Tennis's Forgotten Pathfinder Gibson Is Given A Voice

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2022 ) :Althea Gibson's journey from poverty to becoming the first black person to win Wimbledon is the fulfilment of the American Dream but she remains shamefully unknown, the English playwright and actor who is playing her on stage told AFP.

Kemi-Bo Jacobs has tried to rectify that by writing and starring in a play, "All White Everything But Me", which is presently on at the Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle, northeast England.

Jacobs has eschewed the rigid biographical route, preferring to highlight Gibson's struggles, the barriers she faced and her extraordinary success.

Her victories at Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958, the French Open (1956) and US Open (1957 and 1958) came at a time when, as Billie Jean King put it, everything down to the balls in tennis was white and segregation was still in force in many US states.

"In many ways her story was that of the American Dream, from rags to riches," Jacobs said in a phone interview.

"The daughter of a family of sharecroppers went to shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II when she won Wimbledon.

"Her journey is a universal story of her being blessed with incredible talent to finding her way in a world that does not see her as being equal or granting opportunities that her talent deserves." Her desire to look more closely at Gibson was sparked by a showing of a documentary on her life in London being cancelled due to a lack of interest.

"That infuriated me as I felt her voice was being silenced," said Jacobs.

"Fundamentally I am asking the question why she is not remembered and who decides history, as in who is erased and who is remembered and celebrated.

"I hope with this story I am encouraging people to think about those things."While history may not have treated Gibson kindly, it was hardly better when she was in her heyday.

She did not receive the endorsements compared to those players she beat in the Grand Slam finals and at times she would win a point and be greeted by silence or be racially abused, says Jacobs.