Southern Journeys

I am thrilled to be in the Summer 2019 issue of the Oxford American with this piece about segregated tennis in the South.

It is Green Book, told through a tennis lens.

Set at the start of the 1950s, it tells the story of an African American civil rights pioneer from Wilmington, N.C., named Hubert A. Eaton, and a tennis court that he built in his backyard.

The court is where a 19-year-old tennis prodigy from Harlem named Althea Gibson found international fame. It is also where a five-year-old named Lendward Simpson watched history being made — on the court and off.

The story chronicles Lenny’s lifelong connection to The Court, and how, at the age of seventy, this former pro is going to astonishing lengths to make sure its important history is told.

You can read the piece here, or even better, buy the whole issue here.