Download or read book Taking a Knee Taking a Stand written by Bob Schron and published by Charlesbridge Publishing. This book was released on 2020-04-03 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Kaepernick Effect written by Dave Zirin and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Riveting and inspiring first-person stories of how “taking a knee” triggered a political awakening among athletes of all ages and levels, from the celebrated sportswriter “With profiles of courage that leap of the page, Zirin uncovers a whole national movement of citizen-athletes fighting for racial justice.” —Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning Hailed by Publishers Weekly in a starred review as “an enthralling look at the impact of peaceful protest by sports figures at the high school, college, and professional levels,” The Kaepernick Effect explores the story of how quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s simple act of “taking a knee” spread like wildfire throughout American society, becoming the preeminent public symbol of resistance to America’s persistent racial inequality. In this powerful book, critically acclaimed sports journalist and author Dave Zirin chronicles “the Kaepernick effect” for the first time, through “a riveting collection of first-person stories” (The Nation) from high school athletes and coaches, college stars and high-powered athletic directors, and professional athletes across many different sports—from Megan Rapinoe to Michael Bennett. In each case, he uncovers the fascinating explanations and motivations behind what became a mass political movement in sports. “Necessary reading for all, especially those who want to make a difference in promoting social justice, equity, and inclusion, and end police brutality” (Library Journal, starred review), The Kaepernick Effect is for anyone seeking to get involved in the new movement for racial justice in America: “Take a knee, everyone, and start a revolution” (Kirkus Reviews).
Download or read book The Heritage written by Howard Bryant and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Take A Knee written by Delroy Constantine-Siimms and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-03 with total page 1178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of insightful essays explores the stages between post-civil rights nihilism and the rebirth of mass black protest against police brutality and judicial discrimination, in the age of mass incarceration.
Download or read book Raise a Fist Take a Knee written by John Feinstein and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on dozens of shocking interviews with some of the most influential names in sports, this is the urgent and revelatory examination of racial inequality in professional athletics America has been waiting for Commentators, coaches, and fans alike have long touted the diverse rosters of leagues like the NFL and MLB as sterling examples of a post-racial America. Yet decades after Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a display of Black power and pride, and years after Colin Kaepernick shocked the world by kneeling for the national anthem, the role black athletes and coaches are asked to perform--both on and off the field--still can be determined as much by stereotype and old-fashion ideology as ability and performance. Whether it's the pre-game moments of resistance, the lack of diversity among coaching and managerial staff, or the consistent undervaluation of black quarterbacks, racial politics impact every aspect of every sport being played. Yet, the gigantic salaries and glitzy lifestyles of pro athletes tend to disguise the ugly truths of how minorities are treated and discarded by their white bosses. Promising to finally expose the structural prejudices underpinning this pilar of modern society, John Feinstein has crisscrossed the country to not only get the stories none of us have heard but all of us should know but also constructed those harrowing tales into a larger narrative that will be the definitive book on race and sports for a generation to come. Seventy-five years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line, race is still a central and defining factor of America's professional sports leagues. With an encyclopedic knowledge of professional sports, and shrew cultural criticism, John Feinstein uncovers not just why, but how, pro sports continue to perpetuate racial inequality.
Download or read book Stand Tall written by Joan Bauer and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-08-16 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tree, a six-foot-three-inch twelve-year-old, copes with his parents' recent divorce and his failure as an athlete by helping his grandfather, a Vietnam vet and recent amputee, and Sophie, a new girl at school.
Download or read book What It Takes written by Mark Herzlich and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2011, he became starting linebacker for the New York Giants and triumphed in the Super Bowl—after being told his cancer diagnosis meant he would never play football again.... As a child, Herzlich found true meaning in football, eventually turning his passion into a first-team All-American spot at Boston College. But the budding star was sidelined by persistent, debilitating pain in his left leg. The shocking diagnosis: He had Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Doctors put his odds of survival as low as ten percent—and no one thought he would be able to run, much less play football, again. Then Herzlich learned of a radical treatment that would give him the best chance to regain his strength and maybe even play football again, but it could cost him his life. Relying on family, friends, faith, and deep wells of determination to help him through treatment, his plan worked. Not only could he run, but he was physically stronger than ever, and mentally ready to battle his way into the NFL. When he was passed over by all thirty-two teams in the draft, he dug deeper and continued his training, winning a spot in the Giants’ training camp and, eventually, on the team. Mark Herzlich fought a battle against cancer, against statistics, and some days against himself. Told with candor and raw emotion, What It Takes is a story for anyone who has ever fought to beat the odds, for anyone who has ever been told that what they are about to attempt is next to impossible. INCLUDES PHOTOS With a foreword by New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin
Download or read book What s My Name Fool written by Dave Zirin and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2011-02 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Breaking the Line written by Samuel G. Freedman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looks at the 1967 football season leading up to that year's black college championship between Grambling College and Florida A & M, and how it fit into the civil rights struggles of the time.
Download or read book Stand on Zanzibar written by John Brunner and published by Orb Books. This book was released on 2011-08-16 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brilliant 1969 Hugo Award-winning novel from John Brunner, Stand on Zanzibar, now included with a foreword by Bruce Sterling Norman Niblock House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of a few all-powerful corporations. His work is leading General Technics to the forefront of global domination, both in the marketplace and politically---it's about to take over a country in Africa. Donald Hogan is his roommate, a seemingly sheepish bookworm. But Hogan is a spy, and he's about to discover a breakthrough in genetic engineering that will change the world...and kill him. These two men's lives weave through one of science fiction's most praised novels. Written in a way that echoes John Dos Passos' U.S.A. Trilogy, Stand on Zanzibar is a cross-section of a world overpopulated by the billions. Where society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers, mass-marketed psychedelic drugs, and mundane uses of genetic engineering. Though written in 1968, it speaks of now, and is frighteningly prescient and intensely powerful. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Download or read book Fall On Your Knees written by Ann-Marie MacDonald and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-01-25 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Piper family is steeped in secrets, lies, and unspoken truths. At the eye of the storm is one secret that threatens to shake their lives -- even destroy them. Set on stormy Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia, Fall on Your Knees is an internationally acclaimed multigenerational saga that chronicles the lives of four unforgettable sisters. Theirs is a world filled with driving ambition, inescapable family bonds, and forbidden love. Compellingly written, by turns menacingly dark and hilariously funny, this is an epic tale of five generations of sin, guilt, and redemption.
Download or read book One Life written by Megan Rapinoe and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An instant New York Times bestseller! “Rapinoe's 'signature pose' from the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup is synonymous to the feeling we got when finishing this book: heart full, arms wide and ready to take up space in this world.”—USA Today Megan Rapinoe, Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women's World Cup champion, reveals for the first time her life both on and off the field. Guided by her personal journey into social justice, brimming with humor, humanity, and joy, she urges all of us to ask ourselves, What will you do with your one life? Only four years old when she kicked her first soccer ball, Megan Rapinoe developed a love – and clear talent – for the game at a young age. But it was her parents who taught her that winning was much less important than how she lived her life. From childhood on, Rapinoe always did what she could to stand up for what was right—even if it meant going up against people who disagreed. In One Life, Megan Rapinoe invites readers on a remarkable journey, looking back on both her victories and her failures, and pulls back the curtain on events we know only from the headlines. After the 2011 World Cup, discouraged by how few athletes were open about their sexuality, Rapinoe decided to come out publicly as gay and use her platform to advocate for marriage equality. Recognizing the power she had to bring attention to critical issues, in 2016 she took a knee during the national anthem in solidarity with former NFL player Colin Kaepernick to protest racial injustice and police brutality—the first high-profile white athlete to do so. The backlash was immediate, but it couldn’t compare to the overwhelming support. Rapinoe became a force of change. Here for the first time, Rapinoe reflects upon some of the most pivotal moments in her life and career – from her realization in college that she was gay, through the disputes with soccer coaches and officials over her decision to kneel, to the first time she met her now-fiancé WNBA champion Sue Bird, and up through suing the US Soccer Federation over gender discrimination and equal pay. Throughout, Rapinoe makes clear the obligation we all have to speak up, and the impact each of us can have on our communities. Deeply personal and inspiring, One Life reveals that real, concrete change lies within all of us, and asks: If we all have the same resource—this one precious life, made up of the decisions we make every day—what are you going to do? "One Life makes it clear that Rapinoe’s greatest accomplishments may ultimately come away from the soccer pitch. She’s a new kind of American hero."—San Francisco Chronicle
Download or read book Standing in the Light written by Severt Young Bear and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1996-03-01 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An inside view of the Lakota world-of the meaning of Lakota song and dance, of their history, of what it is to be Lakota in America today. . . . A lasting personal tribute to the Lakota way of living."-Whole Earth Review. "A unique, in-depth presentation on Lakota music and the profession of singer, a useful contemporary Oglala representation of the core of their culture, and a version of the involvement of the American Indian Movement on Pine Ridge Reservation, told by a man who was affiliated but not a principal leader. . . . This is a subjective statement, well and persuasively written."-Choice. Severt Young Bear stood in the light-in the center ring at powwows and other gatherings of Lakota people. As founder and, for many years, lead singer of the Porcupine Singers, a traditional singing and drumming group, he also stood, figuratively, in the light of understanding the cherished Lakota heritage. Young Bear's own life in Brotherhood Community, Porcupine District of the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation, is the linchpin of this narrative, which ranges across the landscape of Dakota culture, from the significance of names to the search for modern Lakota identity, from Lakota oral traditions to powwows and giveaways, from child-rearing practices to humor and leadership. "Music is at the center of Lakota life, " says Young Bear; he describes in rich detail the origins and varieties of Lakota song and dance. Severt Young Bear performed with the Porcupine Singers throughout North America, taught at Oglala Lakota College, and served on the Oglala Sioux tribal council. He was music and dance consultant for the films Dances with Wolves and Thunder Heart. This book is the fruit of his longfriendship and collaboration with R. D. Theisz, a fellow Porcupine Singer and professor of communications and education at Black Hills State University.
Download or read book Democracy in Black written by Eddie S. Glaude (Jr.) and published by Crown. This book was released on 2016 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A polemic on the state of black America that argues that we don't yet live in a post-racial society"--
Download or read book Why I Stand written by Jonathan Isaac and published by DW Books. This book was released on 2022-05-17 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Facing public criticism, peer hostility, and widespread disapproval, would you compromise your principles to blend in with the crowd, or would you stand for what you believe? On July 31, 2020, the Orlando Magic starting forward Jonathan Isaac was the lone NBA player not to kneel for the national anthem amid a league-wide demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter. Standing alone, knowing the scrutiny to come, Jonathan had a peace he at one time never could have imagined possible. In Why I Stand, Jonathan shares the journey of how—through a series of divine connections and a willingness to follow Christ—his fear and insecurity-driven life was transformed into one of confidence and purpose. From his childhood in the Bronx to his high school years in Florida, from rail-skinny freshman at FSU to top draft pick in the NBA, Jonathan uses his life story to illuminate the freedom and peace found in the love of Jesus Christ. More than the story of an NBA player’s transformation from man on the court to man of God, Why I Stand is a testament to His love, power, and grace that extends to us all. This book is a discovery that no matter your level of confidence today, God’s strength will develop in your weakness. That courage is found in trusting that God is greater than your fears. As Jonathan takes you through the experiences that drove his decisions, he offers insight and inspiration to help you to grow to a point where standing alone is better than not standing at all.
Download or read book League of Denial written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and published by Crown. This book was released on 2014-08-26 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The story of how the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, denied and sought to cover up mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage “League of Denial may turn out to be the most influential sports-related book of our time.”—The Boston Globe “Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis.” So concluded the National Football League in a December 2005 scientific paper on concussions in America’s most popular sport. That judgment, implausible even to a casual fan, also contradicted the opinion of a growing cadre of neuroscientists who worked in vain to convince the NFL that it was facing a deadly new scourge: a chronic brain disease that was driving an alarming number of players—including some of the all-time greats—to madness. In League of Denial, award-winning ESPN investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru tell the story of a public health crisis that emerged from the playing fields of our twenty-first-century pastime. Everyone knows that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know—and what the league sought to shield from them—is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football, that the very essence of the game could be exposing these players to brain damage. In a fast-paced narrative that moves between the NFL trenches, America’s research labs, and the boardrooms where the NFL went to war against science, League of Denial examines how the league used its power and resources to attack independent scientists and elevate its own flawed research—a campaign with echoes of Big Tobacco’s fight to deny the connection between smoking and lung cancer. It chronicles the tragic fates of players like Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, who was so disturbed at the time of his death he fantasized about shooting NFL executives, and former San Diego Chargers great Junior Seau, whose diseased brain became the target of an unseemly scientific battle between researchers and the NFL. Based on exclusive interviews, previously undisclosed documents, and private emails, this is the story of what the NFL knew and when it knew it—questions at the heart of a crisis that threatens football, from the highest levels all the way down to Pop Warner.
Download or read book Reaper s Stand written by Joanna Wylde and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sexy continuation of the New York Times bestselling Reapers Motorcycle Club series As Reapers Motorcycle Club president, Reese “Picnic” Hayes has given his entire life to the club. After losing his wife, he knew he’d never love another woman. And with two daughters to raise and a club to manage, that was just fine with him. These days, Reese keeps his relationships free and easy—he definitely doesn’t want to waste his time on a glorified cleaning lady like London Armstrong. Too bad he’s completely obsessed with her. London is independent, and she likes it that way. Besides running her own business, London’s got her junkie cousin’s daughter to look after—a more reckless than average eighteen-year-old. Sure she’s attracted to the Reapers’ president, but she’s not stupid. Reese Hayes is a criminal and a thug. But when her young cousin gets caught up with a ruthless drug cartel, Reese might be the only man who can help her. Now London has to make the hardest decision of her life—how far will she go to save her family?
