WASHINGTON — America lost two giants who appeared on different stages, and did not always win, but were examples for all of us to emulate.

They both represented America admirably. One was a Gold Medal recipient in the Olympic Games before becoming a professional champion. The other made a mark in the halls of Congress representing the great state of Utah. They loved our country. Mia Love and George Foreman will be missed.

Both had two careers. In the case of Foreman, his last career dwarfed his first one, which made him known to the world.

Foreman, a two-time heavyweight boxing champion, turned to the ministry and then to business, developing a multi-million dollar enterprise – we all know his trademark George Foreman Grille.

Love, following a career in politics which included being the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, embarked upon a very promising career as a political commentator for CNN.

Both were fighters. Foreman was best known for his famous “rope-a-dope” fight against the legendary Muhammad Ali. That was when Foreman, the once invincible fighter, was fooled by Ali. Foreman exhausted himself by punching harder and harder in the early rounds, but Ali, who played possum at first, awoke after a few rounds and went on to hand Foremen his first defeat. That defeat clung to Foreman for years.

But with God’s help, Foreman fought back in other ways and went on to accumulate more wealth than any of his contemporaries in boxing.

In 2022 Love received a medical diagnosis that would have made a weaker person give in. But here too, with the help of God and the love of family, she fought to extend her life far beyond what the medical professionals had originally predicted.

I knew Love. I did not know Foreman. Mia and I shared many common bonds.

Not only was Love the first Republican Black female elected to Congress, she was also the first to demonstrate that a Black woman could get elected in an overwhelmingly white congressional district.

In 1990, 24 years prior to Love’s election to Congress, I was elected to Congress as a Black Republican, also from an overwhelmingly white congressional district (4% Black). Age wise, we were both elected in our 30s.

Before she moved to Utah, we both shared Connecticut as our home. She graduated from high school in Connecticut and attended the University of Hartford. During that time, I was serving in Congress as the first Black conservative in Congress and first Black Republican to serve in the House of Representatives in nearly 60 years.

I could relate to her quest for office and for the challenges she had to face as a Black conservative politician. Like Love, I also served on the municipal level as president pro-tempore of the Waterbury Board of Aldermen while Love went on to serve as mayor of Sarasota Springs, Utah.

We knew that sometimes you had to deal with overt racism in politics, even from those within your own party. Mia and I also knew that there were far, far, far more good white people than the clowns who make up racist groups.

Had it not been true, we would have never risen in politics like we did.

We both got elected to Congress after suffering a prior defeat for office. Heck, I was told by the state GOP chairman when running for State Comptroller in Connecticut in the 1980s to stay out of white towns and just concentrate on the cities (where Black people were). I did the complete opposite and got more votes that year than any GOP candidate on the ticket. Though I narrowly lost the race, my outreach to the white community set me up for a successful congressional race four years later. Mia lost her first attempt for Congress, but came back two years later to win.

Most Black Republicans are either afraid to join the Congressional Black Caucus or refuse to see its usefulness. Love and I joined. Yes, many of the CBC members did not like me. One member’s father attacked me on the stairs of a courthouse in front of numerous network TV cameras. The CBC also threw me out for a period because I voiced my opinion that you do not have to gerrymander congressional districts in order to get a Black person elected. I said that in the White House before then-President Bill Clinton and within hours the CBC had an emergency meeting for the singular purpose of throwing me out of the caucus.

Ironically, most of the CBC’s growth today, as well as that of the Hispanic Caucus, have come from those of color getting elected in predominately white districts.

I was once “the Black aberration.” Yeah, right. Then, there were GOP Reps. like Love – including J.C Watts, Allan West, Wil Hurd, Tim Scott (now a Senator), and those serving today. The list of Black Democrats who now represent majority-white districts has also increased.

We now have had many Black people who have and are serving in the Senate as well.

Oh, I say facetiously, this was all done without the use of any program meant to help white people relate to Black people. Everyone understands the meaning of the Golden Rule. More importantly, people vote for whoever they believe would be the best candidate to help their community, district, state, and nation.

Love and I were both political targets of our enemies. My defeat followed very questionable actions by Democrats, which included crimes. The brother of the person who defeated me pleaded guilty to 11 felonies of election improprieties. Love lost two congressional races by under 800 votes, with one election going to the courts for a decision. Thus, for both of us, court action was involved in order to defeat us. Or did they?

At just 49, Mia was much too young to leave us, but her life will serve as an example for others for decades to come.

Rest in peace, two of America’s best fighters – Congresswoman Love and the Boxing Champion Foreman.

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Gary Franks served three terms as a congressman from Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black conservative elected to Congress and first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years. Host: Podcast “We Speak Frankly” www.garyfranksphilanthropy.org