Arthur Ashe died February 6...
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Arthur Ashe died February 6, 1993. He hadn't played tennis for years because of his heart
condition; but he, a Presbyterian, worked for justice. He traveled to South Africa to assist
fellow blacks. He always remembered one boy there, about fourteen in 1974, who
followed him every day around a Johannesburg sports complex. Ashe finally asked why
he followed. He replied that Ashe was the first free black man he'd ever seen.
In 1989, Ashe helped maintain the athletic boycott against the Union of South Africa to force apartheid law changes. He was accompanied to the conference of the Association of Tennis Professionals by a South-African black man, Mark Mathabane, who'd written an acclaimed book about apartheid. Mathabane was the fourteen-year-old boy who'd shadowed Ashe around Johannesburg. He'd seen a free black person and he received new direction and energy. Such things happen in South Africa or in Jerusalem when we finally see someone who is truly free!
In 1989, Ashe helped maintain the athletic boycott against the Union of South Africa to force apartheid law changes. He was accompanied to the conference of the Association of Tennis Professionals by a South-African black man, Mark Mathabane, who'd written an acclaimed book about apartheid. Mathabane was the fourteen-year-old boy who'd shadowed Ashe around Johannesburg. He'd seen a free black person and he received new direction and energy. Such things happen in South Africa or in Jerusalem when we finally see someone who is truly free!
