Good news

It is always interesting when February rolls around to read the stories of the efforts, successes and past accomplishments of the many older African Americans of our community; although not recognized in their time, they are finally getting their due.

The accomplishments and courage of people like Janet Goodman, Forest Sawyer and Arthur Johnson are remarkable. There are so many other folks who accomplished much, and deserve to be recognized as well.

One such story that ran in the paper this past week was about the 1965 R.L. Cousins High School basketball team that went all the way to the finals of the Georgia Interscholastic Association Class A basketball state tournament.

If you missed the story, we recommend you go to covnews.com and read it.

This team, made up of kids who were more like a family than a basketball team, was the pride and joy of a then-separated African American community.

The Wolverines’ story is one filled with determination and courage.

In our community, they were fortunate enough to play in a covered gym of sorts. But they competed against other community black teams they actually had to play outside on dirt courts. Can you imagine doing this in the dead of winter?

During that time the Wolverines managed to have an unauthorized scrimmage against a mighty Newton County High School team. We have no official record of who won that game between two basketball powerhouses, but we would have gladly paid to see it.

We would have liked to have gone to our files to contribute additional details about this band of Wolverines, but there was never anything written.

It was a shameful era, even for the News.

We have come a long way since those days of racial segregation; we now have black leaders who sit in leadership positions throughout our county.

The story of the Wolverines should remind all of us that people who do good in our community need to be honored and praised, no matter their nationality or color.

We salute our championship Wolverines, even though it’s 49 years late.