Twelve years before Kentucky and Texas Christian. Seven years after Jackie Robinson’s first at-bat in the Majors. A color barrier in both sports and in America was shattered—by a team of teenage boys. The weight of a season and the weight of growing up are burdens enough. For a high school basketball team in Chicago in 1954, the weight of history joined them every time they stepped onto the court. “The Wonder Five” were from DuSable High School, a predominantly black area of Chicago, a city with a harrowing record on race relations. It is also one of America’s preeminent basketball cities, and The Wonder Five’s spectacular skill and immense poise carried them through the season and into the record books as the first all-black team, led by a black coach, to reach the highest levels of an organized, integrated, traditional sports program in America. When DuSable reached the finals of the state tournament for Illinois, it made history the minute its five starters stepped onto the court. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Ira Berkow goes in-depth to explore the historical and sociological background that led to DuSable, as well as painting that championship game in his inimitable style. In one of the most emotional, suspenseful, and bizarre games that anyone had ever seen, DuSable played a team from Mount Vernon, a small, southern Illinois town, predominantly white, save for its one star player. What happened in the game, and the aftermath, changed the lives of these young men forever.

In the face of centuries of institutional and interpersonal racism, in light of the signals they receive from society, and given the choices they must make about what they want from life and how to go about getting it--how can Black men in America realize their full potential? In Black Man Emerging, psychologists Joseph L. White and James H. Cones III fashion a moving psychological and social portrait that reflects their personal views on the struggle of Black men against oppression and for self-determination. Using numerous case histories and biographical sketches of Black men who have failed and those who have prevailed, the authors describe strategies for responding to racism and entrenched power--underscoring the healing capacity of religion, family, Black consciousness movements, mentorships, educational programs, paid employment, and other positive forces. They also explore the concept of identity as it applies to being Black and male and ithe influence of Black men on American culture. Black Man Emerging is a poignant and personal discussion of the issues facing and felt by Black men in this country and an important commentary on the conflicts born of human diversity.

Links the history of race relations to the history of basketball by reviewing the era of the first Black teams, the first integration of teams, and the innovations that Black players have brought to the game

Chicago has garnered national recognition by winning the World Series, the Super Bowl, and a string of titles in the National Basketball Association. But amateur sports also play a large role in the city's athletic traditions, especially in schools and youth leagues. In fourteen chapters, experts focus on multiple aspects of Chicago sports, including long looks at amateur boxing, the impact of gender and ethnicity in sports, the politics of horse racing and stadium building, the lasting scandal of the Black Sox, and the perpetual heartbreak of the Cubs. Well illustrated with forty photographs, this volume will help historians and sports fans alike appreciate the longstanding importance of sports in Chicago. Contributors are Peter Alter, Robin F. Bachin, Larry Bennett, Linda J. Borish, Gerald Gems, Elliott J. Gorn, Richard Kimball, Gabe Logan, Daniel A. Nathan, Timothy Neary, Steven A. Riess, John Russick, Timothy Spears, Costas Spirou, and Loic Wacquant.

The Crispus Attucks High School basketball teams of 1955 and 1956 made Indiana basketball history as the first all-black team to win a state championship and then as the first undefeated team ever to win the championship. The story of Oscar Robertson’s dedication to the game and of the unforgettable Attucks’s teams of the 1950s are told in this inspiring book that brings together race, joy, and achievement during a critical time in Indiana and American history. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

This book examines a range of visual expressions of Black Power across American art and popular culture from 1965 through 1972. It begins with case studies of artist groups, including Spiral, OBAC and AfriCOBRA, who began questioning Western aesthetic traditions and created work that honored leaders, affirmed African American culture, and embraced an African lineage. Also showcased is an Oakland Museum exhibition of 1968 called "New Perspectives in Black Art," as a way to consider if Black Panther Party activities in the neighborhood might have impacted local artists’ work. The concluding chapters concentrate on the relationship between selected Black Panther Party members and visual culture, focusing on how they were covered by the mainstream press, and how they self-represented to promote Party doctrine and agendas.

This groundbreaking collection challenges the accepted principles and practices of sport history and encourages sport historians to be more adventurous in their representations of the sporting past in the present. Encompassing a wide range of critical approaches, leading international sport historians reflect on theory, practice, and the future of sport history. They survey the field of sport history since its inception, examine the principles that have governed the production of knowledge in sport history, and address the central concerns raised by the postmodern challenge to history. Sharing a common desire to critique contemporary practices in sport history, the contributors raise the level of critical analysis of the production of historical knowledge, provide examples of approaches by those who have struggled with or adapted to the postmodern challenge, and open up new avenues for future sport historians to follow.