I May Not Be Walking With You

There Were Times When I Asked Myself Whether I Was Being Principled Or Simply A Coward.... I Was Wrapped In The Cocoon Of Tennis Early In Life, Mainly By Blacks Like My Most Powerful Mentor, Dr. Robert Walter Johnson Of Lynchburg, Virginia. They Insisted That I Be Unfailingly Polite On The Court, Unfalteringly Calm And Detached, So That Whites Could Never Accuse Me Of Meanness. I Learned Well. I Look At Photographs Of The Skinny, Frail, Little Black Boy That I Was In The Early 1950s, And I See That I Was My Tennis Racquet And My Tennis Racquet Was Me. It Was My Rod And My Staff.

You've Got To Get To The Stage In Life Where Going For It Is More Important Than Winning Or Losing.

I Have Always Tried To Be True To Myself, To Pick Those Battles I Felt Were Important. My Ultimate Responsibility Is To Myself. I Could Never Be Anything Else.

Always Have The Situation Under Control, Even If Losing. Never Betray An Inward Sense Of Defeat.

Seven Out Of 10 Black Faces You See On Television Are Athletes. The Black Athlete Carries The Image Of The Black Community. He Carries The Cross, In A Way, Until Blacks Make Inroads In Other Dimensions.