Jack Johnson's Struggles, Value, and Impact

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by apollack, Dec 6, 2018.



  1. apollack

    apollack Boxing Addict Full Member

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    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1949783006/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i5


    Book Offers Comprehensive Overview of Boxer Jack Johnson, Posthumously Pardoned by President Trump


    Arrested in 1912 for violating the White-Slave Traffic Act, Johnson was the first black man to fight for and win the world heavyweight championship; he continues to retain tremendous symbolic significance for those who care about racial equality.


    Being pardoned by the president of the United States is a big deal. Even though it happened posthumously for Jack Johnson, the world’s first black heavyweight champion, boxing fans all over the world celebrated.


    Those fans as well as historians, sociologists, and everyone who loves a good tale will be gratified to read the newly published biography by Adam J. Pollack titled Black Man vs. The World: Jack Johnson’s Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs, a thorough and detailed immersion into Johnson’s struggles, victories, and significance to whites and blacks throughout the world.


    The book recounts Johnson’s life and fights based on multiple local next-day primary sources, archival documents, and hundreds of rare photographs, cartoons, and advertisements. Pollack follows Johnson’s path from a struggling poverty-stricken youth to a contender battling against the color line, lobbying for a title shot he had earned, to the world heavyweight championship itself, his reign, and the monumental efforts to find a white fighter capable of defeating him.


    Throughout the book, print and photographic excerpts from both black- and white-owned newspapers offer a plethora of perspectives and context about race both in and out of the ring. The book chronicles racial incidents, lynchings, riots, analysis of the significant racial impact of Johnson’s achievements, religious and racial objections and arguments, legal battles, and obstacles Johnson and the sport of boxing faced, including fight film bans. It also includes Johnson’s criminal trial for violating the White-Slave Traffic Act based on the actual trial transcript, as well as his battle for the right to defend his crown in England, which Winston Churchill and others prevented.


    Pollack comments, “I often have found that boxing books lack the detail, thoroughness, authenticity, and multiple perspectives from primary sources that I seek. As far as Jack Johnson goes, I wanted to fill the holes in history and answer my unresolved questions. This book offers a fresh, unique, and thorough perspective regarding Jack Johnson's life, boxing career, and the world in which he lived.”


    Black Man vs. The World is a revised and condensed version of In the Ring with Jack Johnson with parts I and II combined. 658 pages. 6x9, soft cover, over 300 photos, illustrations, cartoons, and advertisements, and over 1,000 footnotes. $29.95.


    Author: Adam J. Pollack is a boxing judge and referee, attorney, and member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He has authored several books on boxing, including his “In the Ring” series.
     
  2. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    All his books are top notch.I am sure this will be no exception!
     
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  3. FrankinDallas

    FrankinDallas Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Johnson admitted to transporting a woman for purposes of sex during his trial. .the woman also testified to that fact. So he was guilty of a crime under the Mann act which was passed by Congress in 1910, three years before Johnson's trial. He deserved his jail sentence. People make him out to be a scapegoat when it's completely untrue.
     
  4. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Buy the book!
     
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  5. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    Will we ever see Adam do a Dempsey book? He can skip right over Willard.
     
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  6. apollack

    apollack Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I obtained the actual trial transcript, so the book contains the actual testimony and evidence admitted at trial. Readers will be able to determine for themselves how they feel about the verdict. Also discussed in the book is something few discuss, if ever, which is the appellate court's ruling.