- THE BLACK MAMBA: HOW I PLAY
The Mamba Mentality: How I Play is the late Kobe Bryant’s personal perspective of his life and career on the basketball court and his insightful style of playing the game. Bryant decided to share his vast knowledge and understanding of the game to take readers on an unprecedented journey to the core of the legendary “Mamba mentality.”
2. THE REVOLT OF THE BLACK ATHLETE
The Revolt of the Black Athlete revisits the revolts by athletes like Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos. It engages with the struggles of a present still rife with racism, double standards, and economic injustice. The author Henry Edwards moves his story forward to our era of protests, boycotts, and the dramatic politicization of athletes by Black Lives Matter. The Revolt of the Black Athlete is the still-essential study of the conflicts at the interface of sport, race, and society.
3. I NEVER HAD IT MADE: THE JACKIE ROBINSON
I Never Had It Made recalls Robinson’s early years and influences: his time at UCLA, his army stint during World War II, when he challenged Jim Crow laws and narrowly escaped court-martial; the challenges, on and off the field, with the Negro Leagues. It reveals the highs and lows of Robinson’s life after baseball. He recounts his political aspirations and civil rights activism; his friendships with Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, William Buckley, Jr., and Nelson Rockefeller; and his troubled relationship with his son, Jackie, Jr.
4. THINGS THAT MAKE WHITE PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE
Michael Bennett is a Super Bowl Champion, a three-time Pro Bowl defensive end, a fearless activist, a feminist, a grassroots philanthropist, an organizer, and a change maker.
Bennett adds his thoughts to the discussions of racism and police brutality, Black athletes and their relationships to powerful institutions like the NCAA and the NFL, the role of protest in history, and the responsibilities of athletes as role models to speak out against injustice. He follows in the footsteps of activist-athletes from Muhammad Ali to Colin Kaepernick.
5. MICHAEL JORDAN: THE LIFE
Basketball journalist Roland Lazenby spent nearly thirty years covering Michael Jordan’s career in college and the pros. He witnessed Jordan’s growth from a rookie to the globally recognizable ambassador for basketball whose business savvy and success have millions of kids still wanting to be just like Mike.