(movie image from Pride (2007))
As we close out Black History Month, it’s a great time to reflect on some of the most incredible and monumental African-American athletes that helped transform the world of sports that we know today. From the track to the court, these athletes’ excellence, hard work, and determination helped them overcome and shift racial barriers in sports. Here are 5 movies, all based on true stories, to watch to celebrate some of these athletes that revolutionized their sport. Happy viewing!
1. Remember the Titans
As one of my favorite movies of all time, I had to put this first on the list. Remember the Titans explores friendship and sports during a period of desegregation at T.C Williams High school in 1971 Virginia. Herman Boone, played by the incomparable Denzel Washington, is hired as the first black head coach of the schools’ football team, consequently taking over the head coaching position from Coach Yoast (Will Patton), a white coach who was set to be inducted into the Coaching Hall of Fame. Together, with the help of the two captains Julius (Wood Harris) and Bertiar (Ryan Hurst), the white and black boys on the team are united and play a perfect, undefeated season, ending with the 1977 state championship title. This brief summary does not justify this movie enough, so when you have time, please give it a watch.
2. Glory Road
Glory Road tells the story of the Texas Western basketball team that was the first to win the 1966 NCAA Division 1 championships’ final game with an all-black team. The coach, Don Haskins (played by Josh Lucas) recruits seven talented, and previously rejected, black players to play for his underfunded team, along with five white players. This team changed the way basketball is perceived and played in the US, and despite the bumps along the way, Haskins recognized that the black players had to play their own game, and fight their own fight. Bobby Joe Hill (played by Derek Luke) is a stand out player, and he was a big force that helped push the team to win the NCAA. This movie is more about basketball, it’s about passion, determination, and dedication from a group of young black men that persevered against all odds and changed college sports in America.
3. Pride
Pride follows the story of Jim Ellis, portrayed by Terrence Howard, a former competitive swimmer and teacher who is sent to dismantle the Philadelphia Recreational Center, because of its lack of funding. He meets a group of boys and teaches them how to swim, with the help of the janitor Elston (Bernie Mac), eventually making them into the city's first African-American swim team. They transition from hopeless swimmers to state champions during a single season, and learn an important message about pride along the way. Through the course of the season, Ellis also helps the team battle the prejudice of the other all-white teams who they compete against, and the local street gangs that want to entrap the boys into a life of crime. He also teaches them the importance of pride, determination, and resilience (P.D.R), which eventually becomes the name and narrative of the team. The story is well crafted, original, and well executed, and will make you leave inspired and proud!
4. Race
Based on the amazing story of Jesse Owens (played by Stephen James), Race follows Owens, the first American track and field athlete to win four gold medals at the 1936 olympic games. He does more than just change his sport, he challenges and falsifies the myth of “Aryan” racial superiority. During this time, the US Olympic Committee is debating whether they should boycott the Berlin games to make a statement about Germany’s human rights abuses or for the American athletes to have their opportunity to compete, and potentially win. Throughout the film, we see Owens struggle with racial prejudice, temptations, and being a pawn in someone else’s politics and perceptions, and this film does a great job at highlighting just how sports, race, and politics were (and even still are) complexly connected. This movie is fun and inspirational, and effectively tells the dual stories implied by its title.
5. 42
42 tells the story of Jackie Robinson, played by the late and great Chadwick Boseman, who was the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, which in 1947, was a majority white sport. But Robinson was more than a baseball player, he was a legend and a hero. He broke through the color barrier that had kept African-Americans from playing in the Major League. This film celebrates everyone involved in Robinson’s success, from his wife Rachel (played by Nicole Beharie) to the manager that signed Robinson, Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford). This film captures the truly motivational story of how a baseball player helped change baseball. Even if you aren’t a baseball fan, you cannot help but cheer on and respect Robinson’s determination and bravery. It truly is a homerun (sorry I had to!).