Sunday night ESPN ran an incredibly interesting and culturally enlightening documentary highlighting "The Fab Five". If you were a basketball-minded youth growing up in the early-90's, The Fab Five needs no introduction. For the rest of you, The Fab Five was Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, and Jimmy King - five basketball players for the University of Michigan, who made history as the first (and only to my knowledge) all-freshman starting lineup in NCAA history. They led the University of Michigan to the NCAA Championship game in 1992 and 1993, losing both times. The documentary did an excellent job at capturing the cultural phenomenon that these five young men became. They were more than basketball players; they were superstars.However, in the making of the documentary, each member of the group who was interviewed made disparaging comments aimed at Grant Hill, a player for Duke University at the time, and Duke in general. Their general critique, in kinder words, accused Grant Hill and his fellow African-American Duke players of being a lesser grade of African-American man, primarily because of their stable upbringing and traditional family. This week Grant Hill issued this essay in The New York Times in rebuttal to those claims made by The Fab Five. I found his words to be powerful, both as an insight to the struggle within the African-American community as well as the proper way to respond to nasty criticism. I found it worthy of the read. Maybe you will too (link below).
- Joel
1 comment:
Wow! Cool article. I'd like to see that documentary. That is so intriguing.
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