Celebrating Black History Month: Jim Brown, NFL running back extraordinaire, first black action star

James "Jim" Brown, born February 17, 1936 in St. Simons, Georgia, was a record-setting football player, an action movie star, and a civil rights activist.

He played football while at Syracuse University from 1954-1956 and earned unanimous All-American honors, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. 

In the 1957 NFL draft, he was the sixth pick of the first round, by the Cleveland Browns.  He played for the Browns from 1957 to 1965.  During his career, he carried the ball 2,359 times, for 12.312 rushing yards, and 106 touchdowns, which were all records when he retired. He is the only NFL player to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career.  He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

He became an actor shortly before he ended his career, and starred in leading roles throughout the 1970s. He has been described as Hollywood's first black action hero. In the 1969 film, 100 Rifles, he made history for featuring the first interracial love scenes with Raquel Welch.   He won an Image Awards (NAACP) for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for his work in El Condor.  I liked him in Ice Station Zebra, although the critics panned the movie.

During the civil rights movement, he was one of the few athletes to speak out on racial issues. He launched a foundation for diverting at-risk youth from violence, teaching them life skills.

He passed away from natural causes at 87 in May 2023.

Celebrating Black History Month: Ernie Davis, first African American to win the Heisman trophy

Ernest "Ernie" Davis, born December 14. 1939 in New Salem, Pennsylvania, was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. He grew up in Pennsylvania and moved to Elmira, New York to live with his mother and stepfather.  In school, he excelled in baseball, basketball, and football, and earned All-American honors while at Elmira Free Academy.  He was recruited by numerous colleges, but chose Syracuse University.

He played for Syracuse for three seasons and managed national fame in all of them.  Twice, he won first-team All-American, and led Syracuse to a national championship in 1959.  He was awarded the Heisman Trophy in 1961 during his senior year at Syracuse.

Davis was the first overall pick in the 1962 NFL draft in December 1961 by the Washington Redskins, and traded almost immediately by the Cleveland Browns.

In the summer of 1962 he was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia. He died in May 1963 without having played a professional game.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Martha E. Bernal, first Hispanic woman to earn a PhD in psychology

Martha Bernal, born April 13, 1931 in San Antonio, Texas to Mexican immigrants.  Overcoming racism about her ethnicity she received her Bachelor's Degree from Texas Western College, now University of Texas at El Paso in 1952.  After getting her Master of Arts degree in 1955 from Syracuse, she transferred to Indiana University where she was faced with sexism.  She wanted to quit her studies but a teacher persuaded her to finish her doctorate, which she did in 1962, becoming the first Latina in the U.S. to obtain a PhD in psychology.

She contributed significantly to the field, especially for her work on children's behavioral problems, and to develop organizations that focused on ethnic groups to combat issues of racism, sexism, discrimination, etc.

She passed away in September 2001 after losing her fourth battle with cancer.