Pretend the ball is named Jim Crow

by Dorian Hairston | 28 June 2024
PAPERBACK
Categories: Individual poets
Joshua "Josh" Gibson (1911-1947) is a baseball legend - one of the greatest power hitters in the Negro Leagues, and in all of baseball history. At the height of his career, this trailblazing athlete suffered grueling physical ailments, lost his young wife who died giving birth to their twins, and endured years of Jim Crow-era segregation and discrimination - all the while breaking records on the ball field. Dorian Hairston's debut poetry collection explores the Black American experience through the lens of Gibson's life and seventeen-year baseball career, which culminated in his posthumous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Hairston brilliantly reconstructs the personas of Gibson and others in his orbit whose encounters with white supremacy interweave with the inevitability of losing loved ones. By alternating between the perspectives of Gibson, members of his family, and contemporary Black baseball players, Hairston captures the complexity and the pain of living under the oppressive weight of grief and racial discrimination. Emotive, prescient, and absorbing, these powerful poems address social change, culture, family, race, death, and oppression - while honoring and giving voice to Gibson and a voiceless generation of African Americans.
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Joshua "Josh" Gibson (1911-1947) is a baseball legend - one of the greatest power hitters in the Negro Leagues, and in all of baseball history. At the height of his career, this trailblazing athlete suffered grueling physical ailments, lost his young wife who died giving birth to their twins, and endured years of Jim Crow-era segregation and discrimination - all the while breaking records on the ball field. Dorian Hairston's debut poetry collection explores the Black American experience through the lens of Gibson's life and seventeen-year baseball career, which culminated in his posthumous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Hairston brilliantly reconstructs the personas of Gibson and others in his orbit whose encounters with white supremacy interweave with the inevitability of losing loved ones. By alternating between the perspectives of Gibson, members of his family, and contemporary Black baseball players, Hairston captures the complexity and the pain of living under the oppressive weight of grief and racial discrimination. Emotive, prescient, and absorbing, these powerful poems address social change, culture, family, race, death, and oppression - while honoring and giving voice to Gibson and a voiceless generation of African Americans.
In stock online
Extended Range: Delivery In 2-3 Working Days
Free delivery on this item
87 Reward Points

Any purchases for more than €10 are eligible for free delivery anywhere in the UK or Ireland!

€29.00
In stock online
Extended Range: Delivery In 2-3 Working Days
Free delivery on this item
87 Reward Points

Any purchases for more than €10 are eligible for free delivery anywhere in the UK or Ireland!

Categories: Individual poets

Product Description

Joshua "Josh" Gibson (1911-1947) is a baseball legend - one of the greatest power hitters in the Negro Leagues, and in all of baseball history. At the height of his career, this trailblazing athlete suffered grueling physical ailments, lost his young wife who died giving birth to their twins, and endured years of Jim Crow-era segregation and discrimination - all the while breaking records on the ball field. Dorian Hairston's debut poetry collection explores the Black American experience through the lens of Gibson's life and seventeen-year baseball career, which culminated in his posthumous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Hairston brilliantly reconstructs the personas of Gibson and others in his orbit whose encounters with white supremacy interweave with the inevitability of losing loved ones. By alternating between the perspectives of Gibson, members of his family, and contemporary Black baseball players, Hairston captures the complexity and the pain of living under the oppressive weight of grief and racial discrimination. Emotive, prescient, and absorbing, these powerful poems address social change, culture, family, race, death, and oppression - while honoring and giving voice to Gibson and a voiceless generation of African Americans.

Product Details

ISBN9780813198880

FormatPAPERBACK

PublisherTHE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY (28 June. 2024)

No. of Pages120

Weight163

Language English

Dimensions 216 x 140 x 4

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