COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — After nearly 60 years, a metro Atlanta city said it was honoring the first Black basketball championship team in Georgia.
The City of College Park said the celebration for the 1969 Eva L. Thomas Bearcats Championship Basketball Team was “long overdue.”
The celebration was held Saturday, with city officials joined by members of the team and county leaders to bring recognition for the athletes.
“For 57 years, these distinguished athletes were denied the recognition they so rightfully deserved due to the injustices of the era,” the city said in a statement.
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Dr. Jamelle McKenzie, a College Park city council member, worked with the city’s former Recreation Director Keith James to ensure the honors were given to the players.
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“This moment is about restoring what should have always been,” McKenzie said. “We are acknowledging not only a championship team, but a group of young men who broke barriers and made history under circumstances that did not always recognize their greatness.”
The event included Fulton County Chairman Rob Pitts, NBA Champion Josh Powell and City Manager Michael Hicks, in addition to the team members, their family and friends.
Officials said the event was not just a ceremony, but a “moment of restoration, and was meant to honor an overlooked legacy.
“Though delayed, this recognition is not denied,” according to McKenzie. “As we continue the work of Building College Park Better, we remain committed to uplifting those who have been a vital part of our history, especially those whose contributions were overlooked in the errors of our past.”
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