Monday, May 23, 2011

The Galveston Giant...


If you're not familiar with boxer Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, may I take a moment and recommend you go look him up. Even if you don't care for the sport and are somehow immune to interest in civil rights struggles, I'm sure Jack's larger-than-life style of living will be more than enough to keep you interested. The white boxing community threw anything it could at the "Galveston Giant" (I'm not sure that it's merely coincidental that Jack was from Texas) trying to take the title away from him, but Jack held onto it until 1915. It would be 20 years before another black boxer, Joe Louis, would be allowed to compete for it. By then, times had changed, and Louis' reign as champ was heralded by many and even used as anti-Nazi propaganda. In any event, I had fun drawing the big, smug galoot.

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