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.

Discusses the life and boxing career of Jack Johnson.

Art and poetry combine to tell the story of boxer Jack Johnson, who became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion in the early part of the twentieth century.

When Jack Johnson defeated white heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries in 1910, it was America's notions of racial superiority that staggered under his blows. Amid riots and lynchings, the search began for the Great White Hope who could put the "uppity" new champion in his place. Here is the startling true story of the most famous--and most hated--black American of his day. "Papa Jack" takes us into a violent and sordid world. It is an astonishing tale of black defiance--and white retribution--set against the dramatic canvas of sports and spectacle in Jim Crow America.

Where so many rock biographies tell the same story, Jack Johnson's is a true exception.

A typical family—husband, wife and two children—were thrust into a life of uncertainty when their youngest son, Jack, was diagnosed with autism. Together, the family navigated a new reality they could not perceive while guiding Jack through a world his mind struggled to comprehend. Their hardest trial, however, came when Jack was diagnosed with brain cancer as a teen. MY NAME IS JACK JOHNSON, BUT I’M NOT THE SINGER is the story of a family’s love, perseverance, and determination in the face of unpredictable difficulties. Through Jill Johnson’s journal writings and memories, we get an insightful view into autism, childhood cancer, and the strength of a unique young man. Often touching, sometimes funny, and occasionally heartbreaking, this memoir is Jack’s walk through a life well-lived, not because of adversity, but in spite of it.

To some, Jack Johnson was uppity. To others, he was a troublemaker. He was really an extraordinary man who wanted to be treated like a normal man. But White America wouldn't do it....