Process Paper
For our project on Arthur Ashe’s involvement in stopping apartheid in South Africa and helping Haitian refugees, we looked to our interests first. We were both interested in tennis as well as campaigns to stop types of discrimination. We looked at the caste system in India, and segregation in America, but it all seemed too well-known to people. We wanted to show people other issues, that were just as harsh, but not as widespread. We found information on Arthur Ashe in a book about the 80s and 90s. At first, we were interested in his AIDS awareness interactions, but then we discovered his crusade to stop South African apartheid and help Haitian refugees. We were captivated, for we did not know what apartheid was. We knew who Ashe was, but did not know he was so politically involved.
For the majority of our primary sources, we used newspaper articles and his autobiography, “Days of Grace”. We used many pictures and a website that supplied us with newspaper articles for most of our primary sources. We used Google and Grant Wood AEA along with historical websites such as History.com for our secondary sources. We received useful assistance from our teacher. She helped us find reliable sites and some of our video content. We interviewed Adrienne Umeh, a contributor to the Arthur Ashe Foundation. We conducted our interview through multiple emails.
We chose a website because we thought it was very user-friendly. We could easily input information, pictures, and quotes in a professional way. Both Ben and Thomas contributed large portions to the website. Thomas provided more information about Ashe’s legacy, while Ben focused on what Ashe specifically did in South Africa. Thomas also did the majority of the timeline while Ben did a large portion of the bibliography. Our plan when making the website was to talk about Ashe one category at a time. We started with basic information and slowly got down to more specific details.
When we thought of this year’s theme, Leadership and Legacy, we thought about someone who did what no one else either wanted to do or could have done. Arthur Ashe is both of those. Every athlete activist focused on discrimination in their own country, while Ashe went above and beyond and and acted for the good of people of other nationalities. The fact that he was an exceptionally skilled black tennis player increased his influence. After Ashe was finished in South Africa, The Arthur Ashe Tennis Center and Library was built in his name. It meant so much to black South Africans that Ashe would put his career aside to assist them in their struggle. When Ashe participated in a picket line protesting the Bush Administration’s treatment of Haitian refugees, he sailed once again into uncharted territories, risking his welfare for the sake of others. This website encompasses all of Ashe’s accomplishments, not only in his tennis career, but more importantly in the enrichment of others’ lives.
For the majority of our primary sources, we used newspaper articles and his autobiography, “Days of Grace”. We used many pictures and a website that supplied us with newspaper articles for most of our primary sources. We used Google and Grant Wood AEA along with historical websites such as History.com for our secondary sources. We received useful assistance from our teacher. She helped us find reliable sites and some of our video content. We interviewed Adrienne Umeh, a contributor to the Arthur Ashe Foundation. We conducted our interview through multiple emails.
We chose a website because we thought it was very user-friendly. We could easily input information, pictures, and quotes in a professional way. Both Ben and Thomas contributed large portions to the website. Thomas provided more information about Ashe’s legacy, while Ben focused on what Ashe specifically did in South Africa. Thomas also did the majority of the timeline while Ben did a large portion of the bibliography. Our plan when making the website was to talk about Ashe one category at a time. We started with basic information and slowly got down to more specific details.
When we thought of this year’s theme, Leadership and Legacy, we thought about someone who did what no one else either wanted to do or could have done. Arthur Ashe is both of those. Every athlete activist focused on discrimination in their own country, while Ashe went above and beyond and and acted for the good of people of other nationalities. The fact that he was an exceptionally skilled black tennis player increased his influence. After Ashe was finished in South Africa, The Arthur Ashe Tennis Center and Library was built in his name. It meant so much to black South Africans that Ashe would put his career aside to assist them in their struggle. When Ashe participated in a picket line protesting the Bush Administration’s treatment of Haitian refugees, he sailed once again into uncharted territories, risking his welfare for the sake of others. This website encompasses all of Ashe’s accomplishments, not only in his tennis career, but more importantly in the enrichment of others’ lives.
Process Paper Word Count: 494