Great read:thumbsup:
More...Brodnax quietly broke racial barriers
Reporter Irv Moss writes about stars from the past
By Irv Moss
The Denver Post
Sixty-one years ago, Maceo Brodnax was anxious as he prepared for a change in his life that would become an adventure and a test of the times.
Brodnax, 79, was a well-known athlete in northeast Denver, having played football, basketball and baseball at Manual High School. The Thunderbolts won the state basketball championship in 1948 with coach Roy Byers and Ray Romer, Gill Gallegos, Ken Milberger, Lonnie Courture and Brodnax the kingpins of the team.
The Denver high school districts were clearly defined in those days, and Brodnax was comfortable and right at home in Manual's.
But he was leaving the Manual area to attend college. The trip wasn't far in distance — just a few miles south from his home to the University of Denver — but a long way in culture and status.