Legacy

How do you want to be remembered? What will you do during your lifetime that has a positive and lasting impact on your family, community, and/or the world? 

You might want to see greater access to food and housing for people in your community. Perhaps you are concerned about animals that are endangered in parts of the world. Maybe you see a need for more kindness among students in your school or people in your neighborhood. We can all see many ways to improve the world in which we live. When we turn those observations into ideas and then actions, we are demonstrating civic leadership. Often, people are remembered for their actions because the impact of their ideas and actions are deep-rooted and long-lasting. 

That lasting impact is what we call a legacy. Many people live their lives wanting to make this world a better place. They decide to take actions during their lifetime to improve situations for themselves and others, and they create improvements that continue beyond their lifetime.

Arthur Ashe created a legacy during his lifetime. When he was a young boy growing up in Richmond, Virginia, Arthur learned that he could not play tennis in certain places because he was black. Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s in the South, Arthur realized that black people had homes, schools, and parks separate from white people. Across town in Byrd Park, the tennis courts were nicer than the courts in Arthur’s neighborhood. There were more courts and they all had new nets and lights! But those courts were only for white players. Arthur dreamed of one day playing on tennis courts and in tennis competitions that were only available to people who were white. Arthur’s hero was Jackie Robinson, a baseball player who became the first black player in major league baseball in the United States. “Someday, I will be the Jackie Robinson of tennis!” At an early age, Arthur set his mind on what would become his legacy. He not only returned to those whites-only tennis courts in Byrd Park in 1968 to play the Davis Cup tournament, these public courts are today found on South Arthur Ashe Boulevard.  

With the help of his coaches and family, Arthur went on to play in many tennis competitions and on many tennis courts that were unfriendly to black players. These competitions extended beyond his home state of Virginia to other parts of the U.S. and the world. He broke barriers as a Black tennis champion, and carried his passion for social justice with him wherever he went.  As an activist, he fought for civil rights, urban health programs, heart health, HIV/AIDS research, youth sports access, and education. 

Arthur’s friend Seth Abraham talks about the “pull” that Arthur had on people like UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden and U.S. President George H. Bush. This “pull” is because of Arthur’s interests, experiences, and commitment to social justice during his lifetime. (Interview of Seth Abraham, 2022)