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African American Athletes Who Made History

By: Louis Moore, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Louis Moore
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Publisher's summary

Professor Louis Moore’s audiobook about the history of African Americans in sports in the United States educates listeners about the fascinating social and cultural history of the nation. For example, integration of major league and professional sports broke a major color barrier for one of the first times in the early years of the Civil Rights Movement. African American athletes competed in America long before the 20th century - in fact, they even competed during the years of slavery.

  • Boxer Tom Molineaux, who fought for the entertainment of slave masters, went on to earn his freedom, and then became a professional fighter and trainer
  • Champion boxer Jack Johnson
  • High jumper Rose Robinson
  • Track star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens
  • Baseball legend Jackie Robinson
  • Decathlon gold-medalist Rafer Johnson
  • The first female African American Olympians, Tidye Picket and Louise Stokes

Hear how the struggles and triumphs of these and other African American sports stars opened doors for professional players who came to dominate their fields, including Serena Williams and Michael Jordan. Learn about the founding of Black sports leagues during the years of segregation, how the Great Migration reshaped athletics in America, and how African American athletes balanced their athletic success with the everyday reality of racism and became engines of social change. While sports helped level the playing field in many ways, Black athletes still grapple with the legacy of inequality in America today.

©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.
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Our favorite moments from African-American Athletes Who Made History

Lecture 2, Chapter 2 - That Golden Smile: Black Prizefighters
  • Lecture 2, Chapter 2 - That Golden Smile: Black Prizefighters
Black prizefighters
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Lecture 6, Chapter 6: Black Athletes in the Civil Rights Movement
  • Lecture 6, Chapter 6: Black Athletes in the Civil Rights Movement
Intersection of sports and Civil Rights
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Lecture 9, Chapter 9: It’s Gotta Be the Shoes: Free Agency and Endorsements
  • Lecture 9, Chapter 9: It’s Gotta Be the Shoes: Free Agency and Endorsements
Athletes and endorsements
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  • Lecture 2, Chapter 2 - That Golden Smile: Black Prizefighters
  • Black prizefighters
  • Lecture 6, Chapter 6: Black Athletes in the Civil Rights Movement
  • Intersection of sports and Civil Rights
  • Lecture 9, Chapter 9: It’s Gotta Be the Shoes: Free Agency and Endorsements
  • Athletes and endorsements

About the Professor

Louis Moore is an Associate Professor of History at Grand Valley State University. He teaches African American History, Civil Rights, Sports History, and US History. His research and writing examine the interconnections between race and sports. He is the author of two recently published books, I Fight for a Living: Boxing and the Battle for Black Manhood, 1880-1915 and We Will Win the Day: The Civil Rights Movement, the Black Athlete, and the Quest for Equality. He has also written for a number of online outlets, including The Shadow League, New York Daily News, Vox, and Vocativ, and has appeared on news outlets, including NPR, MSNBC, and BBC Sports.

What listeners say about African American Athletes Who Made History

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Unfortunate Narration

The story itself is very interesting and informative, but I wish they had picked a different narrator. The narrator sounds drunk because of how much he is slurring his words the entire course. Either that or he is an ex-fighter like Mike Tyson and was hit too many times.

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Excellent history lesson

I thoroughly enjoyed the authors' stories and information taking the reader through the history of black athletes in America. My only caveat would be that his narration was very hard to listen to, rather monotone and full of mispronunciations.

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Amazing and at times heartbreaking history

I'm not into sports, but I do enjoy history. I am glad I got an opportunity to listen to this lecture series. It taught me to appreciate sports more and the struggles Black athletes have dealt with for generations.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Sports and human politics

Full disclosure, sports bore me. I just don't engage. This was an audible free listen, so I gave it a shot. What I found was an injection of the surrounding politics both within the sports world as well as geopolitical. That kept me interested enough to power through the book.

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Relevant and Worthy

This book goes into the role sports has played in giving rise to black rights, visibility, and inequality of race in America still prevalent today.
This book made me understand and respect more the black athletes that paved the way in bringing to light and fighting for basic civil liberties, equality, and and the right to be a black person and not be killed for it in modern day America.
Must Listen to! BLM! I stand with Kaepernick!

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A small overview, needs more parts

It's been 2 years, Audible. Ask for a new volume! There's plenty more Black athletes to cover. Hell, this didn't even touch on Serena Williams, Muhammad Ali, or Michael Jordan, and that's just looking at obvious names. What about athletics that are not often considered "sports," like ballet with Misty Copeland?

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Great Black History Education!

I learned so much about the back stories of the lives of these athletes and even more about American history not taught in schools. Thank you for your in depth research.

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Compelling Look At Sports History

This work is an affirming look at the history of African American Athletes throughout American history. Great insights on some lesser known figures from the past. Looking forward to more work from the author.

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Outstanding!

Outstanding lectures on the history of the black athlete and the significant discrimination suffered. It was a good inside view of what was actually behind the scenes as the milestones were achieved.

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Worth it!

Overall, it's great and I'm so happy that these kinds of books are available. Everyone should listen to this in my opinion.

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4 people found this helpful