Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
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Brilliant piece of work

The Baddest of the BAD! See it for yourself, could Clay do this??

A True Icon in the History of Sports

Profound humanity outpoints facile race classification

Ward's bio delivers a nice punch!

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Geoffrey C. Ward
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375710043
Release Date: 2006-01-03

Book Description

In this vivid biography Geoffrey C. Ward brings back to life the most celebrated — and the most reviled — African American of his age.

Jack Johnson battled his way out of obscurity and poverty in the Jim Crow South to win the title of heavyweight champion of the world. At a time when whites ran everything in America, he took orders from no one and resolved to live as if color did not exist. While most blacks struggled simply to exist, he reveled in his riches and his fame, sleeping with whomever he pleased, to the consternation and anger of much of white America. Because he did so the federal government set out to destroy him, and he was forced to endure prison and seven years of exile. This definitive biography portrays Jack Johnson as he really was--a battler against the bigotry of his era and the embodiment of American individualism.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant piece of work.......2007-09-14

I thoroughly enjoyed this book on Jack Johnson. The man was the best boxer of his generation and lived his life to the fullest extent outside the ring.

The author has produced a tremendous work that completely looks at the life of the champion and gives a look at the USA in that time. Johnson had to deal with numerous issues in his day and he handled it in a manner that few could.

Well worth reading.

The Baddest of the BAD! See it for yourself, could Clay do this??.......2007-02-03

I have made a study of this man and he fought at a time when a referee was basically the guy with the best seat in the house, as there were no such things as "standing eight counts", as a knockdown was the end of the round and this is why Jack Johnson, who started as a much lighter man, and he seriously had an I.Q. of a 4 year old, but, when he hit, the canvas shook!~!~! He was the first...the "VERY first BLACK MAN to be the 'International Heavyweight Champeen of the World' ". He respected no white man, and he showed his disdain by always having beauteous white women on his arms (plural) and he knew that he whipped up a frenzy where ever he went and esp. when he fought. He waited..a long time as NO WHITE man would show his face to get into the ring. The man "James Jeffries", dared to be the man to 'wipe Jack out'..he was called "The Great White Hope", and the whole world wanted the death of Jack Johnson by any white hands..he was that HATED!~!~! But, this man, worked out, not in a gym, like a "ROCKY" movie, He stood all day in the middle of barns as his best accomadations would be for Jack. He had barrells full of rocks (where do you think "Stallone's Barn scene in Russia" came from???) That was Jack Johnson for real, heaving as much as he could heaving and heaving those barrells as much as he could until all he was spent... he was a muscular man who could take your head off as Floyd Patterson did when he was the first "Heavyweight" (at 180 lbs)to regain the world's Heavyweight Crown before Muhammad Ali did it three (3) times!...Back to Jack Johnson...I cannot say much more except that when James Jeffries went down, he had NO HEART to get up..not one more time would he stand before what Jack Johnson called: "Da Hevywate Champeen of da world"! As he kept taunting his manager with that question time and again..."WHEN do I get a try"? So, the day 's temperature was over 100 degrees , if I recollect, and no wind blew, but, Jack entered into the ring first...then the "GREAT White- Hope", James jeffries, with thousands standing in that heat for what seemed as scores of years...and he was the first to leave, heaving the "spit bucket" at the newspress people, as he ran under the ring and on a waiting train...heading for "HIS FORM of GLORY": You shall read it, I know, and you will understand prejudice, hatred, violence in boxing, for it is gone as we see the sport today...this was a day of gladiators...standing, swinging, falling, the opponent standing above his opponent, waiting for a knee to leave the mat, them, again...POW!..before the "ref" even said "get back"!Jack would stalk the dizzy, man falling on the ropes, the mat, almost left the ring a few times..never a count to ten...it was down and out ...that was boxing in the "Glory Days" of the baddest Men in the world, not, greatest, or the hardest left hook, or the fastest jab..that all meant nothing.
What was the value here was round 20, round 30, round 50...and the band beat on! As did Jack Johnson...in HIS lifetime~!~!~!..this must be read by sports heros of today who are covered with padded armor for protection and for millions and millions of US Dollars. Jack walked proudly everywhere, with a pocket of change and died a poor man... Yes, these were the true Boxers of the past..this was the ONE!~!~! The ONE that you'll remember...for a long, long time!~!~!
Rick, "Strings"

A True Icon in the History of Sports.......2006-08-16

Jack Johnson was no saint, and certainly Geoffrey C. Ward does not defend his vices nor forgive Johnson in his book, "Unforgivable Blackness - The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson". What Ward does do (with great research and writing) is gather details pertaining to periods in leading up to and between what generally is known as Johnson's triumphs and headlines. Furthermore, he does set the scene of a land not yet ready for Johnson's maverick ways.

You get the early stories of Johnson as a youth and his influential mother who set upon him the idea that he was capable of anything. His days of leaving school for work, to his beginnings in early prizefighting are covered in detail as well as his participation in battle royals which many black fighters of his era too had experience in. These beginnings were the catalyst of the rise and conquering of the most distinguished pugilistic title "World Heavyweight Champion". His style was before any time; a defensive master who toyed with opponents and at times would carry conversations with ringside onlookers.

Johnson and his women were always intriguing and really got him in a pickle with the government. Beyond Jim Crow, blacks acting "uppity" were easy targets to make examples of in judicial or extreme (lynching) measures. Johnson being the most notorious black American of that era certainly was as easy a target for the Anglo-Saxon sentiment. "Lil' Arthur" though was a rebel and lived his life as he chose, his extradition came after a long battle which he did put a good fight. I think to compare him to Ali is incorrect. Ali was unpopular to many, but popular on the flip side as well. Johnson was always looked upon as a threat by a white majority and eventually even looked down upon in disgust by many of his fellow blacks.

His downfall was sad, but all in all Johnson lived his life as good as a black American could in that time. He traveled the world unlike any normal citizen would of and rubbed many known shoulders of his day. It is only tragic that if he were not black, he would have been regarded as the Babe Ruth of boxing.

Profound humanity outpoints facile race classification.......2006-05-23

Growing up in the Midwest, we knew nothing about Jack Johnson. Only Joe Louis appeared as the iconic boxing champion we kids admired. Even our parents and grandparents seemed to know nothing about Johnson. However, at this moment, my 86-year old father is reading this book. Perhaps I bought for it him to redress past oversight.

Only through the stage play and film, "The Great White Hope" did we gain an introduction to the man Jack Johnson. Ward's book fills a goodly number of historical gaps, and even when specifics are ambiguous (Johnson himself offered several versions of his life's events), the larger picture of a man denied his fundamental humanity emerges.

This is no mere hagiography of the man. Johnson, ever clearly a self-confident man, is present in the pages with his failures, foibles, his faults. But a generation or two passed him over, shut him out of their memories, failed to add his powerful presence as heavyweight champion to stories told to newer generations. The reason for this oversight was fear. Johnson's insistence upon his manhood, as much or more manhood than his contemporaries, was a fearsome thing for black men to display. Choosing one's own style of abundant living or a woman of one's desiring, regardless of color or custom ran powerfully against the expectations of black subservience. Whites feared this usurpation of their presumed entitlement, and among blacks too there were those who feared what form of white revenge might be visited upon them because of Johnson's perceived impertinence.

Ward offers readers a recapturing of gloomy early 20th Century racial politics combined with Jack Johnson's poised and mesmerizing stance against a world in overwhelming refusal to understand and accept him. He fought for and won the heavyweight championship not to represent black hopes and ambitions against whites (though these hopes were surely buoyed by his unprecedented victories). He joined the fray as simply one man against another man, pitting wit, style, grace, and strength to win.

Although DNA now provides unassailable scientific proof for the insignificance of skin color in the human species, at the turn of the 20th Century, Jack Johnson proved this with his fists.

Ward's bio delivers a nice punch!.......2006-04-17

I had no knowledge of boxing history and had never heard of Jack Johnson before picking up this book. I'm not normally invested in any sport, but Ward quickly and smoothly pulled me into the fights of yesteryear. Not just the boxing matches but the trials Jack Johnson had to overcome because of his ethnicity.

I learned a great deal and found myself a fan of Mr Johnson because of his charming personality. He paved the way for so many African-American athletes by creating a cult of personality that anyone, regardless of skin color, could admire.

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

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Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Geoffrey C. Ward
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0739455117

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The rise and fall of Jack Johnson.

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Unforgivable Blackness
Geoffrey C Ward
Manufacturer: PIMLICO (RAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0712609776

Boxing in jazz: Wynton Marsalis imposes his version of the story of Jazz on a Ken Burns documentary.(Books & Arts)(Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and ... An article from: The Weekly Standard

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Boxing in jazz: Wynton Marsalis imposes his version of the story of Jazz on a Ken Burns documentary.(Books & Arts)(Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and ... An article from: The Weekly Standard
Tim Marchman
Manufacturer: News America Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00096TCKE
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Weekly Standard, published by News America Incorporated on January 31, 2005. The length of the article is 1428 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Boxing in jazz: Wynton Marsalis imposes his version of the story of Jazz on a Ken Burns documentary.(Books & Arts)(Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson )(Movie Review)
Author: Tim Marchman
Publication: The Weekly Standard (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 31, 2005
Publisher: News America Incorporated
Volume: 10 Issue: 19 Page: 36(3)

Article Type: Movie Review

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Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.(Book review): An article from: Afro-Americans in New York Life and History

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Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.(Book review): An article from: Afro-Americans in New York Life and History
John C. Walter
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000NA6GRI
Release Date: 2007-02-06

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This digital document is an article from Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 4025 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.(Book review)
Author: John C. Walter
Publication: Afro-Americans in New York Life and History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Page: 122(8)

Article Type: Book review

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Unforgivable Blackness: the Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.(Movie Review): An article from: Cineaste

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Unforgivable Blackness: the Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.(Movie Review): An article from: Cineaste
Leger Grindon
Manufacturer: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000976V5W
Release Date: 2006-07-14

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This digital document is an article from Cineaste, published by Cineaste Publishers, Inc. on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 2141 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Unforgivable Blackness: the Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.(Movie Review)
Author: Leger Grindon
Publication: Cineaste (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Page: 50(3)

Article Type: Movie Review

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Never a Shot in Anger, SIGNED
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Never a Shot in Anger, SIGNED
Col. Barney Oldfield
Manufacturer: New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1956
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NK7HX0

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Never a Shot In Anger
Colonel Oldfield; Barney
Manufacturer: DUELL, SLOAN AND PEARCE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKNMTW

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Never a Shot in Anger
Barney (Colonel) Oldfield
Manufacturer: Duell, Sloan and Pearce
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NPUN40

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Never a Shot in Anger
Col. Barney, U.S.A.F. (ret.) Oldfield
Manufacturer: Capra Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O5U2QS

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Never a Shot in Anger
Gerald Mortimer
Manufacturer: Square One Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1872017711

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Never a shot in anger
Barney Oldfield
Manufacturer: Duell, Sloan and Pearce
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0007E4AWS

Never a Shot in Anger
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Never a Shot in Anger

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Never a Shot in Anger Inscribed
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Never a Shot in Anger Inscribed
Barney Oldfield
Manufacturer: DUELL SLOAN & PEARCE INC
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ASIN: B000PX6ET8

NEVER A SHOT IN ANGER.
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NEVER A SHOT IN ANGER.
James Hefley.
Manufacturer: Grand Rapids: 1969 1st ed. 208p; plates.
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ASIN: B000KIMT1U

Never A Shot In Anger: The Informal, Inside Account Of The Strange War Bedfellowship Of The Military And The War Correspondents
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Never A Shot In Anger: The Informal, Inside Account Of The Strange War Bedfellowship Of The Military And The War Correspondents
Barney Oldfield
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
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ASIN: 0548384614

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Is there a justification for European integration? The Idea of a European Superstate examines this--the most basic--question raised by the European Union. In doing so, Glyn Morgan assesses the arguments put forward by eurosceptics and their critics. In a challenge to both sides of the debate, Morgan argues in support of a European superstate. Unless Europe forms a unitary sovereign state, Europe will remain, so he maintains, weak and dependent for its security on the United States.

This book represents a unique effort by a political philosopher to examine the justification of European integration. This issue is now a central focus of the debate provoked by Europe's Constitutional Treaty and European Enlargement. "In contrast to most supporters of the European project, Morgan shares the eurosceptics' belief in the importance of sovereignty. In contrast to the eurosceptics, however, Morgan believes that Europeans would have to abandon national "sovereignty in favor of European sovereignty.

The Idea of a European Superstate reshapes the debate on European political integration. It throws down a gauntlet to eurosceptics and euro-enthusiasts alike. While employing the arguments of contemporary political philosophy and international relations, this book is written in an accessible fashion that anyone interested in European integration can understand.

The Idea of a European Superstate: Public Justification and European Integration.(Book review): An article from: Journal of Church and State

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The Idea of a European Superstate: Public Justification and European Integration.(Book review): An article from: Journal of Church and State
Robert Pahre
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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This digital document is an article from Journal of Church and State, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 616 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: The Idea of a European Superstate: Public Justification and European Integration.(Book review)
Author: Robert Pahre
Publication: Journal of Church and State (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 49 Issue: 1 Page: 145(2)

Article Type: Book review

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As in the rest of the United States, grizzly bears, wolves, and mountain lions in and around Yellowstone National Park were eliminated or reduced decades ago to very low numbers. In recent years, however, populations have begun to recover, leading to encounters between animals and people and, more significantly, to conflicts among people about what to do with these often controversial neighbors.

Coexisting with Large Carnivores presents a close-up look at the socio-political context of large carnivores and their management in western Wyoming south of Yellowstone National Park, including the southern part of what is commonly recognized as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The book brings together researchers and others who have studied and worked in the region to help untangle some of the highly charged issues associated with large carnivores, their interactions with humans, and the politics that arise from those interactions.

This volume argues that coexistence will be achieved only by a thorough understanding of the human populations involved, their values, attitudes, beliefs, and the institutions through which carnivores and humans are managed. Coexisting with Large Carnivores offers important insights into this complex, dynamic issue and provides a unique overview of issues and strategies for managers, researchers, government officials, ranchers, and everyone else concerned about the management and conservation of large carnivores and the people who live nearby.

Customer Reviews:

Good on the biological background, weaker on the human side of the story.......2007-09-14

This book looks at how wolves, grizzly bears and mountain lions can coexist with the people who live around Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. The books is divided into three parts: the social context, case studies of the three species, and lessons for management. Overall, the contributors argue against the typical top-down plans of state and federal agencies, which draw up a management plan and then impose it on the community. Instead, they argue for more community participation in decisions and for practice-based management, with people trying a variety of strategies and then sharing those that work.

The contributors to this volume clearly know the material, and they present it well. The chapters on social context provide valuable background information, and the case studies were also very interesting. The management chapters were much less successful, however. The authors are mostly biologists, and to their credit they realize that they don't really know much social science. That's a handicap when discussing psychology, symbolism, group processes, and agency behavior. The authors are game enough, but it wouldn't have hurt to include a few chapters by people who study such things.

It's hard to argue against people participating in the decisions that shape their lives. But what if people are ill-informed or have demonstrably false beliefs? Many locals are convinced that wolves are going to eat their children, but no non-rabid North American wolf has ever killed a person. (I've encountered a wolf in the backcountry with a child beside me, so I'm not asking ranchers to do anything that I haven't done before.) The potential conflict between democratic processes and scientific knowledge is mentioned but not wrestled with as seriously as it should be.

In the end, the scientists in this book want their own views to triumph. All the authors argue for community dialogue so that locals who disagree with them will change their minds. None of the authors entertain the possibility that they might change their own minds after engaging in dialogue with ranchers. Given this asymmetry, why should ranchers play along?

The authors are also critical of federal and state agencies who use their power resources to try to impose their views on the community. At the same time, the biologists who wrote most of these chapters seem not to have thought critically about their own power resources - - knowledge, logical reasoning skills, and the like - - and how they are trying to impose their views on locals.

The contributors know (or suspect) these limitations of what they are doing. Without addressing them more deeply, however, the management section ends up being a lot of platitudes about dialogue and participation. In contrast, the sections on social context and the three large carnivore species were interesting and convincing.

Coexisting with Large Carnivores: Lessons from Greater Yellowstone.(Book review): An article from: Endangered Species Update

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Coexisting with Large Carnivores: Lessons from Greater Yellowstone.(Book review): An article from: Endangered Species Update
Joel T. Heinen
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000RGUJK8
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Endangered Species Update, published by Thomson Gale on July 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1213 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Coexisting with Large Carnivores: Lessons from Greater Yellowstone.(Book review)
Author: Joel T. Heinen
Publication: Endangered Species Update (Newsletter)
Date: July 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 23 Issue: 3 Page: 118(3)

Article Type: Book review

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