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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hey NFB Family and Friends,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Day 19 of Black History Month is here. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>John Robert Thompson Jr. (September 2, 1941. He was an American college basketball coach for the Georgetown Hoyas men's team. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>He became the first African-American head coach to win a major collegiate championship in basketball when he led the Hoyas to the NCAA Division I national championship in 1984. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>He played college basketball for the Providence Friars and earned honorable mention All-American honors in 1964. He played for two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics, who won an NBA championship in both seasons. He became a high school coach in Washington D.C. before coaching Georgetown for 27 seasons.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>He coached players like Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Allen Iverson, and many others. He worked as a radio and television sports commentator after he retired from coaching. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Known for his famous towel, which he wore during the game, coaches throughout the NCAA and NBA wore a towel in honor of Big John. He died August 30, 2020. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Althea Neale Gibson, born August 25, 1927, was an American tennis player and professional golfer and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title (the French Championships). The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals (precursor of the US Open), then won both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments: five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In the early 1960s, she also became the first Black player to compete on the Women's Professional Golf Tour. At a time when racism and prejudice were widespread in sports and society, she was often compared to Jackie Robinson. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>After she died September 28, 2003, many people praised her accomplishments and legacy. Here are some of those comments:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"Her road to success was a challenging one,<span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>but I never saw her back down" - </span> Billie Jean King, fellow tennis player. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"To anyone, she was an inspiration because of what she was able to do at a time when it was enormously difficult to play tennis at all if you were Black" - former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"She is one of the greatest players who ever lived, Martina [Navratilova] couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters." - Bob Ryland, a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Venus Williams, herself said of Gibson, "I am honored to have followed in such great footsteps, her accomplishments set the stage for my success, and through players like myself and Serena and many others to come, her legacy will live on."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Submitted by Gerald <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#222222'><br>Peace,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Jacki Bruce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Corresponding Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia<br><a href="mailto:jackibruce6@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>mailto:jackibruce6@gmail.com</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="tel:(757)291-1789" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>tel:(757)291-1789</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="http://www.nfb.org/" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>www.nfb.org</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="http://www.nfbv.org/" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>www.nfbv.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Follow us on Twitter @NFBVirginia<br>Find us on Facebook @NationalFederationoftheBlindofVirginia<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Live the life you want.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#222222'>The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>