"The Gift"

I think the main motivation for me with bodybuilding is that knowing there is no such thing as the perfect body, but I’m going to chase it as hard as I can. Phil “The Gift” Heath, a man born on Dec. 18, 1979, reigns over the bodybuilding world as the three time and current Mr. Olympia. Chasing down history, he has his sites on winning the show again this year and having his name in the debate as the greatest bodybuilder of all time. He began his pursuit to perfection in 2003. Named “The Gift”, Phil knew that he was talented with his muscular development and as the years passed, so did his accolades. He began to train harder for something he was seeking and in 2005 became a pro bodybuilder. His quest to perfection since becoming pro has lead to many victories throughout the bodybuilding world, but none more important than his first place finish at the 2011 Mr. Olympia. Since then he has become the face and ambassador of bodybuilding and even with all the distractions and appearances from around the world, he still still hunting for what he believes is unattainable. He has done what very few men have done, become a back to back Mr. Olympia and even more impressive, winning the title three times in a row. I like to keep my competition in the rear view and keep them there. There are many athletes aiming for what he has, but Phil knows he has to continue his path that he has created for himself to become something he strongly desires. His adventure has also came with the price of the skeptics claiming his use of steroids to achieve the body he has. Though he has not spoken out on the topic, Phil’s intention is to represent the sport of bodybuilding in a way that many people can relate to while maintaing the respect the sport deserves.

Robbie Rogers

25 years is a long time to go hiding your identity in fear of being discriminated. Anybody in sports has a reputation to uphold, no matter what sport. Especially if you try to make a career out of it. Everyone is watching you and looks up to you to be a role model. Pressure to perfect in the sport and as a person. When you do not fit a social norm its hard to be true to yourself. Secrets have a way of ruining you. They can destroy a person’s identity and Robbie Rogers’s case, it made him feel as though he could not be himself and still do what he loved. He was caught between two identities, being a soccer player and being gay. After 25 years of not being true to himself, he decided to retire from soccer and come out with the announcement of being gay on a blog. He stated that there was a sense of freedom in it. He final knew what it was like to be openly true about him self. He got lots of support from fans, players, and other retired sports players that also came out with their true identity. So many people go through this every day struggle of fighting for the right to truly be their self. While it is slowly becoming more socially accepted to be a gay or lesbian, there are still some boundaries people are not willing to allow this kind of sexuality to be. Therefore people such as Rogers tuck this secret deep down in a hidden place within themselves in order to be able to fulfill the second part of their identity. Rogers gave a speech a at a Gay Rights rally where he realized that he was still a role model for these young people and he should not have to give up the other half of himself that he loved, what kind of role model would he be for these young adults? He returns to play for the LA Galaxy and becomes the first North American professional sports player to be gay and still actively play the game at the same time. Being gay should not make anyone feel inferior, just like being of a different race should not make one feel inferior. American is a melting pot full of all people from different backgrounds, which is something that makes this country so great. Robbie Rogers exemplifies his right to stand up for what he believes in and to be true to himself even though the deteriorating comments he received after making his announcement. Without being true to ones self you get lost in the crowd and might wake up 50 years later and wonder what happened to you. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_Rogers

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/sports/soccer/robbie-rogers-a-us-soccer-player-reveals-he-is-gay.html?_r=0

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was an African American who was born in the early 1900s in Alabama and was raised by her grandparents from a young age. Montgomery, Alabama was a very segregated community at the time when she was growing up. Everything was segregated. She was never around white people, not because she did not want to be, but because she was not allowed. Her family was black, her friends were black, her church was filled with only blacks, and she went to school with black children. When she was thirsty and wanted a drink of water, she could not even drink from water fountains that were marked “white”.  She was forced to find a water fountain that was marked “colored”.  She never had the opportunity to socialize with others outside of her race. Rosa was never very studious; she tried to get her high school degree, but had to drop out. When she met her husband Raymond, she was motivated to finish her schooling. She received her high school diploma a year after their wedding. As a black person in the south, Rosa always had to be careful around white people, especially members of the Ku Klux Klan, because she never knew what they might do to her and her family. Eventually Rosa had enough of segregation between white and black people in Alabama, that she made the decision one day to lead a group of students to a non-segregated train. Many Americans were upset about this but Rosa did not care. She loved the possibility of everyone being treated equally, and she continued to fight segregation. One cold winter morning, Rosa did something that would change her life forever. On December 1, 1955, Rosa boarded a city bus.  As the bus filed with white passengers, the bus driver asked Rosa to give up her seat to a white passenger, and move to the back of the bus, but she refused because she wanted to take a stand and make a change. She was arrested but this day changed the world forever. African Americans started boycotting buses after this event to try and change the laws. The African American community did not ride buses for a total of 381 days. This was when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation laws in the state of Alabama unconstitutional. After this ruling, Rosa’s life was changed as well. Things were hard for her, but she changed the world for the better. Rosa died at the age of 92 in 2005. For two days her casket was placed in the United States Capitol for people to pay their respects. Rosa’s life still lives on, and she is very influential still today. Rosa Parks is known as “The Mother of the Modern- Day Civil Rights Movement” She was one of the nation’s most powerful civil rights activists and she has changed our world for the better, and forever.  

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1

http://www.rosaparksfacts.com/rosa-parks-biography.php

Susan B. Anthony

When I was just a little girl I didn’t think like the others. Everything I thought was right they thought was wrong. That made it difficult growing up and following momma and daddy’s rules. Life was different for me growing up. Up until I was seventeen years old I was fighting for anti-slavery. It wasn’t right the way they treated the black folk. Although on rainy days as I reflect it was easier to stand up for the back folk than it was to stand up for myself. Although one day I met a really nice lady named Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was really sweet and as we were talking I noticed that what we thought was right and wrong were just about the same. Elizabeth told me about the Seneca Falls Convention that she started with her friends. “At the convention we talked about women’s rights in the home, at work, at a social, anywhere women feel that they are not equal to men.” Says Stanton as she explains to Susan. Within the year Susan and Elizabeth were close as ever. Those two women knew what they wanted and were determined to succeed. They worked day in and day out on whatever idea that they had coming. In 1852 they created the New York Women's State Temperance Society because they were angered that Susan couldn’t speak at a conference just because she was a woman. That next year they collected signatures from people who were all against slavery (later called the Women’s Loyalty National League). Three years later they created the American Equal Rights Association which its goal was to have equal for all women both white and black. Soon enough Susan and Elizabeth found another woman who thought the same way that they did, Matilda Joslyn Gage. Together they created a books called History of Woman Suffrage. I was just doing what I thought who knew that I could make a difference in all of these women’s lives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony

http://www.autostraddle.com/more-than-words-pronouns-pt-3-they-saidze-said-192109/