'Amateur no more': Earlene Brown, Roller Derby and African American Women's Push for Professional Sports, 1965-1980

In 1969 a Jet Magazine article about African American women athletes detailed the “double life” of Earlene Brown. “Big Mama Brown,” was described as a “traditional Los Angeles housewife” as well as a ferocious professional athlete who dolled out punishing hits on the Roller Derby track. This double life both excited and perplexed the black periodical. Yet it was not her athleticism that set brown apart form the other Black women profiled in the article. It was her continued participation in sports- professional sports in particular- following her Olympic career.

Brown’s second athletic career as  a professional roller derby star came at a time in which women were clamoring for wider athletic opportunities, amateur athletes were demanding compensation and African American women were looking to expand their employment possibilities. Using newspaper clippings, interviews and advertisements, this paper considers Brown’s roller derby career against the backdrop of the push for the development of women’s professional sport. In particular this paper highlights African American women, like Earlene Brown, who attempted to turn their amateur athletic careers into professional opportunities, while also examining the racialized and gendered meanings of Brown’s roller derby participation.