Call Him Jack
The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter
ISBN10: 0374389950
ISBN13: 9780374389956
Hardcover
240 Pages
$19.99
CA$26.99
According to Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson was “a sit-inner before the sit-ins, a freedom rider before the Freedom Rides.” According to Hank Aaron, Robinson was a leader of the Black Power movement before there was a Black Power movement. According to his wife, Rachel Robinson, he was always Jack, not Jackie—the diminutive form of his name bestowed on him in college by white sports writers. And throughout his whole life, Jack Robinson was a fighter for justice, an advocate for equality, and an inspiration beyond just baseball.
From prominent Robinson scholars Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long comes Call Him Jack, an exciting biography that recovers the real person behind the legend, reanimating this famed figure’s legacy for new generations, widening our focus from the sportsman to the man as a whole, and deepening our appreciation for his achievements on the playing field in the process.
Reviews
Praise for Call Him Jack
“A pugnacious civil rights advocate who also happened to be a great athlete . . . Williams and Long chronicle [Robinson's] athletic achievements . . . but look beyond them to portray him as a 'relentless and uncompromising Black freedom fighter' who 'used his racial pride to fuel his lifelong passion for justice' . . . Thorough, expansive, readable [and] essential . . . Adds provocative nuances to the usual portrayals of a heroic American.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Reviews from Goodreads
BOOK EXCERPTS
Read an Excerpt
ONETAKING THE FREEDOM TRAIN
It was hog-butchering day, and Mallie Robinson was excited. Perhaps Jerry would bring home a slab of bacon, some juicy ham, or a tender rack of ribs. Even part of a shoulder, along with a few feet and knuckles,...