By: Zachary Draves
Arthur Ashe was soft spoken but instead of carrying a stick, he carried a tennis racquet. He hustled on the grass at Wimbledon and marched on the pavement in Washington. He entertained the people at Flushing Meadows and stood up for the people in Soweto. He served volleys at Jimmy Connors and served notice to the United Nations. In other words, Arthur Ashe was not just a great tennis player but a global citizen.
All that was captured in the new CNN film Citizen Ashe released June 26, which tells the story of one of the most influential athlete activists of all time. The film features testimonials from his widow Jeanne Montgomery Ashe, John Mcenroe, Billie Jean King, Donald Dell, and Dr. Harry Edwards.
From his earliest days growing up in the Jim Crow South in Richmond, Virginia to becoming the first black man to win Wimbledon in 1975, Ashe was a trailblazer through and through. He fully understood the hand he was dealt with. He broke new ground on the tennis court in every way but as the film shows he was at first reluctant to speak out against racial injustice.
He was walking a delicate tight rope in the very lilly white sport of Tennis. On the one hand, his mere presence was a powerful statement and on the other he felt that if he rocked the boat he would have potentially hurt future opportunities for black players.
In 1967, when Dr. Edwards, a sociology professor at San Jose State University was organizing the Olympic Project for Human Rights calling for a boycott of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Ashe didn’t offer his support which irked Dr. Edwards. He wasn’t seen in the same light as Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, or Kareem Abdul Jabbar who were much more vocal. All that changed in the tumultuous year of 1968.
The same year in which Ashe graduated from UCLA and the US Army was when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. He felt a sense of anguish and despair and soon began a personal metamorphosis while also becoming the first and only black man to win that year’s US Open.
In 1969, Ashe found his calling when he applied for a visa to play in the South African Open and being subsequently denied due to the country’s Apartheid regime. Under that system, black citizens were denied the right to vote, own property, and forbidden from navigating the country without showing identification. Furthermore, white communities were wealthier with resources and black communities were poor and deprived. It was basically Jim Crow multiplied by ten.
Eventually, Ashe would become the first black professional player to play in the South African Open in 1973. He boldly told the South African government that he would not play in front of a segregated crowd and it was from that point on that he became one of the most visible advocates in the anti-apartheid movement.
He would partner with civil rights activist Randall Robinson in the formation of the organization Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid. He testified before the United Nations and was arrested during a protest at the South African Embassy in Washington D.C. Ashe’s approach to activism was one of nuance in which he didn’t see an issue as being necessarily black and white but of right and wrong.
In 1988, his life took a dramatic turn when he testified positive for HIV/AIDS due to a blood transfusion. He kept it a secret until 1992 and took his advocacy into a new direction when began to utilize his resources to combat HIV/AIDS. He started the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health which actively works to provide quality health care to urban communities. That same year, he published a groundbreaking five book series called A Hard Road to Glory which told the stories of African Americans in sports.
Even as his health was drastically deteriorating, Ashe made it a point to stand in front of the White House and get arrested protesting the inhumane treatment of Haitian Refugees by the then Bush Administration. He was an activist until his last breath on February 6, 1993.
The film speaks to the evolution of a man who was part of a revolution.
“Arthur’s entire life path was shaped by sports and five books, and his words. Sports led him to his champion credentials and books helped make him the role model he became” said director Rex Miller
“For me his take away for young people is his call to activism. “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can,'' were his words. But you can’t do nothing” he said to himself” said co-director Sam Pollard.
He paved the way for the modern athlete activists of our time such as Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Serena Williams, CoCo Goff, and Naomi Osaka. A blueprint that has proven successful in changing hearts, minds, and polices. It is in that spirit in context of the times we are living in that the memory and legacy of Arthur Ashe is to not be forgotten.
Citizen Ashe is currently on CNN on Demand and will be airing again on Sunday July 2 at 9pm ET.
A discussion guide for the film can be found here https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/20/us/ashe-discussion-guide/index.html
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