Althea Gibson and the Williams Sisters: Progressive Perfection

Althea Gibson and the Williams Sisters:

Progressive Perfection in Action

     In a segment titled, “Notable Women,” I was able to locate some background on former ath-letic great Althea Gibson, and it gave me the idea to blend her background and talents in with present-day female phenoms Venus and Serena Williams, all in hopes of bringing you, the reader, the kind of information and insights that will show that history, as Malcolm X taught, is “best qualified to reward our research.”

       Research unveils what most of us already know about the sport of tennis: that it first came to the United States in the late 19^th century and by the middle of the 20^th century, had become a part of the culture of health and fitness. Jone Johnson Lewis explains that, “public programs brought tennis to children in poor neighborhoods, though those chil-dren couldn’t dream of playing in the elite tennis clubs.”

       Then came Althea Gibson. Born in Silver, South Carolina, she was raised in Harlem in the 1930s and ‘40s and her family was on welfare. Lewis writes that she was “a client of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,” and she had trouble in school and was often truant. She ran away from home on a regular basis.

       Her career started off with her winning paddle tennis compe-titions in public recreation programs, some of them spon-sored by the Police Athletic League. Musician Buddy Walker, Lewis writes, noticed her playing table tennis, and thought she might do well in tennis. He brought her to the Harlem River Tennis Courts, where she learned the game and began to excel.

     Back then they were more progressive than we are not. At least, once Althea mastered the tennis courts, a group called the American Tennis Association – all black – provided tennis oppor-tunities not otherwise available to African American tennis players. Lewis documents that “in 1944 and 1945, she again won ATA tournaments.”

       The rest is history. She got recognized and went on to enter the all-England tourney at Wimbledon, the French Open and even toured worldwide as a mem-ber of a national tennis team sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

     Space will not permit specifics in this essay, but let me note for the record that she also excelled in women’s golf (on occasion she would drive the ball 325 yards) and appeared in several feature films. The  multi-talented sister even released a record album titled, “Althea Gibson Sings.”  In 1957 she even sang at the Wimbledon Ball!

      In the 1960s, Althea even toured with the Harlem Globe-rotters (see the article on Pete Maravich) playing exhibition ten-is, and in 1971 retired from professional golf but continued playing professional tennis.

       She is now a member of the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, the South Carolina Hall of Fame and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

       Why mention all this? Be-ause today’s young people do not appreciate their history. Far too many of them think that the skills and values they have came from the sky or some other unreal or irrelevant place. Many think that the music they “sample” is some-hing they “discovered,” rather than being the product of the hard work and sweat of talented pre-ecessors.

     In light of this, it would be far too simple for young people, instead of engaging in research on the topic, to conclude that Venus and Serena Williams are somehow “pioneers” of some kind. They are not. They are the beneficiaries of the pioneering spirit and courage of sisters like Althea Gibson. And they now stand to benefit far more in terms of finances than Althea ever did.

     While white pundits debate each other over who is better, there is no doubt that Venus and Serena Williams have changed the “complexion” of the game of pro tennis, both literally and figuratively speaking. But the key is their father, Richard Williams

      According to this man, he and his wife were sitting around one day thinking about the way they could become rich. They concluded that they could have children who would become tennis champs and make money. And then they did it. This I heard from Williams’ own mouth.

       Williams is a man with a plan in more ways than one, and he is not afraid to deal with the issue of racism. Last month at the Indian Wells tournament, Williams said that the crowd was “racist” because it booed Venus because she pulled herself out of a match against Serena at the last minute a week earlier. This prompted Martina Hingis to make the claim that there was “no racism on the tour” and that, “maybe by being black, they have a lot of other advantages because they can always say it’s racism or something like that, and it’s not the case at all.”

      According to SportsLine, Williams senior said when he and Venus were walking to their stadium seats to watch the match that Venus had dropped out of (between Serena and Belgium’s Kim Clijsters), “people kept calling me n------.”

      Richard continued: “I don’t think things have changed. I just think they’re more camouflaged and covered up … If things had changed, when I was walking down those steps that guy wouldn’t have called me a n-----.”

       The white man said, “If this was 1975 … n-----, I’d skin you alive.”

      Again, we go back to the pioneering work done by our ancestors, and people like Althea Gibson, and we see where the awareness exhibited by Richard Williams – passed on to his talented daughters – came from.

And the young ladies reap the benefits in more ways than one.

       For instance, in December of last year, both Venus and Serena signed a contact with Avon that made them the first celebrities to star in the company’s global campaign. According to Diver-itync., Laura Castellano, spokes-erson for Avon said, “Venus and Serena embody exactly what Avon is all about – strength of spirit, a can-do attitude, profess-ional accomplishment and a warm personal relationship,” she said. “They really bring the issue of women’s empowerment to a fore-ront.”

      And last month, in addition to the clothing and toys that they are producing, the two superstars announced a partnership with one of America’s oldest brands, The William Wrigley Jr. Company. While the terms of the contract were not disclosed, the Williams sisters will be the stars of a campaign titled, “Distinctly Doublemint,” and will debut this summer. Wrigley hopes to target “urban individualists” with the Williams sisters.

        From the courage and overall greatness of Althea Gibson to the current accomplishments of Venus and Serena Williams, there can be little doubt that tennis has had an injection of color that was badly needed since the days of black males Yannick Noah and Arthur Ashe. But thanks to their legacy and lessons, these three great women will, hopefully, pave the way and open the door for many others to come.