Althea

 

Althea is about the life and career of Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win a Grand Slam title. While she was one of the most dominant players of her time, a combination of racism and a lack of funding caused her to leave the sport just as she was reaching her peak. (This led her to take up golf, where she became the first African-American to compete professionally on the woman's tour). Despite her trailblazing successes, she was largely forgotten by the tennis world shortly after she retired. But she was not forgotten by everyone, and her friends and allies ensured that her legacy would be remembered.

Released 2014; Runtime 83 minutes

Concepts

• Cultural Differences: Althea was raised in Harlem, and raised to be tough and never back down. This was in stark contrast to many in the tennis world, who were not used to have an aggressive, attacking opponent.
• Economic Issues: Althea grew up poor, and while she was a successful tennis player, prize money was much, much smaller than it is now. As such, it was extremely difficult for her to play professionally - players needed to already have money.
• Pursuing Your Dream: Competing and winning at tennis was a major goal for her, and she needed to overcome numerous challenges to make that happen.
• Race & Ethnicity Issues: Being one of the first African-American tennis players meant that she faced resistance and discrimination from the predominantly rich white sport of tennis. However, she was not an outspoken advocate for civil rights like some of her contemporaries, which brought its own set of challenges.