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| famous black sports figures: Globetrotting Damion L. Thomas, 2012-09-30 Throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union deplored the treatment of African Americans by the U.S. government as proof of hypocrisy in the American promises of freedom and equality. This probing history examines government attempts to manipulate international perceptions of U.S. race relations during the Cold War by sending African American athletes abroad on goodwill tours and in international competitions as cultural ambassadors and visible symbols of American values. Damion L. Thomas follows the State Department's efforts from 1945 to 1968 to showcase prosperous African American athletes including Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, and the Harlem Globetrotters as the preeminent citizens of the African Diaspora, rather than as victims of racial oppression. With athletes in baseball, track and field, and basketball, the government relied on figures whose fame carried the desired message to countries where English was little understood. However, eventually African American athletes began to provide counter-narratives to State Department claims of American exceptionalism, most notably with Tommie Smith and John Carlos's famous black power salute at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Exploring the geopolitical significance of racial integration in sports during the early days of the Cold War, this book looks at the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations' attempts to utilize sport to overcome hostile international responses to the violent repression of the civil rights movement in the United States. Highlighting how African American athletes responded to significant milestones in American racial justice such as the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Thomas surveys the shifting political landscape during this period as African American athletes increasingly resisted being used in State Department propaganda and began to use sports to challenge continued oppression. |
| famous black sports figures: The Revolt of the Black Athlete Harry Edwards, 2017-05-02 The Revolt of the Black Athlete hit sport and society like an Ali combination. This Fiftieth Anniversary edition of Harry Edwards's classic of activist scholarship arrives even as a new generation engages with the issues he explored. Edwards's new introduction and afterword revisit the revolts by athletes like Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos. At the same time, he engages with the struggles of a present still rife with racism, double-standards, and economic injustice. Again relating the rebellion of black athletes to a larger spirit of revolt among black citizens, Edwards moves his story forward to our era of protests, boycotts, and the dramatic politicization of athletes by Black Lives Matter. Incisive yet ultimately hopeful, The Revolt of the Black Athlete is the still-essential study of the conflicts at the interface of sport, race, and society. |
| famous black sports figures: Out of the Shadows David K. Wiggins, 2008-02-01 The original essays in this comprehensive collection examine the lives and sports of famous and not-so-famous African American male and female athletes from the nineteenth century to today. Here are twenty insightful biographies that furnish perspectives on the changing status of these athletes and how these changes mirrored the transformation of sports, American society, and civil rights legislation. Some of the athletes discussed include Marshall Taylor (bicycling), William Henry Lewis (football), Jack Johnson, Satchel Paige, Jesse Owens, Joe Lewis, Alice Coachman (track and field), Althea Gibson (tennis), Wilma Rudolph, Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Arthur Ashe, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Venus and Serena Williams. |
| famous black sports figures: We Will Win the Day Louis Moore, 2017-09-21 This exceedingly timely book looks at the history of black activist athletes and the important role of the black community in making sure fair play existed, not only in sports, but across U.S. society. Most books that focus on ties between sports, black athletes, and the Civil Rights Movement focus on specific issues or people. They discuss, for example, how baseball was integrated or tell the stories of individuals like Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali. This book approaches the topic differently. By examining the connection between sports, black athletes and the Civil Rights Movement overall, it puts the athletes and their stories into the proper context. Rather than romanticizing the stories and the men and women who lived them, it uses the roles these individuals played—or chose not to play—to illuminate the complexities and nuances in the relationship between black athletes and the fight for racial equality. Arranged thematically, the book starts with Jackie Robinson's entry into baseball when he signed with the Dodgers in 1945 and ends with the revolt of black athletes in the late 1960s, symbolized by Tommie Smith and John Carlos famously raising their clenched fists during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics. Accounts from the black press and the athletes themselves help illustrate the role black athletes played in the Civil Rights Movement. At the same time, the book also examines how the black public viewed sports and the contributions of black athletes during these tumultuous decades, showing how the black communities' belief in merit and democracy—combined with black athletic success—influenced the push for civil rights. |
| famous black sports figures: Integrating the Gridiron Lane Demas, 2010 Even the most casual sports fans celebrate the achievements of professional athletes, among them Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Joe Louis. Yet before and after these heroes staked a claim for African Americans in professional sports, dozens of college athletes asserted their own civil rights on the amateur playing field, and continue to do so today. Integrating the Gridiron, the first book devoted to exploring the racial politics of college athletics, examines the history of African Americans on predominantly white college football teams from the nineteenth century through today. Lane Demas compares the acceptance and treatment of black student athletes by presenting compelling stories of those who integrated teams nationwide, and illuminates race relations in a number of regions, including the South, Midwest, West Coast, and Northeast. Focused case studies examine the University of California, Los Angeles in the late 1930s; integrated football in the Midwest and the 1951 Johnny Bright incident; the southern response to black players and the 1955 integration of the Sugar Bowl; and black protest in college football and the 1969 University of Wyoming Black 14. Each of these issues drew national media attention and transcended the world of sports, revealing how fans--and non-fans--used college football to shape their understanding of the larger civil rights movement. |
| famous black sports figures: Above the Rim Jen Bryant, 2020-10-06 The story of Elgin Baylor, basketball icon and civil rights advocate, from an all-star team Hall-of-famer Elgin Baylor was one of basketball’s all-time-greatest players—an innovative athlete, team player, and quiet force for change. One of the first professional African-American players, he inspired others on and off the court. But when traveling for away games, many hotels and restaurants turned Elgin away because he was black. One night, Elgin had enough and staged a one-man protest that captured the attention of the press, the public, and the NBA. Above the Rim is a poetic, exquisitely illustrated telling of the life of an underrecognized athlete and a celebration of standing up for what is right. |
| famous black sports figures: NOT THE TRIUMPH BUT THE STRUGGLE Amy Bass, Martin Luther King Jr., uprisings in American cities, student protests around the world, the rise of the Black Power movement, and decolonization and apartheid in Africa.. |
| famous black sports figures: A Level Playing Field Gerald L. Early, 2011-04-29 The noted cultural critic Gerald Early explores the intersection of race and sports, and our deeper, often contradictory attitudes toward the athletes we glorify. What desires and anxieties are encoded in our worship of (or disdain for) high-performance athletes? What other, invisible contests unfold when we watch a sporting event? |
| famous black sports figures: Separate Games David K. Wiggins, Ryan Swanson, 2016-11-01 The hardening of racial lines during the first half of the twentieth century eliminated almost all African Americans from white organized sports, forcing black athletes to form their own teams, organizations, and events. This separate sporting culture, explored in the twelve essays included here, comprised much more than athletic competition; these separate games provided examples of black enterprise and black self-help and showed the importance of agency and the quest for racial uplift in a country fraught with racialist thinking and discrimination. |
| famous black sports figures: Duty, Honor, Victory Gary L. Bloomfield, 2004-11 It's hard to imagine Derek Jeter or Tiger Woods heading to Iraq to join the U.S. armed forces. But in World War II no American man between the ages of twenty and forty-five was too big to serve--except for the basketball players who exceeded the Army's 6'6 limits for recruits, a situation illustrated in this excellent book. Part log, part pictorial, and total history lesson, this book could be sent to school with your kids and used for social studies class. Riveting and moving. --Sports Illustrated Bloomfield's extensively researched book . . . is a must-have for any sports-history fan. It's encyclopedic in scope and richly illustrated with fascinating photos. -- Army Times This survey tells, with a refreshing lack of sentimentality, the tales of sportsmen who found themselves in a far deadlier kind of combat. Bloomfield not only shows us a little-known side of World War II but also surveys a fascinating moment in American sports history. --Booklist From the sandlots, asphalt, and cinder tracks of 1930s America, to its country battlefields and stadium gridirons, the spirit of America's youthful athletes was abruptly transformed from doing their best in sports to showing the mettle in life-and-death warfare. Painstakingly researched and profusely illustrated, Duty, Honor, Victory tells the stories of the well-known athletes whose on-field exploits brought another type of fame, but whose battlefield duty has been long overlooked. Here is football's Chuck Bednarik flying bombing missions over Germany; baseball's Bob Feller commanding an anti-aircraft gun crew aboard the USS Alabama; Warren Spahn wounded and nearly killed when the bridge at Remagen collapses; and Yogi Berra on a rocket boat in Normandy. Duty, Honor, Victory addresses all sports, from tennis and golf, to baseball, football, and basketball. Included here are stories of well-known professionals, lesser known college players, as well as black athletes who fought for our country during World War II. From the origins of Nazi Germany and imperial Japan in the 1930s through their defeats in 1945--extending into 1946 and the integration of major league baseball--this book shows every aspect of America's athletes in World War II. |
| famous black sports figures: Silent Gesture Tommie Smith, David Steele, 2008-08-13 The story of the most famous protest in sports history, written by one of the men who staged it. |
| famous black sports figures: The 1960s in Sports Miles Coverdale Jr., 2020-04-27 This book includes the most significant sporting events of the 1960s, covering all the moments that generated tremendous growth in professional and college sports in America during this decade. It features stories such as Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points, and Muhammad Ali beating Sonny Liston. Sports became a national obsession in the 1960s as people tuned in on their new televisions to watch the exploits of some of the most legendary athletes and teams in history. It was the decade of Mickey Mantle, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Bobby Hull, and Arnold Palmer, the decade when the Celtics dominated basketball, Joe Namath delivered on his Super Bowl guarantee, and the Miracle Mets won the World Series. In The 1960s in Sports: A Decade of Change, Miles Coverdale looks back at what was arguably the greatest decade in sports history, when the sports world of today began to take shape during a very tumultuous period of American history. At the start of the decade, thirteen years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, major league rosters were still populated mostly by white Americans. The NFL and NBA were struggling financially and were much less popular than college football and basketball. The Olympics were still open only to amateur athletes. But the sports landscape changed dramatically in the 1960s. Coverdale traces this development by covering the significant events and iconic players of the decade, including stars such as Sandy Koufax, Johnny Unitas, Bobby Orr, and Jack Nicklaus. There were great teams and incredible rivalries, and professional and college sports alike expanded and thrived. Featuring over 70 photos of legendary athletes and memorable moments, The 1960s in Sports transports the reader back to a golden age in sports. With additional coverage of important historical events such as the Cold War, Vietnam, and the Civil Rights Movement, this book also reveals how social and political events impacted the sports world, making it an invaluable resource for anyone interested in this significant decade. |
| famous black sports figures: The Black Athlete: A Shameful Story Jack Olsen, 2020-06-16 Jack Olsen’s blunt depiction of the shameful treatment of black athletes in the 1960’s. A view of the sport most Americans refused to see during a time of complacency and pervasive racial crisis in America. Black collegiate athletes were often dehumanized, exploited and discarded. Recruited for their skill then lionized on the field and ostracized on campus. The world of professional sports offered black athlete’s opportunity but not equality. Positions that carry authority and responsibility were typically labeled “white only”. Olsen interviewed sociologists, black community leaders, coaches, AD’s and numerous athletes. This ground-breaking and controversial report sparked nationwide reforms when it was covered in a five-part series published by Sports Illustrated in 1968. |
| famous black sports figures: What's My Name, Fool? Dave Zirin, 2011-02 In Whats My Name, Fool? sports writer Dave Zirin shows how sports express the worst - and at times the most creative, exciting, and political - features of our society. Zirins sharp and insightful commentary on the personalities, politics, and history of American sports is unlike any sports writing being done today. Zirin explores how NBA brawls highlight tensions beyond the arena, how the bold stances taken by sports unions can chart a path for the entire labor movement, and the unexplored political stirrings of a new generation of athletes who are no longer content to just ''play one game at a time.'' Whats My Name, Fool? draws on original interviews with former heavyweight champ George Foreman, Olympic athlete John Carlos, NBA player and anti-death penalty activist Etan Thomas, antiwar womens college hoopster Toni Smith, Olympic Project for Human Rights leader Lee Evans and many others. It also unearths a history of athletes ranging from Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali to Billie Jean King, who charted a new course through their athletic ability and their outspoken views. |
| famous black sports figures: I Promise LeBron James, 2020-08-11 An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! An Instant Indie Bestseller! *An Amazon Best Book of the Year * A B&N Best Book of the Year* A great gift for tiny go-getters and big dreamers, including for back to school! NBA champion and superstar LeBron James pens a slam-dunk picture book inspired by his foundation’s I PROMISE program that motivates children everywhere to always #StriveForGreatness. Just a kid from Akron, Ohio, who is dedicated to uplifting youth everywhere, LeBron James knows the key to a better future is to excel in school, do your best, and keep your family close. I Promise is a lively and inspiring picture book that reminds us that tomorrow’s success starts with the promises we make to ourselves and our community today. Featuring James’s upbeat, rhyming text and vibrant illustrations perfectly crafted for a diverse audience by #1 New York Times bestselling and Geisel Honor winning artist Nina Mata, this book has the power to inspire all children and families to be their best. Perfect for shared reading in and out of the classroom, I Promise is also a great gift for graduation, birthdays, and other occasions. Plus check out the audiobook, read by LeBron James's mother and I Promise School supporter Gloria James! |
| famous black sports figures: Taking a Knee, Taking a Stand Bob Schron, 2020-04-03 A history of the activism and achievement of African American athletes from Jesse Owens to Serena Williams to Colin Kaepernick, who advanced the cause of social justice through their outspokenness, commitment, and integrity. Muhammad Ali refused to fight in a war he believed was immoral. Wilma Rudolph retired from track and field to campaign for civil rights. Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to draw attention to the oppression of black bodies. Taking a Knee, Taking a Stand tells their stories and the stories of other prominent African American male and female athletes who often risked their careers to fight racial discrimination and promote social justice. From Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in major league baseball to NBA great Bill Russell sitting at the feet of Dr. Martin Luther King at the 1963 March on Washington to Althea Gibson asserting her tennis dominance at a time when many clubs would not allow African Americans to play on their courts, this moving and celebratory history shows how the tradition of black protest in sports has been consistent, necessary, and organic, and that the present crisis of misunderstanding and intolerance demands that this tradition continue as the country struggles toward fairness and equity. |
| famous black sports figures: The Culture of Sports in the Harlem Renaissance Daniel Anderson, 2017-03-21 During the African American cultural resurgence of the 1920s and 1930s, professional athletes shared the spotlight with artists and intellectuals. Negro League baseball teams played in New York City's major-league stadiums and basketball clubs shared the bill with jazz bands at late night casinos. Yet sports rarely appear in the literature on the Harlem Renaissance. Although the black intelligentsia largely dismissed the popularity of sports, the press celebrated athletics as a means to participate in the debates of the day. A few prominent writers, such as Claude McKay and James Weldon Johnson, used sports in distinctive ways to communicate their vision of the Renaissance. Meanwhile, the writers of the Harlem press promoted sports with community consciousness, insightful analysis and a playful love of language, and argued for their importance in the fight for racial equality. |
| famous black sports figures: The 1997 Masters Tiger Woods, 2017-03-20 To mark the anniversary of his historic win at the 1997 Masters, Tiger Woods will for the first time reflect on the record-setting win both on and off the course. In 1997, Tiger Woods was already among the most-watched and closely examined athletes in history. But it wasn't until the Masters Tournament that his career would definitively change forever. Woods, then only 21, won the Masters by a historic 12 shots, which remains the widest margin of victory in the tournament's history, making it an iconic moment for him and sports. Now, Woods is ready to explore his history with the game, how it has changed over the years, and what it was like winning such an important event. With never-before-heard stories, this book will provide keen insight from one of the game's all-time greats. |
| famous black sports figures: Sandlot Seasons Rob Ruck, 1987 A new preface updates this richly detailed look at the major role sport played in shaping Pittsburgh's black community from the Roaring Twenties through the Korean War. Rob Ruck reveals how sandlot, amateur, and professional athletics helped black Pittsburgh realize its potential for self-organization, expression, and creativity. |
| famous black sports figures: A People's History of Sports in the United States Dave Zirin, 2009 A riotously entertaining chronicle of larger-than-life sporting characters and dramatic contests, this is an alternative political history of the United States as seen through the games its people played. Replete with surprises for seasoned sports, it will also amaze anyone interested in history with the connections Zirin draws between politics and sports. A groundbreaking book, it looks at the history of sports in the US through the lens of politics and culture, and shows how athlete-rebels have used sports for social and political change. |
| famous black sports figures: The Beauty of Dusk Frank Bruni, 2022-03-01 From New York Times columnist and bestselling author Frank Bruni comes “a book about vision loss that becomes testimony to human courage, a moving memoir that offers perspective, comfort, and hope” (Booklist, starred review). One morning in late 2017, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni woke up with strangely blurred vision. He wondered at first if some goo or gunk had worked its way into his right eye. But this was no fleeting annoyance, no fixable inconvenience. Overnight, a rare stroke had cut off blood to one of his optic nerves, rendering him functionally blind in that eye—forever. And he soon learned from doctors that the same disorder could ravage his left eye, too. He could lose his sight altogether. In this “moving and inspiring” (The Washington Post) memoir, Bruni beautifully recounts his adjustment to this daunting reality, a medical and spiritual odyssey that involved not only reappraising his own priorities but also reaching out to, and gathering wisdom from, longtime friends and new acquaintances who had navigated their own traumas and afflictions. The result is a poignant, probing, and ultimately “a positive message, a powerful reminder that with great vulnerability also comes great reward” (Oprah Winfrey). Bruni’s world blurred in one sense, as he experienced his first real inklings that the day isn’t forever and that light inexorably fades, but sharpened in another. Confronting unexpected hardship, he felt more blessed than ever before. The Beauty of Dusk is “a wonderful book. Honest. Poetic. Uplifting.” (Lesley Stahl). |
| famous black sports figures: The Set-Up Men Sarah L. Trembanis, 2014-07-15 This book is an examination of cultural resistance to segregation in the world of black baseball through an analysis of editorial art, folktales, nicknames, manhood and the art of clowning. African Americans worked to dismantle Jim Crow through the creation of a cultural counter-narrative that centered on baseball and the Negro Leagues that celebrated black achievement and that highlighted the contradictions and fallacies of white supremacy in the first half of the twentieth century. |
| famous black sports figures: Earl the Pearl Earl Monroe, Quincy Troupe, 2013-04-23 Earl The Pearl Monroe is a basketball legend whose impact on the game transcends statistics, a player known as much for his unorthodox, playground style of play as his championship pedigree. Observers said that watching him play was like listening to jazz, his moves resembling freefloating improvisations. I don't know what I'm going to do with the ball, Monroe once admitted, and if I don't know, I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either. Traded to the New York Knicks before the 1971–72 season, Monroe became a key member of the beloved, star-studded 1972–73 Knicks team that captured the NBA title. And now, on the 40th anniversary of that championship season—the franchise's last—Monroe is finally ready to tell his remarkable story. Written with bestselling author Quincy Troupe (Miles, The Pursuit of Happyness) Earl the Pearl will retrace Monroe's life from his upbringing in a tough South Philadelphia neighborhood through his record-setting days at Winston-Salem State, to his NBA Rookie of the Year season in 1967, his tremendous years with the Baltimore Bullets and ultimately his redemptive, championship glory with the New York Knicks. The book will culminate with a revealing epilogue in which Monroe reflects on the events of the past 40 years, offers his insights into the NBA today, and his thoughts on the future of the game he loves. |
| famous black sports figures: Baseball's Great Experiment Jules Tygiel, 1997 Offers a history of African American exclusion from baseball, and assesses the changing racial attitudes that led up to Jackie Robinson's acceptance by the Brooklyn Dodgers. |
| famous black sports figures: Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols Stanley H. Teitelbaum, 2008-06-01 On the court and on the field they are the world?s winners, exhibiting a natural grace and prowess their adoring fans can only dream about. Yet so often, off the field our sports heroes lose their perspective, their balance, and ultimately their place. In a work as timely as the latest fracas on the basketball court or the most recent drug-induced scandal in the dugout, Stanley H. Teitelbaum looks into the circumstances behind many star athletes? precipitous fall from grace. ø In his psychotherapy practice, Teitelbaum has worked extensively with professional athletes and sports agents?work he draws on here for insight into the psyche of sports figures and the off-the-field challenges they face. Considering both historical and current cases, he shows how, in many instances, the very factors that elevate athletes to superstardom contribute to their downfall. An evenhanded and honest look at athletes who have faltered, Teitelbaum?s work helps us see past our sports stars? exalted images into what those images?and their frailty?say about our society and ourselves. |
| famous black sports figures: Black Profiles in Courage Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alan Steinberg, 2000 In this ideal introduction to black history, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar examines the lives of heroic African Americans and offers their stories as inspiring examples for young people, who too rarely encounter positive black role models in history books or in the media. Profiled here are Peter Salem, the volunteer soldier who turned the tide at Bunker Hill; Joseph Cinque, leader of a daring revolt on the slave ship Amistad; Frederick Douglass, self-taught writer-orator and escaped slave who forced President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation years ahead of schedule; Harriet Tubman, who led at least three hundred slaves to freedom; Lewis Latimer, whose scientific work was integral to the achievements of Bell and Edison; and many more. Shining a bright light on the touchstones of character, these exemplary stories reemphasize the integral role of African Americans in weaving the fabric of our nation and form an empowering legacy from which Americans of all ages can draw inspiration, wisdom, and pride. |
| famous black sports figures: The Negro in Sports Edwin Bancroft Henderson, 1949 |
| famous black sports figures: Famous African Americans in History Louise Gikow, Siobhán McGowan, 2002 |
| famous black sports figures: When Basketball Was Jewish Douglas Stark, 2017-09-01 In the 2015–16 NBA season, the Jewish presence in the league was largely confined to Adam Silver, the commissioner; David Blatt, the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers; and Omri Casspi, a player for the Sacramento Kings. Basketball, however, was once referred to as a Jewish sport. Shortly after the game was invented at the end of the nineteenth century, it spread throughout the country and became particularly popular among Jewish immigrant children in northeastern cities because it could easily be played in an urban setting. Many of basketball’s early stars were Jewish, including Shikey Gotthoffer, Sonny Hertzberg, Nat Holman, Red Klotz, Dolph Schayes, Moe Spahn, and Max Zaslofsky. In this oral history collection, Douglas Stark chronicles Jewish basketball throughout the twentieth century, focusing on 1900 to 1960. As told by the prominent voices of twenty people who played, coached, and refereed it, these conversations shed light on what it means to be a Jew and on how the game evolved from its humble origins to the sport enjoyed worldwide by billions of fans today. The game’s development, changes in style, rise in popularity, and national emergence after World War II are narrated by men reliving their youth, when basketball was a game they played for the love of it. When Basketball Was Jewish reveals, as no previous book has, the evolving role of Jews in basketball and illuminates their contributions to American Jewish history as well as basketball history. |
| famous black sports figures: Race, Culture, and the Revolt of the Black Athlete Douglas Hartmann, 2003 Ever since 1968 a single iconic image of race in American sport has remained indelibly etched on our collective memory: sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos accepting medals at the Mexico City Olympics with their black-gloved fists raised and heads bowed. But what inspired their protest? What happened after they stepped down from the podium? And how did their gesture impact racial inequalities? Drawing on extensive archival research and newly gathered oral histories, Douglas Hartmann sets out to answer these questions, reconsidering this pivotal event in the history of American sport. He places Smith and Carlos within the broader context of the civil rights movement and the controversial revolt of the black athlete. Although the movement drew widespread criticism, it also led to fundamental reforms in the organizational structure of American amateur athletics. Moving from historical narrative to cultural analysis, Hartmann explores what we can learn about the complex relations between race and sport in contemporary America from this episode and its aftermath. |
| famous black sports figures: The Heritage Howard Bryant, 2018-05-08 Following in the footsteps of Robeson, Ali, Robinson and others, today’s Black athletes re-engage with social issues and the meaning of American patriotism Named a best book of 2018 by Library Journal It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state. The ballfield was an escape from the world’s worst problems, top athletes were treated like heroes, and cheering for the home team was as easy and innocent as hot dogs and beer. “No news on the sports page” was a governing principle in newsrooms. That was then. Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Sports and politics are decidedly entwined. But as journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes, who from the start, were committing a political act simply by being on the field. In fact, among all black employees in twentieth-century America, perhaps no other group had more outsized influence and power than ballplayers. The immense social responsibilities that came with the role is part of the black athletic heritage. It is a heritage built by the influence of the superstardom and radical politics of Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos through the 1960s; undermined by apolitical, corporate-friendly “transcenders of race,” O. J. Simpson, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods in the following decades; and reclaimed today by the likes of LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, and Carmelo Anthony. The Heritage is the story of the rise, fall, and fervent return of the athlete-activist. Through deep research and interviews with some of sports’ best-known stars—including Kaepernick, David Ortiz, Charles Barkley, and Chris Webber—as well as members of law enforcement and the military, Bryant details the collision of post-9/11 sports in America and the politically engaged post-Ferguson black athlete. |
| famous black sports figures: Body Work Melissa Febos, 2022-03-15 AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Memoir meets craft master class in this “daring, honest, psychologically insightful” exploration of how we think and write about intimate experiences—“a must read for anybody shoving a pen across paper or staring into a screen or a past (Mary Karr) In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and master class, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller’s life and the questions which run through it. How might we go about capturing on the page the relationships that have formed us? How do we write about our bodies, their desires and traumas? What does it mean for an author’s way of writing, or living, to be dismissed as “navel-gazing”—or else hailed as “so brave, so raw”? And to whom, in the end, do our most intimate stories belong? Drawing on her own path from aspiring writer to acclaimed author and writing professor—via addiction and recovery, sex work and academia—Melissa Febos has created a captivating guide to the writing life, and a brilliantly unusual exploration of subjectivity, privacy, and the power of divulgence. Candid and inspiring, Body Work will empower readers and writers alike, offering ideas—and occasional notes of caution—to anyone who has ever hoped to see themselves in a story. |
| famous black sports figures: Black Texans Alwyn Barr, 1996 discusses each period of African-American history in terms of politics, violence, and legal status; labor and economic status; education; and social life. Black Texans includes the history of the buffalo soldiers and the cowboys on Texas cattle drives, along with the achievements of notable African-American individuals in Texas history, from Estevan the explorer through legislator Norris Wright Cuney and boxer Jack Johnson to state senator Barbara Jordan. Barr carries. |
| famous black sports figures: Interesting People George L. Lee, 1999 Cameo biographies along with Lee's famous pen-and-ink portraits make this book an inviting and inspiring browser for students as well as a useful reference to teachers, writers, librarians, black community leaders and the general reader. Both major achievements and little-known interesting facts are given on over 200 Americans. The coverage is broad: past and present leaders, performers, musicians and sports greats, scientists, writers and military men and women. The material is drawn from a newspaper feature which the author created in 1945. The feature continued until 1986 and has appeared in most of the major black newspapers in the United States. |
| famous black sports figures: The Enduring, Invisible, and Ubiquitous Centrality of Whiteness Kenneth V. Hardy, 2022-05-17 A comprehensive collection on the topic of whiteness from writers in the field of mental health and activism. Whiteness is a pervasive ideology that is rarely overtly identified or examined, despite its profound effects on race relationships. Being intentional about naming, deconstructing, and dismantling whiteness is a precursor to responding effectively to the racial reckoning of our society and improving race relationships, addressing systemic bias, and moving towards the creation of a more racially just world. In this collection of essays, scholars from a variety of backgrounds and trainings explore how the longstanding centering of whiteness in all aspects of society, including clinical therapy spaces, has led to widespread racial injustice. Contributors include: David Trimble, Lane Arye, Jodie Kliman, Ken Epstein, Toby Bobes, Cynthia Chestnut, Ovita F. Williams, Gene E. Cash Jr., Carlin Quinn, Christiana Ibilola Awosan, Niki Berkowitz, Jen Leland, Mary Pender Greene, Hinda Winawer, Bonnie Berman Cushing, Michael Boucher, Robin Schlenger, Alana Tappin, Timothy Baima, Jeffery Mangram, Liang-Ying Chou, Irene In Hee Sung, Ana Hernandez, Robin Nuzum, Keith A. Alford, Hugo Kamya, and Cristina Combs. |
| famous black sports figures: The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby Crystal Hubbard, 2008 Born into an African American sharecropping family in 1880s Kentucky, Jimmy Winkfield grew up loving horses. The large, powerful animals inspired little Jimmy to think big. Looking beyond his family's farm, he longed for a life riding on action-packed racetracks around the world. Like his hero, the great Isaac Murphy, Jimmy Wink Winkfield would stop at nothing to make it as a jockey. Though his path to success was wrought with obstacles both on the track and off, Wink faced each challenge with passion and a steadfast spirit. Along the way he carved out a lasting legacy as one of history's finest horsemen and the last African American ever to win the Kentucky Derby. The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby brings to life a vivacious hero from a little-known chapter of American sports history. Readers are transported trackside to witness the heart-pounding story of a vibrant young man chasing down his dream. |
| famous black sports figures: Come to Win Venus Williams, Kelly E. Carter, 2010-06-29 Multiple grand slam tennis champion and entrepreneur, Venus Williams and 46 of her colleagues, friends, and mentors deliver a volume of invaluable wisdom, motivation, and inspiration. Come to Win demonstrates how the principles of competitive athletics translate into business success. With contributions from a wide range of men and women who reached the very top of their games—including former CEO and bestselling author Jack Welch, fashion designer Vera Wang, actor Denzel Washington, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—Venus Williams’s Come to Win is a book every aspiring professional, coach, and sports enthusiast should read. |
| famous black sports figures: A Matter of Taste Stanley Lieberson, 2000-01-01 What accounts for our tastes? Why and how do they change over time? Stanley Lieberson analyzes children's first names to develop an original theory of fashion. He disputes the commonly-held notion that tastes in names (and other fashions) simply reflect societal shifts. |
| famous black sports figures: A Hard Road To Glory: A History Of The African American Athlete Arthur Ashe, 1993-10-01 The second volume of the three-volume history described by RandR Book News under the ISBN for Volume 1 (006-6). Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR |
| famous black sports figures: Forty Million Dollar Slaves William C. Rhoden, 2010-02-10 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An explosive and absorbing discussion of race, politics, and the history of American sports.”—Ebony From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. Provocative and controversial, Rhoden’s $40 Million Slaves weaves a compelling narrative of black athletes in the United States, from the plantation to their beginnings in nineteenth-century boxing rings to the history-making accomplishments of notable figures such as Jesse Owens, Althea Gibson, and Willie Mays. Rhoden reveals that black athletes’ “evolution” has merely been a journey from literal plantations—where sports were introduced as diversions to quell revolutionary stirrings—to today’s figurative ones, in the form of collegiate and professional sports programs. He details the “conveyor belt” that brings kids from inner cities and small towns to big-time programs, where they’re cut off from their roots and exploited by team owners, sports agents, and the media. He also sets his sights on athletes like Michael Jordan, who he says have abdicated their responsibility to the community with an apathy that borders on treason. The power black athletes have today is as limited as when masters forced their slaves to race and fight. The primary difference is, today’s shackles are invisible. Praise for Forty Million Dollar Slaves “A provocative, passionate, important, and disturbing book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Brilliant . . . a beautifully written, complex, and rich narrative.”—Washington Post Book World “A powerful call for more black athletes to give back to their communities.”—Los Angeles Times |
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