On the morning of July 4, 1910, thousands of rabid fans stormed a newly built stadium in Reno, Nevada, to bear witness to the “Battle of the Century.” At the height of the Jim Crow era, Jack Johnson, the world’s first Black heavyweight champion—and most infamous athlete in the world because of his race—was paired against Jim Jeffries, a former heavyweight champion then heralded as the “great white hope,” who could restore the racial hierarchy that Johnson had shattered. Offering front-row seats to this historic showdown, artist Youssef Daoudi and poet Adrian Matejka intersperse dramatic boxing action with vivid flashbacks to reveal how Johnson, the self-educated son of emancipated slaves, reached the pinnacle of sports—all while facing down a racist justice system. Through the legerdemain of breathtaking illustrations and soul-numbing verse, Last on His Feet restores dignity to a contentious civil rights figure who has for more than a century been denied his proper due.
- ISBN10 1631495585
- ISBN13 9781631495588
- Publish Date 21 March 2023
- Publish Status Forthcoming
- Publish Country US
- Publisher WW Norton & Co
- Imprint Liveright Publishing Corporation
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 336
- Language English