Black Tennis Pros

We all know that Colin Kaepernick can pass, Serena Williams can serve, and Gabrielle Douglas can stick a landing. But did you know these athletes are working with First Lady Michelle Obama on a new program within her Let’s Move! initiative: Let’s Move! Active Schools? These athletes teamed up with First Lady Michelle Obama on the July cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids to promote bringing physical activity back to American schools and inside, First Lady Michelle Obama discusses her passion for helping the next generation grow-up healthy and active.

Joined by some of the sport industry’s most influential stars, Michelle Obama launched the Let’s Move! Active Schools initiative in February of this year. With less than 10% of U.S. public schools offering daily physical activity, this initiative seeks to remind the country of the crucial role that exercise and physical activity play in children’s educational development. Obama explained further, saying:

There are a lot of kids who shy away from activity because they think, "Well, I'm not coordinated." But the truth is that movement is pumping your arms, it’s dancing, it's touching your toes, it's identifying your physical strengths and not comparing yourself to your classmate, because we are all different. So we want to make activity fun again for kids in schools. Let's Move! Active Schools is an initiative to find champions throughout schools.

Be sure to help make your school a part of the Let’s Move! Active Schools movement by signing up now at http://www.letsmoveschools.org! You can be a crucial part of getting you and your classmates active, and you might even learn a game or two along the way. Also, check out the full Sports Illustrated Kids article here!

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Former U.S. President Bill Clinton

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton give 2013 U.S. Open Champion Serena Williams a congratulatory hug.

Sister of the 2013 U.S. Open Champion, and two-time U.S. Open Champion herself, Venus Williams along with Former U.S. President Bill Clinton celebrate Serena's victory.

R&B great Gladys Knight and model Selita Ebanks

Olympic Gold Medalist Allyson Felix

Former American Idol Judge Randy Jackson

Singer Ricky Martin, Serena and her pup "Chip."

Attorney and television talk show host Star Jones.

Family and friends of Serena.

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Venus Williams, 28

Venus Williams made history when she won her fourth Wimbledon last July: She became the first woman in the 123-year-old event to earn the same prize money as the guys. (The year before, the pay gap was nearly $60,000). Williams, who had been seeded twenty-third in the tournament, was thrilled. "It wasn't about the money," she says. "It was just about being treated as equals." Heading into Beijing, she's playing as strong as ever--last year she set a new record with a 128.8 mph serve. "I'm glad I never had to play Venus," tennis legend Martina Navratilova once said. "She's just too long, too fast."


Allyson Felix, 22

Allyson Felix can run 200 meters in 21.81 seconds--that's about 20 mph. Though she's a two-time world champion at that distance and is widely considered the favorite to win gold in the event, insiders' real hope for her is that she will help redeem track and field. The sport stumbled badly after the Marion Jones steroid scandal and subsequent reports of rampant cheating. Felix is "best positioned to save track," Sports Illustrated said when it nominated her for its Sportsman of the Year award in 2007, and she has no problem with these high expectations. "We can't get so wrapped up in winning that it becomes the only thing we're about," Felix says. "I want to give younger people someone to look up to."


Serena Williams, 26

She's won eight Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold, but Serena Williams believes she hasn't "accomplished all that much" in tennis. "I feel like I'm just getting started," she says. After an injury forced her to pull out of the 2004 Olympics, she publicly vowed not to miss Beijing. But by 2006 her ranking had plummeted due to injuries. Still, Williams never gave up. Now she's ranked fifth and headed to Beijing. "What defines a person's character is not how you are when you're on top. It's how you are when you're on the bottom and working your way back," she says. Besides, she adds, "I love proving people wrong."

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