Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter

by Yohuru Williams (Author)

Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter
Reading Level: 6th — 7th Grade

An enthralling, eye-opening portrayal of this barrier-breaking American hero as a lifelong, relentlessly proud fighter for Black justice and civil rights.

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. A

ccording 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.


Kirkus Reviews

Starred Review
This thorough, expansive, and readable work is an essential addition to the body of literature about a well-known figure. Adds provocative nuances to the usual portrayals of a heroic American.

Review quotes

 
Yohuru Williams

Yohuru Williams is Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History and founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. The former chief historian of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, he appeared in Ken Burns's Jackie Robinson and was one of the hosts of Sound Smart, the History Channel's popular YouTube program. His educational videos on civil rights, social movements, and other historic events have garnered over 1 million views. He is the author of numerous books, including Teaching Beyond the Textbook, and he has appeared on a variety of media outlets, including ABC, CNN, MSNBC, HISTORY, BET, CSPAN, and NPR.

Michael G. Long
is the author or editor of books on civil rights, religion, and politics, including Jackie Robinson: A Spiritual Biography, which was selected as a best book of the year by Publishers' Weekly; Gay Is Good: The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny; Beyond Home Plate: Jackie Robinson on Life after Baseball; Martin Luther King, Jr., Homosexuality, and the Early Gay Rights Movement; and Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall. Long also served as an expert historian for Ken Burns's documentary on Jackie Robinson. He lives in Pennsylvania with his family.

Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780374389956
Lexile Measure
N/A
Guided Reading Level
N/A
Publisher
N/A
Publication date
September 20, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF018010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JNF053140 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Prejudice & Racism
JNF007110 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Social Activists
JNF025210 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/20th Century
JNF054010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Sports & Recreation | Baseball & Softball
Library of Congress categories
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