First African American Volleyball Player: Flora Hyman

On February 22, 1971 Fernandez was born in Long Beach, California to her father, a Cuban baseball star and her mother, a Puerto Rican softball player. At the age of seven she started out in a local children's league where she tried out as a pitcher. However, her coach told her that she will never make it because of her size and build. In 1986 she moved to Lakewood,

Laurie Hernandez was born on June 9, 2000 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Her family includes parents Anthony and Wanda Hernandez, brother Marcus, and sister Jelysa. At age sixteen, standing only five foot and one hundred and seven pounds, Laurie Hernandez made the US Olympic Gymnastics team, but she couldn’t do it without the help from coaches Maggie Haney and Victoria Levine. (Laurie)

The topic of race in sport, particularly African Americans in sport, has long been a controversial yet, widely discussed matter. Human and social issues are never easy subjects to discuss or debate, and racial differences tend to provoke very strong reactions. To begin, we will explore those whom claim that black athletes excel in sports as a result of their biological make up. Of all players in the NBA, more than 75% of them are black; of all players in the WNBA, more than 70% of them are black; of all players in the NFL, more than 65% of them are black (Hoenig, 2014). Evidently, black athletes make up a vast majority of these sports in the United States. Athletes must be of elite caliber to have the ability to play at this level, so this

Dorothy Dandridge may seem to be like a beautiful and strong African American woman on the outside, but on the inside she held in a lot of pain. Dorothy Dandridge is an actress, singer, and entertainer, who no longer walk this green Earth, but when she did, she made history. Dorothy was the first African American actress to achieve a leading-role status. Dorothy also had a deeply troubled life and racism didn’t make her life any easier especially when it came to achieving her dreams, but she got through it and during her time, the early 1930’s through the 1960’s, that was saying something. Racism was a lot worse then what it is now, but it made it harder for African Americans to achieve their goals, especially African American women. Dorothy was very worth looking up to now and when she was alive. Dorothy Dandridge is a contribution to African American history because she was the first African American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress, how she fought all odds against her, mainly racism, and she made it possible to for other African American women to follow in her footsteps and look up to her as a role model.

horticulture. She hope someday she could open a specialty plant shop and settle down with

Megan Betsa was born on March 7, 1995. She grew up in McDonough, Georgia. Her father and mother both played basketball in high school and college. Because of this, she has an excellent arm that is meant for softball and pitching. She started to pitch when she was 9 years old. She progressed and got better every year and you could tell that she was improving.

As a child becoming a professional athlete sounds like the best in the world. Present day adolescents, dream big and try to go for the impossible. As a results, a high percentage of the youth don't acquire a more stable and suitable career in the future. High school students go through a vast number of struggles trying to get into the college of their choice. Colleges are highly expensive and there are a growing number of black middle-class citizens that are going through rigorous situations to get their child into an widely exceptional college. A high percentage of black families have conformed their children into athletics. The athletic path is a very risky and unreliable road that will give their children a sense

Betty White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on January 17th 1922, however she did not grow up there. She moved to Beverly Hills when she was two years old. Betty White started high school at Horace Mann High School. Horace Mann High School is known for having famous people walk through its halls. It has had stars such as Angelina Jolie, Nicolas Cage, David Schwimmer and Rob Reiner. She then later graduated from Beverly Hills High School. She originally wanted to write movies and plays, then she performed in her own play and realized she loved every minute of acting. She went on to look for jobs in the acting department. It only took three months to find her first acting job. Her first gig was singing with all of her graduating class

Dating back to 1900, the first black person to compete in the Olympics was Constantin Henriquez de Zubiera, a rugby player that participated in the 1900 Paris Games. George Poage was a U.S hurdler who won two bronze medals and was the first African American to receive medals at the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis, Montana. The first American track and field star was John Baxter Taylor who won a gold medal at the 1908 London Games with his relay team. In an individual event, DeHart Hubbard became the first African American to win gold in the long jump competition at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Alice Coachman placed first at the 1948 London Olympics taking home a gold medal as a high jumper. This was the first gold medal won by an African American

To begin, Althea Gibson and Barbara Jordan needed determination to succeed, which then led them to make history. This is because Althea Gibson was the first African American competitor in women's pro gulf and Barbara Jordan as the first African American woman from a Southern state to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Both women were respected by many other women around the world for their success. Although the biggest breakthrough was Barbara Jordan accomplishment. This is because back in the 1974 people believed that women couldn’t do as well as a men could. In the article “Barbara Jordan” it states “She twice ran unsuccessfully for the Texas House before winning the 1966 contest for a newly created Texas State Senate district. In Austin she won the respect of her colleagues and

Aniya Walker, also known as Niya was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She was born on May 16, 2002 in Mercy Medical Center, located in Downtown Baltimore. She grew up on the East side of Baltimore and lived in a single parent household with two older siblings. Growing up she was well taken care of and described that her childhood was swell. She attended St. Katharine School which later got closed down so she transferred to Abbottston Elementary School. Later on she went to St Thomas Aquinas School and once graduating eighth grade, she attends Cristo Rey Jesuit High School.

One problem that black athletes had to deal was their salaries. Their pay rate was lower compare to their white teammates. The dean of American sports writers, Sam Lacy, sports editor of the Baltimore Afro-American, noted in 1967 that "the African American player was much quicker to sign a contract than white players, and in comparison, was woefully under paid. During the 1980s and 1990s, the situation changed dramatically.. Now, in 1996, Michael Jordan of basketball's Chicago Bulls and sports' highest paid athlete is expected to earn 90% of his $40 million through endorsements. While this situation does not characterize the majority of Black athletes, it does include a significant number, and is in happy contrast to the 1960s and before. Financial stress, plays a big role in the fact that there are black athletes in specific fields of sports, but not many in others.

Lynette Woodward was born in Wichita, Kansas on August 12, 1959. She is famous for playing great basketball. Did you know that she was the first women to play on the Harlem Globetrotters. When she gone to college at KU in 1978. She would usually score 26 points per game and by the time she was out of college she had scored 3,649 baskets. She gone to high school at Wichita North high school and won 2 state basketball titles. Lynette retired in 1999 and became an assistant coach for KU. In 2004 Lynette was added to the basketball hall of fame.She was given WBCBL award in

Jackie was born on July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New York. She lived in an elegant and tasteful home, while

Shakira has done a lot of things since she was a child to become the famous person she is now. She was born in Barranquilla, Colombia on February second, 1977. At the age of 8, she wrote her first song, and by 13 she signed a record deal with Sony Music in Colombia, which resulted in her first album, “Magia” (Magic). She wrote all the songs