02/02/2024
“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated”… -Coretta Scott King
February marks Black History Month, and in honor of the occasion, we’re looking back on famous black leaders, thinkers, and artists, past and present, who have left their mark on history.
Pictured above is Alfred “Tup” Holmes, the son of a golf-playing doctor who grew in his love for playing the game of golf. At age 20, he won his first of 3 negro intercollegiate championships. Two years later, he would qualify for the NCAA golf tournament, only to be turned away because of the color of his skin. It was Jim Crow who was busy shutting out black Americans from pursuing both normal daily activities and dreams, Alfred saw to it that golf courses in Atlanta would be open to Black golfers. On November 7, 1955, in the court case Holmes vs. Atlanta, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the desegregation of Atlanta’s public golf courses. We have Alfred to thank for this.
Many voices like Alfred’s spoke powerfully to the theme of Black History Month. Many of them evoke the image of strength and excellence.
“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” – Journalist Ida B. Wells
“Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in trouble, necessary trouble.” – Politician John Lewis.
“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” —Thurgood Marshall
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” —Rosa Parks
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” —Barack Obama
