“Because They Believed” is a 101-minute documentary containing interviews of athletic trailblazers that were the first to break through racial barriers to participate in professional sports. These are stories of forgotten male and female athletes who’s perseverance and dedication changed the world of sports forever. They boldly integrated and participated in sports that were, at that time, segregated. These stories are told to inspire people of all ages, races and genders. In this documentary, we memorialize the stories of these athletes who broke barriers and opened the doors for the professional athletes of color today.
Interviewees in Order of Appearance
Dr. John Carlos (Track & Field), Tom Flores (Football), Dusty Baker (Baseball), R.C. Owens (Football), Billy Mills (Track & Field), Raymond Chester (Football), Dr. Herbert Carnegie (Hockey), Rosie Bonds (Track & Field), Dr. Tae Yun Kim (Martial Arts), Mal Whitfield (Track & Field), Bill Wright (Golf), Leland Faust (Water Polo),Leigh Steinberg (Sports Agent), Yoshihiro Uchida (Judo), Urla Hill (Historian and Curator), Dr. Tommie Smith (Track & Field), Don Johnson (Tennis) and Dr. Harry Edwards (Sociologist).
http://www.becausetheybelieved.com
Premiere
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – June 18, 2021 – The official Red Carpet Premiere Film Screening of “Because They Believed: Minority Athletic Trailblazers Who Broke Through the Racial Divide” will take place at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Avenue, on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. The walk along the red carpet begins at 6:00 p.m., and the film at 7:00.
“Because They Believed” documents the experiences of athletes and coaches who took part in club, collegiate, and professional sports throughout the Civil Rights Movement of the late forties, fifties, and sixties. Through archival footage, interviewees discuss participation in good ol’ American sports—baseball, football, golf, and tennis—and yes, even judo. (An in-depth look at some of these stories can be found in “In the Shadow of Obscurity: Toiling in a Reluctant Society,” ENH Publishing, 2021.)
“The book and the film were developed to explore systemic racism in America today, and highlight the struggles of black and brown athletes,” said Arif Khatib, founder of Oakland’s Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame and one of the film’s producers. “We need to study race and its effects on society, as we are at a point in American history where we have to come to terms with the contributions of black and brown people.”
Several Spartans appear in the film, including San Jose State University’s 101-year-old judo coach Yoshihiro Uchida. On the first day of classes during the winter quarter of 1946, Uchida recalls being seen as “just another Jap” when he encountered a couple dozen 24- and 25- year-old World War II veterans enrolled in judo. Uchida—who became the Spartans first “coach of color” once Spartan Mel Bruno relinquished his coaching duties in the spring of 1940—also remembers a student commenting, “ ‘My mother said I have to drop your class because, she says, ‘What can a Jap teach you?’ ”
The film also features Olympic Project for Human Rights’ founder Dr. Harry Edwards, and Spartan sprinters and 1968 Olympic Games’ protesters Dr. John Carlos and Dr. Tommie Smith. Spartan grad Urla Hill, who has spent the better part of the past three decades documenting SJS’s athletic program between 1920 and 1972, also makes an appearance in the film.
Olympian Rosie Bonds Kreidler, whose brother, Bobby Bonds (1968-’74), and nephew, Barry Bonds (1993-2007), played for the San Francisco Giants, discusses the racism she encountered despite being a top-ranked Black hurdler leading up to the 1964 Games. Several other Bay Area professionals make appearances in the 100-minute film, including Oakland Raider Tom Flores, the first Latino starting quarterback in professional football; and San Francisco 49er R.C. Owens, perhaps best known for teaming with quarterback Y.A. Tittle for the “Alley-Oop” pass in 1957.