(ThyBlackMan.com) It is now the month of April but last month, March, was Women’s History Month. Women’s History Month is dedicated to women from all walks of life whose accomplishments have empowered generations of society as a whole to achieve and excel as there is literally no society without women. It was a notable March 2021 regarding Black women making highlights throughout the landscape of sports. Black female leaders like South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley also used their platforms and spoke out against societal injustices in sports during the month. Here are some of the noteworthy and impactful March 2021 quotes from Black female sports figures:
-“We cannot as leaders of young women allow (NCAA president) Mark Emmert and his team to use us and our student-athletes at their convenience. Every team here in San Antonio has earned and deserves at a minimum the same level of respect as the men. All the teams here dealt with the same issues as the men’s teams this season; yet their ‘reward’ is different.”-South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley, in an open letter regarding the wide disparities in NCAA’s unequal accommodations at the women’s basketball tournament compared to better accommodations for men’s basketball tournaments.
-“Our history here in women’s basketball is filled with so many Black bodies, for this to be happening in 2021, to me, is long overdue. We’re proud, we’re happy. I know my phone is probably full of text messages of Black coaches all across the country just congratulating us on doing it, on being present, being in the moment, being able to take our programs to this place.”- South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley, discussing the history made during the NCAA Women’s Final Four as Staley’s South Carolina team and Arizona, coached by Adia Barnes, were among the last four teams left. It marked the first time ever that two of NCAA Women’s Final Four teams were led by Black women head coaches in the same year.
-“When I saw the introduction, I’m like, ‘This is really real,’ because this is just something that we’re just always taught to work hard for. Sometimes we just don’t take time to stop and smell our own roses.”-New National Football League game official Maia Chaka, discussing her reaction on the TODAY show as she is making history as the NFL’s first Black female game official.
-“No. I was really sure what women can do. I was sure what I had been doing overseas for 10 seasons and one year in Spain. I came to the WNBA to lay the groundwork for players like Candace to showcase her talent and be a champion in her right. For me, it wasn’t about proving to the guys. It was about proving to America that women can play some ball and that our game was exciting to watch. And to be honest with you, a lot of the guys I played against, I was better than them. So no, I wasn’t worried.”- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper, responding to fellow Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s question about showing the “world that the girls can do what the guys can do” regarding professional basketball.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines