JOURNEY OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ATHLETE, THE: THE COURAGE TO TRY: 1875-1950 {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
This sports documentary examines black athletes' remarkable achievements on and off the field, from the post-Civil War era to the present. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, this program features interviews and comments from athletes and prominent community members, along with archival footage of the athletes.
In part one, highlights and personalities covered include the following, among others: the way sporting events acquired a whole new meaning after the Civil War; writer/historian Gerald Early, who comments on the shift in blacks' skilled labor, from plantations to horse stables; horse trainer Carl Sitgraves on the fact the first jockeys were black, especially early Kentucky Derby winners; the way wealthy black jockeys such as Isaac Murphy were methodically phased out of the sport; bicycle collector Leon Dixon on how bicycle racing became the sport of choice by the twentieth century; premiere racer Major Taylor, who was banned from riding in the U.S.; the way "separate but equal" became the norm by 1900; Jack Johnson's start in the predominantly white world of professional boxing; writer/historian Randy Roberts on how white fighters avoided fights with Johnson unless offered large sums of money; changes in Johnson's already-brash nature when he won the championship; Chicago resident Etta Moten Barnett, on how the black community responded to the fight between Johnson and former white champion James Jeffries; Johnson's legal problems with an all-white court system; the emergence of football player and actor Paul Robeson during Harlem's cultural Renaissance; Frederick Douglas "Fritz" Pollard, the first black running back to play in the Rose Bowl; the way the formation of the American Tennis Association (ATA) urged blacks to play in leisure sports; former ATA tournament player Eleese Thornton, who comments on the Depression's dire impact on the black community; Pittsburgh Crawfords player Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Pittsburgh Courier reporter Frank Bolden on why the Negro Baseball Leagues flourished during the Depression; Homestead Grays player Gene Benson on how barnstorming trips around the U.S. gave players a first-hand glimpse of segregation; former Brooklyn Dodgers player Don Newcombe on how players became legends in many towns; the reason Satchel Paige was considered the most popular player of his time; Sam Lacy, legendary sports editor of The Baltimore Afro-American, on watching black players compete against white major league players; baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who banned inter-league games and kept talented black players out of the major leagues; the way basketball was hardest hit by the Depression; Richard Lapchick, son of Boston Celtic Joe Lapchick, and former Renaissance Big 5 players William "Pops" Gates and John Isaacs, who comment on competition between the Rens and Celtics; differences in teams' styles as a way to optimize audience size; 1936 Olympic gold medalist John Woodruff on how Jesse Owens was the U.S. hope for gold medals in the Berlin games; Chester Thomas, friend of the Owens family, on the significance of Owens's performance on Nazi Germany and the U.S.; boxer Joe Louis's quiet demeanor, which made the champion a symbol for a united society; the political importance of the second fight between Louis and German boxer Max Schmeling; former Cleveland Browns player Paul Warfield on why the unwritten ban on black athletes was lifted in every sport except baseball; former Cleveland Browns player Marion Motley on playing both offense and defense in an all-white football league; the way Branch Rickey changed baseball forever; the way Jackie Robinson proved that blacks belonged in the sport; former Los Angeles Dodgers' bat boy Todd Parrott and sports journalist Dick Schaap on why introducing blacks in the majors ruined the Negro Leagues; Rickey's loss of control once Robinson and other black players like Roy Campanella and Newcombe stepped onto the field; and the amount of time to pass before every major league baseball team had at least one black player. Continues with T:42742.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: February 12, 1996 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:42741
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries; Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-Americans; Blacks in horse racing; Blacks in sports; Baseball; Boxing; Segregation; U S - Civil rights; African-American Collection - Sports
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ross Greenburg … Executive Producer
- Kendall Bridges Reid … Coordinating Producer
- Rick Bernstein … Senior Producer
- Leslie D. Farrell … Producer
- Paul H. Hutchinson … Producer
- Kendall Bridges Reid … Producer
- Denise A. Greene … Associate Producer
- James E. Reynolds … Researcher
- William C. Rhoden … Writer
- Michael Logan … Music by, Opening music performed by
- Ramsey Lewis … Composer
- Frane Lewis … Composer
- Samuel L. Jackson … Narrator
- Bob Kaliban … Narrator
- Cookie Ruffino … Narrator
- David Langston Smyrl … Narrator
- Hank Aaron
- Ali, Muhammad (See also: Clay, Cassius)
- Arthur Ashe
- Etta Moten Barnett
- Gene Benson
- Frank Bolden
- Ralph Boston
- Louise Brough
- Jim Brown
- Roy Campanella
- John Carlos
- Don Chaney
- Bud Collins
- Leon Dixon
- Gerald Early
- Dr. Harry Edwards
- Julius Erving
- Mae Faggs
- Curt Flood
- Gates, William "Pops"
- Nelson George
- Althea Gibson
- Joe Hammond
- Maggie Hathaway
- John Isaacs
- Kareem Abdul Jabbar
- Zina Garrison Jackson
- James Jeffries
- Jack Johnson
- K.C. Jones
- Michael Jordan
- Kirkland, Richard "Pee Wee"
- Sam Lacy
- Kenesaw Mountain Landis
- Joe Lapchick
- Ralph Lapchick
- Sidney Llewelyn
- Joe Louis
- Cheryl Miller
- Bobby Mitchell
- Marion Motley
- Isaac Murphy
- Arvella Myers
- Don Newcombe
- Jesse Owens
- Satchel Paige
- Todd Parrott
- Pollard, Frederick Douglas "Fritz"
- Radcliffe, Ted "Double Duty"
- Branch Rickey
- Randy Roberts
- Oscar Robertson
- Paul Robeson
- Eddie Robinson
- Frank Robinson
- Jackie Robinson
- Wilma Rudolph
- Bill Russell
- Sanders, Tom "Satch"
- Dick Schaap
- Max Schmeling
- Charlie Sifford
- George Simpkins
- O.J. Simpson
- Carl Sitgraves
- Tommie Smith
- Major Taylor
- Ed Temple
- Chester Thomas
- John Thompson
- Eleese Thornton
- Wyomia Tyus
- Peter Vecsey
- Paul Warfield
- John Woodruff