After celebrating Black History Month in February, we are now moving into Women's History Month. But Canton's own Renee Powell has had to overcome the adversities of being both Black and a woman.
Powell is a Golf Hall of Famer who was born to play golf.
"I learned to walk, I learned to talk, I learned to play golf," Powell said.
Her father, Bill, faced discrimination on the golf course after returning from World War II.
"My dad literally had a hand seeder around his neck, he turned it, and he literally walked back and forth, back and forth seeding this golf course, every single fairway, because he had a goal," Powell said.
After getting her golf career started at Clearview Golf Club, Powell faced similar discrimination as a young golfer.
"As a junior golfer, there were a couple of tournaments in our state that did not want to allow me to play," Powell said. "There were tournaments, women's tournaments around the country that said they ... would not allow me to play in, and they didn't."
Powell went from being a junior golfer to being just the second Black woman in the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1967.
However, the inequality did not end, and she faced many people who refused to accept her.
"I ran a lot of issues people had with, you know, we played in a lot of various country clubs where they'd never seen a Black person on that golf course before," Powell said. "We traveled all through the entire country and all through the South and restaurants or hotels or motels. A lot of times then, they didn't really want to allow you to stay or, you know, nasty little threat letters on your life."
But Powell did not let this stop her inevitable ascent into greatness.
In 1977, she became the first woman to compete in a men's tournament, and in 2017, she was inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame.
Powell now runs Clearview Golf Course and hopes her journey inspires other young girls to achieve their dreams.
"My dad would say, you know, 'there are always gonna be obstacles. You need to find your way over, under, around or through, but you just need to get to the other side, set goals and never give up in life,'" Powell said. "And I think that I hopefully, you know, people will take that lesson from who I am and what I've done and, and I hope what I will continue to do for a long time."
