Have you heard of Arthur Ashe? After years of being turned away, Ashe became the first Black person to play in the nation’s national championships. He won both the NCAA Division I singles and doubles championships in 1965. He became the first African American to win the U.S. Open in 1968. And went on to win various other tournaments, including the 1970 Australian Open. He also became the first African American man to win Wimbledon in 1975. He also while playing took a strong stance against South Africa’s system of Apartheid. In 1979 he had his first heart attack, but after surgery he returned to the court, but ended up retiring in 1980. In 1983, Ashe co-founded Athletes Against Apartheid. That same year, he had another surgery on his heart. He was hospitalized again five years later in 1988. That’s when he was diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). And in 1993 he died of pneumonia related to AIDS. He may have gotten AIDS from a blood transfusion during his 1983 surgery.
enemies too.