Posted at 11:10 a.m., Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tennis: Black female pioneers to help honor Gibson
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Aretha Franklin, Carol Moseley Braun and other pioneering black women will come together on the U.S. Open's opening night to celebrate the legacy of late tennis star Althea Gibson.The USTA is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gibson's historic title at the U.S. National Championships. In 1957, she became the first black tennis player, male or female, to win the tournament, which became the Open.
Gibson will also be inducted into the U.S. Open Court of Champions, based on the result of an international media vote, during the Aug. 27 ceremony.
Titled "Breaking Barriers," the tribute to Gibson will feature trailblazers in the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics and the arts. Franklin, the first black woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will perform.
Among the other women scheduled to participate are Joyner-Kersee, the Olympic track and field champion; Braun, the former U.S. Senator; Phylicia Rashad, the "Cosby Show" actress; former WNBA star Cynthia Cooper; Winter Olympians Vonetta Flowers and Debi Thomas; tennis player Zina Garrison; astronaut Mae Jemison; and Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Billie Jean King and Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson's widow, are also expected to attend.
Gibson broke the color barrier in tennis in 1950 and went on to win 11 Grand Slam titles. She died in 2003 at the age of 76
