I Finished 75 HARD
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Volume 1, No. 20
This Thursday, I finished 75 HARD challenge for the second time. I promise you and me that I will not do 75 days again. I do reserve the right to do 30 days worth when I feel myself straying too far off track. I plan to get into some fasting next. I am working my discipline muscles.I am working to make healthy choices as my default. As the Navy Seals say,”The only easy day was yesterday.”
This newsletter is going to be short because I am taking off for complete rest Friday and Saturday. The transition week for the fasting beings. During the challenge, people keep asking me what I learned and/or got out of this. I am considering writing a short book with the tentative title, The 75 things I Learned by Completing 75 HARD. It would be along the lines of Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. If you would be interested in something like that, please comment below.
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
“Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.”
— Dorothy Height
HONORING HERSTORIES
Alice Coachman (1923 - 2014)
Educator and Gold Medalist
Alice Coachman(1923 - 2014) was an Olympian. She was the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal. Coachman was the fifth of ten children to Fred, a plasterer, and Evelyn Coachman. The family worked diligently, and Alice contributed by picking cotton, supplying corn to local mills, and gathering plums and pecans to sell. Alice's athletic abilities stood out from an early age.
In Coachman's youth, societal norms often frowned upon women competing in sports, favoring more "ladylike" activities like tennis or swimming. Coachman's father shared these views and discouraged her athletic pursuits, sometimes even punishing her to enforce these expectations. He preferred she appear "dainty" on the front porch. However, societal expectations and her father's disapproval did not deter her. She not only ran but also played softball and baseball with the boys. By seventh grade, Alice was one of Albany's top athletes, regardless of gender. She faced racial barriers that barred her from training with white children or using white athletic facilities. Alice trained independently, running barefoot on dusty roads for stamina and using sticks and rope to practice the high jump.
In 1943, she enrolled in Tuskegee Institute's college division to study dressmaking while continuing to compete in track and field and basketball. As a member of the track and field team, she secured four national championships in sprinting and high jumping. Many people pushed her to try out for the Olympics. In 1940 and 1944, the games were canceled due to World War II. The games resumed in 1948. Coachman was reluctant to try out. She attended the trials during which she decided to complete with a back injury and destroyed the existing US high jump record. She won the gold medal by clearing the 5 feet 6 1/8-inch bar on her first attempt, setting a new Olympic record. Coachman became the first Black woman to win Olympic gold and the only American woman to win a gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games.
In the Albany auditorium where she was honored, whites and African Americans had to sit separately. The white mayor of Albany sat on the stage with Coachman but refused to shake her hand, and she had to leave her own celebration through a side door.
After the 1948 Olympics, Coachman completed her degree at Albany State College. She became an elementary teacher, high school teacher and track coach. In 1952, Coachman became the first Black female athlete to endorse an international consumer brand, Coca-Cola. Coachman was inducted into nine halls of fame. In 1994, she founded the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to help young athletes and former competitors in financial need. She inspired many, reminding them, “When the going gets tough and you feel like throwing your hands in the air, listen to that voice that tells you, ‘Keep going. Hang in there.’ Guts and determination will pull you through.”
SOUL FOOD CHALLENGE
Make a list of 5 things you can do to celebrate your wins. (None should consist of eating or drinking)
Please comment below. Black folks need to learn to celebrate without food.
Until next time.....remember use your voice and document your stories because they matter!
