World News: Black History Month: Stories of determination, triumph and tragedy

Tuesday, February 28

Washington quarterback Doug Williams prepares to let go of a pass during first quarter of Super Bowl 22 against the Denver Broncos in San Diego.

Elise Amendola, AP

In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports published the series "28 Black Stories in 28 Days."

The series started in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. Our goal was to examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and other Black sports officials faced.

Unfortunately the systemic problems that led to the killing of Floyd still exist. The stories that published this year, as in the past two, were powerful looks at every part of the Black athlete experience in America.

The stories ranged from pioneers who pushed for integration to a college football tragedy to a Super Bowl hero who wasn't always celebrated. Here are some of those stories:

•	'We're not leaving': How sports writers writers Wendell Smith, Sam Lacy and other members of the Black press pushed to integrate MLB during 1930s and 1940s.
•	Opinion: Rihanna contradicts Rihanna by performing in Super Bowl 57 halftime show, columnist Mike Freeman writes.
•	Hardly a fairy tale: The story of Doug Williams is celebrated now, but the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl faced ugly racism.
•	An eerie letter then a fatal trampling: After Jack Trice died, a letter he wrote, segregated in a hotel room the night before the fatal game, was found. "The honor of my race (is) at stake."
•	The ignorance is the point: If politicians, school officials and parents think kids books about Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente need to be censored, we're in serious trouble, columnist Nancy Armour writes.
•	From Emmy award-winning anchor to PBR bull owner: Former Fox 59 anchor Fanchon Stinger grew up loving animals on her grandfather's farm and she always loved bull riding. Now she's the first Black woman to own elite bulls in PBR.
•	How Integration assured demise of the Negro leagues: Black baseball was a successful African American enterprise that faded from existence after Jackie Robinson broke MLB's color barrier in 1947.

Left to right, Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn; Larry Doby, Cleveland; Don Newcombe, Brooklyn; Luke Easter, Cleveland; and Roy Campanella, Brooklyn; pose at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn on July 24, 1950.

Associated Press