She heard how he later influenced Indiana University basketball coach Branch McCracken to break a so-called gentlemen’s agreement among Big Ten basketball coaches not to play their Black players. She heard how “The Chief’’ supported the disenfranchised at the first all-Black YMCA in Indianapolis.
Growing up, DeFrantz was inundated with all these stories.
Reinstating Olympic champion Jim Thorpe. Known as “The Chief’’ for his imposing size, he turned to social justice. Exposed to his enraged opponents in an era when Black athletes weren’t supposed to compete in contact sports, Faburn was booted from the roster. Her grandfather, Faburn DeFrantz, played football on the all-white KU football team until his flimsy leather helmet fell off in a game. Her great-grandfather Alonzo DeFrantz helped newly emancipated slaves migrate to Kansas in the 1870s. Whether it was through osmosis or personal desire, DeFrantz became an activist practically right then and there. “Oh, she didn’t like it at all when she realized what was going on,” David said of his sister. Their father, who had been changing the diaper of their baby brother, James, nearby and noticed the commotion from a distance, eventually escorted Anita and David away, again explaining the perils and inequities of being African American in a racist world. But before they ever stepped foot in the go-cart, a white man wagged a finger in their faces and said, “You guys are Black, why are you over here? You’re not supposed to be here.” Sports Business Journal will honor the Champions class of 2022 throughout the year:įortuitously, they were both big enough - no surprise considering DeFrantz always towered over her classmates. They were dying to ride the gas-powered go-carts and stood in a long line hoping their heads would measure above the “YOU HAVE TO BE THIS TALL TO RIDE” sign. She and David, a few years later, meandered over to Indianapolis’ White River Amusement Park, which - unbeknownst to them - was segregated. The day left a mark, and there were more afternoons just like it. She could not yet read, so her father, Robert, purposely spewed the words out loud to help his oldest daughter understand the cruelties of her new young world. It’s who she is.ĭeFrantz was barely 3 years old when her father grabbed her by the hand and led her and her older brother, David, through the Indiana snow to a tattered sign. Few people have had more of an appetite to champion causes than SBJ’s latest Champion, Anita DeFrantz, and now she is just summoning up the appetite for a different cause: herself. So the chicken and rice sit there on the table, untouched, almost as a symbol of the battles she’s waged. Rather, she’s sharing her story to inspire people, to reinforce that cancer can be beaten the same way she’s beaten down injustice for 50-plus years. Her doctor has informed her she is cancer-free, with one caveat. But surgery was deemed a success, and the ensuing chemo infusions ultimately finished the job. Removing the tumors also meant something unfathomable: removing her stomach. “I didn’t realize my head was a size less,’’ she said. 
In the 75-degree Los Angeles sun, she wore a zippered sweatshirt and a layered hood. She had to rely on a cane to stand up and needed woolen blankets to regenerate warmth in her hands and feet. Her chemo came in three waves, but none more debilitating than the third this past spring, which took away her balance and effervescence. Anita DeFrantz has been fighting for justice, for herself and others, since she was a small child.
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