African American Icons of Sport: Triumph, Courage, and Excellence / Edition 1

by Matthew Whitaker

Overview

This title offers an examination of African Americans in sports, from a variety of perspectives and through a lively range of rhetoric styles, and illuminates the history of highly successful and influential individuals, athletes and teams who have transcended mere celebrity to come to represent a given Zeitgeist to a sizable part of the world. It also explores the history and lives of complex, multi-layered personages and groups. Finally, it examines the extent to which modern mass media and popular culture have contributed greatly to the rise, and sometimes fall, of the these powerful symbols of athletic, individual, and group excellence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313340284
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/30/2008
Series:	Greenwood Icons
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	15 - 18 Years

About the Author

MATTHEW C. WHITAKER is Associate Professor of United States History, African and American Studies, and Justice and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University. His articles have appeared in many jourbanals and encyclopedias, and his latest book is titled Race Work: The Rise of Civil Rights in the Urban West (University of Nebraska Press, 2005).

Table of Contents

List of Photos
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Muhammad Ali
2. Arthur Ashe
3. Charles Barkley
4. Barry Bonds
5. Jim Brown
6. Wilt Chamberlain
7. George Foreman
8. Althea Gibson
9. Harlem Globetrotters
10. Derrick Derek Jeter
11. Earvin Magic Johnson
12. Jack Johnson
13. Michael Jordan
14. Florence Griffin Joyner
15. Joe Louis
16. Negro Baseball Leagues
17. Shaquille ONeal
18. Jessie Owens
19. Bill Pickett
20. Eddie Robinson
21. Wilma Rudolph
22. Tommie Smith and John Carlos
23. Venus and Serena Williams
24. Tiger Woods
About the Editor and Contributors
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

African American Icons of Sport covers a wide range of sports and includes Shaquille O'Neal, Wilma Rudolph, George Forman, Magic Johnson, the Williams sisters, and many more. Readers at the secondary level and up also learn about the Negro Baseball League, efforts to desegregate various sports, and other general topics in this encyclopedia volume. Articles authored by subject experts provide details about the lives and legacies of the most successful and influential Black athletes, teams, and coaches.” —MultiCultural Review

“This text provides an overview of African American sport icons. The editor and authors have created a well-researched and well-written text that is likely to be a valuable and useful resource for individuals that are interested in this topic. …This is a well-written and well-edited text that is likely to complement personal and professional libraries.” —ARBAonline

From the Publisher