Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Sports”

Story of Race Car Driving Pioneer Charlie “Speed King” Wiggins to be Told in Feature Film Biopic “Eraced”

Story of Race Car Driving Pioneer Charlie “Speed King” Wiggins to be Told in Feature Film Biopic “Eraced”

By goodblacknews on July 13, 2021

[Photo: Charlie Wiggins via For Gold and Glory on PBS]

According to deadline.com, the story of Charles “Charlie” Wiggins, the most famous African American race car driver of the 1920s and 1930s, will be told in the feature film Eraced. Producing partners on the film will include racing brands Firestone and IndyCar.

Eraced will chronicle the victories and struggles of the once-legendary-now-little-known Charlie “Speed King” Wiggins, who worked his way from shoe shine to mechanic to star racer despite the brutal inequities of segregation and Jim Crow laws.

After being barred repeatedly from whites-only racing events, Wiggins took the parallel Colored Speedway Association by storm and won the prestigious annual Gold and Glory Sweep-stakes four times between 1926 and 1935. When he suffered a career-ending injury in 1936, Wiggins had to deal with exorbitant medical bills and died almost penniless.

Wiggins will be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame next week in Detroit.

B. Garida (Reagan & Gorbachev), Courtney Gay Wilson (Bronze), and Madisun Leigh (Raphead Response) adapted the feature screenplay from the Emmy-winning documentary and book, For Gold and Glory: Charlie Wiggins and the African American Racing Car Circuit, both written and produced by Todd Gould.

Check out the documentary below:

Read more: https://deadline.com/2021/07/african-american-racing-pioneer-charlie-wiggins-subject-of-movie-biopic-eraced-indycar-firestone-among-partners-1234791501/

https://theundefeated.com/whhw/charlie-wiggins-the-negro-speed-king/

(amazon paid link)

Michael Jordan Donates $1M to Boost Journalism and Sports-Related Studies at Morehouse College

Michael Jordan Donates $1M to Boost Journalism and Sports-Related Studies at Morehouse College

By goodblacknews on May 30, 2021

NBA champion and living legend Michael Jordan, along with Nike‘s Jordan Brand, is giving $1 million to Morehouse College to boost journalism and sports-related studies, according to espn.com.

The gift announced Friday was originally launched with a donation from director Spike Lee. The donation will help fund scholarships, technology and educational programming for students in those fields.

“These grants will be well-spent,” says Lee, film director, producer and alumni of Morehouse. “There’s going to be a rich legacy of storytellers who will be supported by these programs. Many people are influenced to think a certain way about Black folks based on what they see on television and in Hollywood. We’ve got to tell our story.”

The donation is part of a larger philanthropic donation by Jordan and Jordan Brand called the Black Community Commitment, which has directed donations to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Ida B. Wells Society, among other organizations.

“Morehouse is grateful to Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand for an investment in the education of talented men of color who will ensure there is equity, balance, and truth in the way sports stories are framed and the way the Black experience is contextualized within American history,” said Monique Dozier, vice president for institutional advancement at Morehouse.

“Education is crucial for understanding the Black experience today,” Jordan said. “We want to help people understand the truth of our past and help tell the stories that will shape our future.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/michael-jordan-donates-1m-to-morehouse-journalism-sports/2021/05/28/a6035cb8-bff3-11eb-922a-c40c9774bc48_story.html?outputType=amp

Basketball Hall of Fame Kobe Bryant Exhibit Designed with Vanessa Bryant’s Input

Basketball Hall of Fame Kobe Bryant Exhibit Designed with Vanessa Bryant’s Input

By goodblacknews on May 15, 2021

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has created a special exhibit honoring the late Kobe Bryant, a 2020 Hall of Fame inductee, that has been co-designed and approved by his wife and widow, Vanessa Bryant.

According to the Hall of Fame’s President and CEO, John Doleva, the Bryant exhibit is predicted to become the “most talked about” exhibit inside the Springfield, Massachusetts landmark.

“The family had time to think about what they wanted to do,” Doleva said [as reported by espn.com] during Friday’s news conference for each of the 2020 inductees. “[It’s] about Kobe’s accomplishments but also about what Kobe was after he left the Lakers, after he left basketball.”

Vanessa Bryant and her oldest daughter, Natalia, accepted Bryant’s Hall of Fame blazer on his behalf and joined the other 2020 inductees at Friday night’s Hall of Fame awards tipoff celebration and awards gala.

NBA Legend Michael Jordan, at the request of Vanessa Bryant, will introduce Kobe Bryant into the Hall this Sunday. Other members of the star-studded 2020 class that will be inducted include Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.

Read more: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31445551/basketball-hall-fame-prepared-special-exhibit-kobe-bryant-wife-vanessa-input

Jennifer King Makes History as 1st Black Woman to be Full-Time NFL Coach

Jennifer King Makes History as 1st Black Woman to be Full-Time NFL Coach

By goodblacknews on January 23, 2021

With the amount of glass ceilings broken this past week, America’s going to need a bigger broom.

Jennifer King continues her historic ascension up the coaching ladder by becoming the first full-time African-American woman coach in the National Football League.

The Washington Football Team will make King a full-time offensive assistant after spending this past season as a coaching intern.

The news was first reported by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport on Thursday night.

King spent 2018 and 2019 interning in for the league the off-season and during training camp for the Carolina Panthers. King spent the 2020 season as a full-time intern, working with running backs coach Randy Jordan.

In between her two stints with the Panthers, King worked as an assistant wide receiver coach and special teams assistant for the now-defunct Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football.

R.I.P. Henry “Hank” Aaron, 86, Baseball Legend and All-Time Home Run Record Holder for 33 Years (VIDEO)

R.I.P. Henry “Hank” Aaron, 86, Baseball Legend and All-Time Home Run Record Holder for 33 Years (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on January 22, 2021

There is no dearth of tributes, short or long, circulating about Henry Louis Aaron (aka “Hank”, “The Hammer” or “Hammerin’ Hank”) in honor of his life and legacy, which is as it should be.  Below are some links to some of them, as well as some information on his career highlights.

If you only have time to watch one thing today, GBN encourages you take four minutes and check out the moment when Aaron, while playing for the Atlanta Braves, broke Babe Ruth‘s all-time home run record on April 8, 1974. As Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully says:

What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the deep south for breaking the record of an all-time baseball idol and it is a great moment for all of us and particularly for Henry Aaron.

Regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Aaron’s 755 career home runs stood as the Major League Baseball record for 33 years, and he still holds many MLB offensive records to this day.

Over the course of his 23 seasons in the MLB, Aaron hit 24 or more home runs every year from 1955 through 1973, andis one of only two players to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least fifteen times.  In 1982, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

To read more about Aaron:

Bianca Smith Earns Coaching Spot with Red Sox Minor League Team, Becomes 1st Black Woman Pro Baseball Coach

Bianca Smith Earns Coaching Spot with Red Sox Minor League Team, Becomes 1st Black Woman Pro Baseball Coach

By goodblacknews on January 2, 2021

[photo: Bianca Smith via Twitter]

Bianca Smith is set to score some baseball history.

The Boston Red Sox organization is hiring Smith as a minor league coach, according to the Boston Globe. MLB confirmed Smith will be the first Black woman on record to coach baseball at the professional level.

Smith, who most recently was an assistant baseball coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Wisconsin, will mainly work with infielders at the Red Sox’s minor league facility in Fort Meyers, Florida.

Smith’s pro baseball experience includes interning in the operations departments for the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds, in addition to working in amateur administration for MLB.

Smith played softball for her Ivy League alma mater Dartmouth from 2010-12 before working as director of baseball operations at Case Western Reserve University from 2013-17 and as an assistant coach with University of Dallas in 2018, according to the Globe.

To read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/31/sports/red-sox-hire-bianca-smith-minor-league-coach-making-her-first-black-woman-coach-mlb-history/

Naomi Osaka and LeBron James Named Associated Press Female and Male Athletes of the Year

Naomi Osaka and LeBron James Named Associated Press Female and Male Athletes of the Year

By goodblacknews on December 27, 2020

[Photos: Naomi Osaka and LeBron James via commons.wikipedia.org]

Tennis champion and NBA champion Naomi Osaka and LeBron James were recently voted Female Athlete of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year, respectively, by the Associated Press.

Although this year marks Osaka’s first AP victory, James has won the honor three times before, in 2013, 2016 and 2018, becoming the male athlete to win the AP top spot the most times in history. Michael Jordan, a three-time winner, is the only other basketball player to win the AP award more than once.

2020 U.S. Open title holder Osaka and NBA Finals MVP James also stand out for their activism and contributions to society.

Osaka spoke out about racial injustice and police brutality, famously wearing masks with the names of victims of police violence before each U.S. Open match along with joining the protests in Minneapolis demanding justice for George Floyd.

James’ More Than a Vote organization drew more than 42,000 volunteers to work at polling stations for the November election, and pushed for turnout among Black and young voters.

“The tragic death of George Floyd, everyone getting a chance to see that, and also hearing the story of Breonna Taylor, her tragic story, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia … my people have had enough and I have had enough,” James said. “That’s why I called for action, and with my platform, I believed I could get people to join me.”

In 2018 James founded the I PROMISE school in his hometown of Akron, Ohio and most recently broke ground on an affordable housing project for 50 families this year.  This month, plans for House Three Thirty (a nod to Akron’s area code) were announced, explaining how James plans to also offer things like accessible family financial health programming, job training and a community gathering space.

Read more: https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/30605798/naomi-osaka-named-associated-press-female-athlete-year

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30600613/los-angeles-lakers-star-lebron-james-wins-ap-male-athlete-year-award

R.I.P. Rafer Johnson, 86, Gold Medalist in the 1960 Olympic Decathlon

R.I.P. Rafer Johnson, 86, Gold Medalist in the 1960 Olympic Decathlon

By goodblacknews on December 2, 2020

According to nytimes.com, American athlete Rafer Johnson, who carried the United States flag into Rome’s Olympic Stadium in August 1960 as the first Black captain of a U.S. Olympic team and went on to win gold in the decathlon bringing him acclaim as the world’s greatest all-around athlete, died today at his home in Los Angeles, CA. He was 86.

To quote from The New York Times:

Johnson never competed after that decathlon triumph. He became a good-will ambassador for the United States and a close associate of the Kennedy family, taking a leadership role in the Special Olympics, which were championed by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and joining Robert F. Kennedy’s entourage during Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1968. He was remembered especially for helping to wrestle the senator’s assassin to the ground in Los Angeles in 1968.

Johnson’s national profile was largely molded at the 1960 Olympics, one of the most celebrated in the history of the Games, a moment when a host of African-American athletes burst triumphantly onto the world stage.

Muhammad Ali, known then as Cassius Clay, captured boxing gold in the light-heavyweight division. Wilma Rudolph swept to victory in the women’s 100- and 200-meter dashes and combined with her Tennessee State teammates for gold in the 4 x 100 relay. Oscar Robertson helped take the United States basketball team to a gold medal.

Johnson is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Thorsen, brother Jimmy Johnson, a former San Francisco 49er and Pro Football Hall of Famer; two children, Jennifer Johnson Jordan, who was a member of the U.S. women’s beach volleyball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and is now a volleyball coach at U.C.L.A., and Josh Johnson; and four grandchildren.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/sports/olympics/rafer-johnson-dead.html

Russell Wilson and Ciara Donate $1.75 Million to Washington School via Why Not You Foundation

Russell Wilson and Ciara Donate $1.75 Million to Washington School via Why Not You Foundation

By goodblacknews on October 30, 2020

According to the Associated Press, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Ciara, the Grammy-winning performer, through their Why Not You Foundation, are contributing about $1.75 million to rebrand an existing charter program known as Cascade Midway Academy, just south of Seattle.

The Cascade high school program was set to debut this year before the pandemic forced founders  to delay opening. The superstar couple’s generosity will be honored with the school’s name change to Why Not You Academy.

Wilson and Ciara said to the Associated Press they jumped at the opportunity to help launch the school. It focuses on academics, personalized student plans and internships and mentorships for underserved Black and brown students. The couple said they hope this will be the first of many Why Not You Academy sites across the country.

“I’m really confident…about the team that we have here and how we’re building things out,” Ciara said. “We’re passionate about everything. We’re all in on this.”

The Why Not You Academy is expected to open in fall 2021.

To read more: https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-school-choice-seattle-charter-schools-celebrity-04ab591940910dfb9109150eafb39fc0

LeBron James and Collage of Students and Staff from James’ I PROMISE School Adorn Cover of New Wheaties Box

LeBron James and Collage of Students and Staff from James’ I PROMISE School Adorn Cover of New Wheaties Box

By goodblacknews on October 7, 2020

Wheaties announced today that LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, will be the next athlete to adorn the cover of the iconic orange box.

James takes over the cover from Serena Williams, both of whom were named Associated Press Athletes of the Decade earlier this year. James will continue Wheaties’ 85 year-run of featuring sports champions on the collectible boxes.

The box looks a little different this time. Alongside James is a collage of kids and families from the LeBron James Family Foundation’s transformational I PROMISE program in Akron, Ohio.

The wraparound image includes students and staff from the I PROMISE School, the groundbreaking Akron Public School opened by James and the Foundation in 2018 that serves the district’s most at-risk students and their entire families.

The school and the Foundation’s comprehensive programming have redefined the community of Akron and is a testament that James has never forgotten where he came from. No matter how much on court success he has had, his legacy is much bigger than basketball.