On the Black Superhero Blog has a very interesting post about a real historical person: Jack Johnson. He was the world's first celebrity Black Athlete. Without him, there would be no Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordon or Venus Williams or Serena Williams. I dare say there would be no NFL or NBA as we know them (if at all) today. I remember talking about him briefly in history class in high school. He was truly undefeated and lived his life the way he wanted (including dating white women) and did not cowtow to white people who hated him because he was black. I heard that when he retired and threw his last fight. He laid on the ground and shield the sun from his eyes as he was counted out.I think it was because of his attitude and self-respect that made the American power structure fear him so much. This is why great pains has been taken to make sure that there would never be another black man like him. If you notice anytime a black man becomes greatly successful, something happens to either humble him before society if not outright destroy him. Look at Muhammad Ali. At the top of his game, the government tried to draft him for Vietnam and when he refused he wasn't allowed to compete anymore for a time. I think they hoped that when he came back he would never be successful again (they were wrong). Look at Michael Vick (I'm not condoning dog fighting), his career in football has been halted and almost destroyed. Kobe Bryant almost lost his career due to legal problems also. The list goes on and on. It seems like a concerted effort to destroy these men before they begin to look at themselves the way Jack Johnson looked at himself. The sad thing is that today these black celebrities are being caught doing things that they shouldn't be doing and I although one might argue that they are being set up to fail, they are still allowing themselves to be caught up.
I digress. The post has a great link to an online comic that serves as a biography for Jack Johnson.
Black Superhero Blog: Black, Jack Johnson
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