I recently asked filmmaker Spike Lee when he was going to make a biopic about the three women who played in The Negro Leagues, "not before Jackie and Joe Louis" he quipped. I feel you on that Spike, I see you're busy so maybe I can ask Oprah. It's a story that needs to be told and I hope the perseverance and grit of Mamie Johnson, Connie Morgan and Toni Stone will someday grace the screen.
As the WNBA season gets set to tip off, it's by far the most successful women's team professional league, it has survived over a decade. I'll be honest, eleven years ago there was doubt, wondering if this league would be able to grow a fan base and sustain popularity along with revenue. I don't care if the NBA has carried some of the financial burden of the WNBA-personally the league should, money is not an issue. The WNBA provides an opportunity to showcase a player's skills among her counterparts- that privilege eluded Johnson,Morgan and Stone.
A League of Their Own is one of my favorite baseball movies and there's a brief non-verbal scene that represents the discrimination of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Geena Davis' character is hurled a fast one from an African American woman in the stands-followed with a look of smit as if to say, yeah we can play this game too! Mamie Johnson arrived for a tryout with the AAGPBL however, true to form of "America's racial climate of the day" she was denied a tryout in the all-white league.
So, now I wonder what it was like for the femme trio to finally tread upon the sacred holy ground of America's favorite national past time in the Negro Leagues. Sure over the last few years, their names have surfaced and a simply Google search will produce some nice reading. However, it sure would be nice if just one of these amazing athletes could get some real screen time. Anybody have Oprah's number, I feel a screenplay coming on!
