelani Cobb via The New Yorker on September 24, 2017

The Role of HBCUs and the Black Press in the Rise of the American Tennis Association

Historically black colleges and universities hosted all but six ATA tournaments from 1927 to 1968.
by Rhiannon Walker via Andscape on August 4, 2017

How African-Americans Disappeared from the Kentucky Derby

In the 19th century – when horse racing was America’s most popular sport – former slaves populated the ranks of jockeys and trainers.
by Katherine Mooney via The Conversation on May 4, 2017
Lee Elder
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Black Champions: Interview with Lee Elder

His experiences with racism and golf, from death threats in Memphis to breaking the sporting color barrier in South Africa.
via American Archive of Public Broadcasting on July 16, 1985
Mack Robinson.
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Black Champions: Interview with Mack Robinson

Olympic track and field athlete reflects on the exclusion of African Americans from professional sports and the role his brother Jackie played in changing that.
via American Archive of Public Broadcasting on May 21, 1985
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