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Athletes. They're good at running, jumping, and getting hit in the head.

But some athletes are also trailblazers for justice and pioneers for change.

Like Muhammad Ali protesting the Vietnam War, or Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the anthem,

or J.R. Smith missing all those jump shots.

I see what you're saying, J.R. No justice, no freeze.

But today, I want to talk about the activist female athletes who have been erased from the history books.

Women like trackstar Rose Robinson.

Long before Kaepneel to protest police brutality, Rose refused to stand for the flag and anthem during the 1959 Pan American Games

because she felt they represented war, injustice, and hypocrisy.

Her activism was another example of black women in the 1950s perfecting the art of sitting when and where they weren't supposed to.

Whether it was sitting at the front of the bus, the whites only section of a restaurant, or just sitting around judging white people dancing.

Basically, we were experts at using our behinds to say f*** you to the system.

It wasn't long after the protest that the IRS came for Rose for tax evasion.

Mm-hmm.

Of course they did.

She ended up going to jail and missing the 1960 Olympic Games.

The same games where a young, unknown athlete named Cash's Clay broke out onto the world stage.

History may have been different if the government had Wesley Snipe Robinson over $380.

Fast forward to a couple of Olympics later, and another brave athlete would have her protest overlooked.

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