HISTORY + VIDEO: Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson

Arthur John (Jack) Johnson (1878 -1946) was the first black, and first Texan, to win the heavyweight boxing championship of the world. Born in Galveston on March 31, 1878, he was the second of six children of Henry and Tiny Johnson. Henry was a former slave and his family was poor. After leaving school in the fifth grade, Johnson worked odd jobs around South Texas. He started boxing as a sparring partner and fought in the “battles royal,” matches in which young blacks entertained white spectators who threw money to the winner.

Johnson turned professional in 1897 following a period with private clubs in Galveston. His family’s home was destroyed by the great hurricane of 1900. A year later he was arrested and jailed because boxing was a criminal profession in Texas. He soon left Galveston for good.

Johnson first became the heavyweight champion of Negro boxing. Jim Jeffries, the white champ at the time, refused to fight Johnson because he was black. Then, in 1908, Johnson knocked out Tommy Burns in Australia to become world champion, although he was not officially given the title until 1910 when he finally fought and beat Jeffries in Reno. Jeffries had come out of retirement to become the first of many so-called “great white hopes.”

Race rioting was sparked after the Johnson-Jeffries fight. The Texas Legislature banned films of his victories over whites for fear of more riots. In 1913, Johnson fled because of trumped up charges of violating the Mann Act’s stipulations against transporting white women across state lines for prostitution.

During his exile from the U.S., Johnson lost his championship to a white man, Jess Willard, in Cuba in 1915. He returned to the U.S. on July 20, 1920 and was arrested. Sentenced to Leavenworth in Kansas, Johnson was appointed athletic director of the prison. Upon his release, he returned to boxing, but only participated in exhibition fights after 1928.

Although married three times to white women, Johnson never had children. He died in a car crash June 10, 1946, near Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Johnson’s story is more than the story of a tremendous athlete, or even one who broke a color line,” said Ken Burns. “It is the story of a man who forced America to confront its definition of freedom, and that is an issue with which we continue to struggle.”

 

 

 

via liwi68.com

 

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Statue of famed boxer

Jack Johnson

sparks controversy


by Jaquen Castellanos | June 29, 2011

Galveston Texas is home to many wood statues carved out of trees killed in hurricane Ike. The newest addition to the family of carvings is a statue of the famed boxer and Galveston native Jack Johnson. This statue is a point of contention for some Hoak sub-division neighbors, who claim that it creates too much traffic in their residential area.

WATCH LOCALS COMMENTING ON THE STATUE’S PLACEMENT HERE

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Other home owners, like Helen Douglas, believe it is Johnson’s history that makes some want to re-locate the statue. When asked if she saw a problem with traffic due to the statue, Douglas replied “not at all, the way you see it right now is basically the way it is,” as she pointed to a nearly empty road. In 1908 Johnson became the first black man to earn the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World. He also ignored racial taboos by dating white woman in an era filled with racial violence.

Opponents of the statue’s placement were not readily available for comment, but homeowner Rory Prue did say that although he did not mind the statue, it might be better served elsewhere. Whether the statue will move or stay is now up to the Galveston housing authority.

 

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The Jack Johnson Community Park in Galveston, Texas will feature Adrienne Isom’s full-size bronze sculpture of Jack Johnson, the first African-American to win the world heavyweight boxing title. Image via GalvestonDailyNews.com.

Artist's sculpture of

boxing legend to be in park

named in his honor

From staff reports
The Galveston Daily News
April 15, 2012

GALVESTON — Adrienne Isom, of Austin, completed a life-size statue of Jack Johnson, which will be the focal point of a park honoring the island native who became the first African-American to win the world heavyweight boxing title. Isom, who has twice received a Texas Legislative Commendation for her work, heads Wax Track Gallery International, a nonprofit organization based in Austin and funded in part by the city of Austin Department of Economic Development and Texas Commission on the Arts since 1995, as well as Isom Enterprises, an industrial design and contracting business. 

Q: What did you like most about Jack Johnson?


A: He was an extraordinary man. He did such radical things with his life. He was well-read and a man of international intelligence. 

He was like few people who dared to challenge what he felt should be everyone’s rights — things that should not be inhibited because of laws and actions that did not reflect our constitution. 


Q: You mentioned that photographs show his weight fluctuated quite a bit.


A: Sometimes, he would be heavier than at other times. In studying Jack’s look, I saw he paid more attention to exercise and diet, according to how he valued a challenge of a particular opponent. I think he looked his best right before the world heavyweight bout.

Q: His boxing gloves look small by today’s standards. Did they use less padding back in the day?

A: If you examine the gloves they say were his, those gloves were of the later version and stuffed a bit more with horse hair. I discussed his gloves with quite a few professionals. The gloves you saw him with the most were the slimmer kind. I tossed back and forth on what look he should have physically, as well as the version of gloves he should be wearing before settling on the unstuffed version.

Q: You studied under John T. Biggers, who was a legend at Texas Southern. What did you get most from him?

A: His work ethic. Doc was an international legend. I kept in touch with him from to time. As a young adult, I asked him, “How does an artist become successful?” He replied, “You must work when you have nothing to do. Even when you don’t have a commission, you work.”

I continued every week remembering those words. For everyone, this is what people need to realize if they want to continue to polish their gifts or any profession.

Q: Who are your inspirations?

A: I was, and am, inspired my deceased father, Alton D. Rison, former principal (first, a history teacher for more than eight years), a national education curriculum specialist and playwright, who was a very busy professional but was equally a busy father who took great time to take me, along with my other two sisters, to every cultural event and historical site of any culture he could fill our time with. This helps me to have a maturity of understanding in how I see the world, enabling me also to go beyond many mental barriers in conducting business.

Q: Tell us about how you work.

A: I live in one room — the entire house is work space. I got this concept from an Asian woman here. I was creating a design for the Philippine American Society. When I went into her home and walked inside, I saw the living room was a business. The den was lined up with sewing machines where they made bulletproof vests. There was another room with another business.

I said to myself, “Now this is how you use space!”

People sit around dreaming and suffering financially all of the time in America. Many say they do not have enough money to open a business but have homes with rooms and garages.

They fill up the space with furniture to entertain a few friends five or six times a year. 

After visiting that lady, I spent my following years visiting my concept of what is the real importance of space and what was important to me. I got rid of a 6,000-square-foot studio I was renting, my living room furniture and other bedroom furniture.

Now, I use every inch of my living space, with the exception of my bedroom, which is off limits to sculpting and business projects.

The only other room that is not subject for a project is my workout room.

It is important.

Eventually, I built a two-story shop in the rear of my property, but it seems I never use it much.

Q: Why is the workout room important?

A: To do this type of work, you must stay in shape, having some sort of exercise program and keeping corrosive foods and drinks out of your body.

In this business, I am always up for question and asked subtlety by nearly everyone, “Where is the man who does this?”

When I say I am the sculptress or industrial artist, they just look and stare. You can see in their eyes they are thinking: “Well, that looks like really hard work. She does not look like she could do that.” 

People also need to know that whatever they do takes preparation, such as physical training and quality time spent thinking and researching their goals. It’s not just for football players.

What you do must become a part of who you are to master it. My profession is my sport, my entertainment and my friend.

 

Adrienne Isom. Image via GalvestonDailyNews.com

 

 

>via: http://blackartistnews.blogspot.com/2012/04/post-adrienne-isom-galveston-dail...