African-American athletes have played a significant role in the development and popularity of American professional sports, and have encountered numerous obstacles on the road to athletic success. This is the first comprehensive multi-sport biographical dictionary of African Americans who reached the pinnacles of success in their sport. It contains more personal and career profiles of African-American sports greats than are found in any other single source. Biographical profiles of 166 noted athletes, coaches, and administrators in team and individual sports include both Ristorical figures such as Jesse Owens and Satchel Paige and contemporary stars such as Charles Barkley, Ken Griffey, Jr., Michael Jordan, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Shaquille O'Neal, and Emmitt Smith. Forty-four sports historians contributed the colorfully written biographies, which blend both personal background information and athletic career accomplishments. All information is current through the middle of 1995. The dictionary covers the contributions made by African-American greats in football, baseball, basketball, track and field, boxing, wrestling, auto and stock car racing, golf, thoroughbred racing, tennis, cycling, and figure skating. More than two-thirds of the entries represent team sports. The dictionary is organized alphabetically by person. Each colorfully written profile is 800-1,000 words in length and traces the subject's personal life, family and educational background, personal struggles, career accomplishments, records set, statistical data, awards and honors, and overall impact; and features lively quotations by and about the sports luminaries. Each entry contains a handy bibliography of books and articles about the subject. Biographies of managers, coaches, and club executives describe their teams, statistical achievements, accomplishments, strategy, and sports impact. A general introduction traces the historic struggle of African-American athletes in professional and Olympic sports and appendices provide alphabetical listings of biographical entries and entries by sport. A selection of photos complement the profiles. For the sports fan or librarian, this is a first stop for biographical information that captures the personality of the athlete and includes all the pertinent information about his or her accomplishments. It is an essential addition to the reference sections of junior high, high school, and public libraries.

A Treasury of Hundreds of Books that Help Boys Grow and Flourish "Images-strong, proud and happy, brave, and now also humorous . . . what a joy it is to see black faces of all shades in our children's books."-Doug E. Doug, Actor, The Bill Cosby Show "As a child . . . I wish there had been more books that reflected my world and my interests."-Earl G. Graves, Chairman, Publisher, and CEO, Black Enterprise magazine How do you know which books are the best for boys at every age? Now, two of the mothers who founded the esteemed Black Books Galore!-the nation's leading organizer of African American children's book festivals-and the authors of the highly acclaimed Black Books Galore! Guide to Great African American Children's Books, share their expert advice. Let BBG! help you open the door to a wonderful world of reading for the boys in your life. Invaluable for parents, teachers, and librarians, this easy-to-use, delightfully illustrated reference guide features: * Quick, lively descriptions of over 350 books * Hundreds of young black heroes and positive role models * Reflections from kids, famous authors, illustrators, and public figures about their favorite childhood books * Easy-to-find listings organized by age level and indexed by title, topic, author, and illustrator * Recommended reading for parents of boys "This is a great resource that fills a tremendous need. It should be on parents' shelves at home as well as in every school."-Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D., Harvard Medical School, on Black Books Galore! Guide to Great African American Children's Books

This two-volume set features 400 articles on African-Americans in sports, including biographical entries as well as entries on events, tournaments, leagues, clubs, films, and associations. The entries cover all professional, amateur, and college sports such as baseball, tennis, and golf.

On the court and on the field they are the world?s winners, exhibiting a natural grace and prowess their adoring fans can only dream about. Yet so often, off the field our sports heroes lose their perspective, their balance, and ultimately their place. In a work as timely as the latest fracas on the basketball court or the most recent drug-induced scandal in the dugout, Stanley H. Teitelbaum looks into the circumstances behind many star athletes? precipitous fall from grace. ø In his psychotherapy practice, Teitelbaum has worked extensively with professional athletes and sports agents?work he draws on here for insight into the psyche of sports figures and the off-the-field challenges they face. Considering both historical and current cases, he shows how, in many instances, the very factors that elevate athletes to superstardom contribute to their downfall. An evenhanded and honest look at athletes who have faltered, Teitelbaum?s work helps us see past our sports stars? exalted images into what those images?and their frailty?say about our society and ourselves.

Firsthand sources are brought together to illuminate the diversity of American history in a unique way—by sharing the perspectives of people of color who participated in landmark events. This invaluable, four-volume compilation is a comprehensive source of documents that give voice to those who comprise the American mosaic, illustrating the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Each volume focuses on a major racial/ethnic group: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Latinos. Documents chosen by the editors for their utility and relevance to popular areas of study are organized into chronological periods from historical to contemporary. The collection includes eyewitness accounts, legislation, speeches, and interviews. Together, they tell the story of America's diverse population and enable readers to explore historical concepts and contexts from multiple viewpoints. Introductions for each volume and primary document provide background and history that help students understand and critique the material. The work also features a useful primary document guide, bibliographies, and indices to aid teachers, librarians, and students in class work and research.

This book profiles 24 athletes who overcame seemingly insurmountable medical odds to attain athletic success. Each profile describes the athlete's problem, the medical issues he or she faced, how success was achieved despite the setback, and the personal qualities that helped the athlete to prevail. Part I features 15 athletes who dealt with diseases and physical disabilities, including Babe Didrikson Zaharias (cancer), Ron Santo (diabetes), Gail Devers (Graves' disease), Alonzo Mourning (kidney disease), Wilma Rudolph (polio), Scott Hamilton (a pancreatic disorder in childhood) and Jimmy Abbott (born with one hand). Part II highlights nine athletes who dealt with near-fatal or life-changing accidents and injuries, including Bill Toomey, Three-Finger Brown, Greg LeMond, Lou Brissie and Tommy John.

Hold it! You really think we can come up with 50 greatest sports heroes? Well, we can and we have. Our heroes are not simply limited to the most popular spectator sports. On occasion our heroes go back several generations, not just to the names in the papers or the sports talk shows. Who are they? Well, certainly Jordan, Woods and Ming...but are you old enough to remember Max Schmeling or George Best? There are a lot more where they come from...skiers, cyclists, golfers and runners-all the best and more. What did they do and why are they great? The book offers: a quick, personal biography of each of our famous athletes; summary statistics of some of the most important successes; the good, the bad and the ugly of their sports careers; why these individuals went on to influence their sport; and trivia questions to challenge your knowledge and more.

African Americans have been participating in sports in the United States since the 19th century -- long before many whites accepted them in this context. Since World War II, they have become recognized as competitors in such diverse fields as baseball, boxing, football, track and field, gymnastics, tennis, and golf. The change from whites-only participation to black dominance in many sports did not come painlessly or without the remarkable perseverance of individual athletes. From the early years to the present day, an impressive array of blacks have achieved success as athletes. This book profiles more than 155 athletes. Each enlightening biographical entry concentrates on the events in that person's life related to his or her accomplishments as an athlete and includes a list of further reading on that person. An introduction, bibliography, subject indexes, general index, and 50 photographs round out the resource. Book jacket.

Research on African American athletes generally fo-cuses on negative stereotypes of physical prowess, and socially controversial themes. Most studies in-vestigate racism, prejudice, discrimination, and ex-ploitation experienced by African American athletes. Many studies contrast African American and white athletes on a number of variables that support pre-vailing elitist stereotypes and denigrate African Ameri-can athletes. But few studies investigate the diverse and complex cultural dichotomies within the infrastruc-ture of sport in the African American community. Gary Sailes maintains that it is crucial to develop a more eclectic and immersed cultural approach when investigating African American involvement in com-petitive sports. The contributors to 'African Americans in Sports' show that there are also intrinsic cultural paradigms that are evident, presenting an informa-tive and interesting narrative regarding African American athletes. The chapters that make up this volume were written by noted scholars who were selected based on their expertise in their specific academic areas. They write about different components of the experience of African American male athletes. Chapters and contributors include: "Race and Athletic Performance: A Physiological Review" by David W. Hunter; "The Athletic Dominance of African Americans--Is There a Genetic Basis?" by Vinay Harpalani; "African American Player Codes on Celebration, Taunting, and Sportsmanlike Conduct" by Vernon L. Andrews; and "Stacking in Major League Baseball" by Earl Smith and C. Keith Harrison. Many chapters were originally published as a special issue of the 'Journal of African American Men.' This volume should be read by all those involved in athletics, as well as by sports sociologists and African American studies scholars.

Compared to the early decades of the 20th century, when scholarly writing on African Americans was limited to a few titles on slavery, Reconstruction, and African American migration, the last thirty years have witnessed an explosion of works on the African American experience. With the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s came an increasing demand for the study and teaching of African American history followed by the publication of increasing numbers of titles on African American life and history. This volume provides a comprehensive bibliographical and analytical guide to this growing body of literature as well as an analysis of how the study of African Americans has changed.