Joe+Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow was an integral part of African American history. He helped to smash stereotypes, racism, and gain respect for African Americans. [|Joe Louis, The Brown Bomber], was said to be the greatest boxer who ever lived. He was the first African American athlete to become a superstar. Joseph Louis Barrow was born in Lafayette, Alabama on May 13, 1914. He was the son of s sharecropper and homemaker: [|Munroe] and [|Lillie Barrow]. Joe was the seventh of eight children. Joe was very young when his father, Munroe, was committed to an asylum because of a mental break down. His father later died in that hospital. Joe’s mother, Lillie, remarried Patrick Brooks who had several children of his own. Years later, in 1924, Lillie and Patrick moved their family to Detroit, Michigan; Joe was ten years old. A friend, Walter Smith introduced Joe into boxing. He began boxing at the Brewster East Side Gymnasium: a local recreation center on the east side of Detroit. He had a rocky start but he never gave up. By age nineteen Joe won the National Light Heavy Weight Amateur Crown of the Golden Gloves. He fought fifty-four fights: lost four by decision, won nine by decision, and forty-one by KO. Joe’s manager at that time, John Roxburough, thought that Joseph Louis Barrow was too long for a boxing name so he shortened it to simply Joe Louis. The shortened name was also to keep Joe’s mother from finding out he was boxing. In 1934 Joe turned too professional boxing. “In a time when his people were still subject to lynching, discrimination and oppression, when the military was segregated and African-Americans weren't permitted to play Major League Baseball, Joe Louis was the first African-American to achieve hero worship that was previously reserved for whites only. When he started boxing in the 1930s, there were no African-Americans in positions of public prominence, none who commanded attention from whites.”(**//Schwartz//** /2007) Joe remained undefeated for twenty bouts until he faced Max Schmelling June 1930. Joe was knocked out in the twelfth round. He fought 7 more bouts to earn a chance to fight for the title. In 1937 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, Joe fought the World Heavyweight Champion James J. Braddock. The fight lasted eight rounds. Joe knocked James out. As champion Joe said, “I don’t want nobody to call me until I beat Schmelling.” Joe became the second African American to win the Heavyweight title since [|Jack Johnson] in 1908. He was given a second chance to fight [|Max Schmelling] June 22, 1938. Schmelling was wrongfully portrayed as a Nazi because he was affiliated with Hitler. The fight was epic because it took on a broader meaning, Joe represented the free world and Max represented Nazi Germany. The whole world watched that fight. It took place at the Yankee Stadium. The fight was over just as quick as it started; Max was knocked out in the first round in two minutes and four seconds. The fight shocked Hitler and all of Germany - it was a devastating blow. The bout proved that no race is superior to the next. Joe went on to fight eighteen more bouts press nicknamed his appoints, “The bomb of the month club.” In 1942 Joe showed his patriot side and he joined the United States Army after the Pearl Harbor bombing. He was still the Heavyweight Champion; it was the peak of his career. He became a sergeant during the seven years he served in the army. Joe was not allowed to defend his title during his time served. He donated millions of dollars to the army and participated in almost 100 exhibition bouts for the army. At the end of WWII Joe was out the army. He defended the title four more times. In 1949 Joe retired from boxing as the undefeated heavyweight champion. Due to debt and financial problems Joe went back to the ring. In 1950 he fought Ezzard Charles and lost by decision, but he did not accept defeat. He opened himself to fight journeymen. In 1951 Joe fought [|Rocky Marciano] and was knocked out the ring in the eighth round; that was Joe’s last fight. Joe ended his career with one of the best fight records ever. In 1952 Joe played in the San Diego Open as an amateur golfer. Joe was the first African American to golf in a PGA event. To support himself and pay government debts he went on many game shows, he even became a pro wrestler. He later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked at Cesar’s as a casino greeter. Joe was permanently placed in a wheelchair 1977 because of a stroke that paralyzed his legs. In 1980 Joe was placed in the World Boxing Hall of Fame. He died at the age of sixty-six on April 12,1981 from heart failure. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Joe was married three times; Marva Trotter, Rose Morgan, and Martha Jefferson who is his widow was also the first African American to practice law in California. He left behind two children Jacquelin Barrow and Joseph Louis Barrow Jr. // “IMPORTANT QUOTES” // "He was our Sampson; he was our David. With toughness he destroyed our enemy, with kindness he soothed our wounds and revived our psyche." -- Jesse Jackson (Nolan/2007) "Joe never lost his common touch, his love of Detroit. He stood for everything that was good about Detroit." -- Coleman Young (Nolan/2007) "Our loss is Heaven's gain; he was a great fighter, and a great champion in and out of the ring. He was symbolic to all people, young and old, black and white.''-- Jersey Joe Walcott (Nolan/2007) "What my father did was enable white America to think of him as an American, not as a black," said his son, Joe Louis Jr. "By winning, he became white America's first black hero." (**//Schwartz//** /2007) “When some called Louis "a credit to his race," sportswriter Jimmy Cannon responded, "Yes, Louis is a credit to his race -- the human race." (**//Schwartz//** /2007) "Every Negro boy old enough to walk wanted to be the next Brown Bomber," said Malcolm X, then the leader of the militant Black Muslims.” (**//Schwartz//** /2007)  //Work Sited//

By Jenny Nolan. “The Brown Bomber -- The man behind The Fist.” Detnews.com/michiganhistory. © Copyright 2007 The Detroit News. All rights reserved. http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=52&CFID=10148321&CFTOKEN=77723630

http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016109.html
 * //By Larry Schwartz //** **“Brown Bomber' was a hero to all”**
 * ESPN.com ** Copyright ©2007 ESPN Internet Ventures.