The second half of Ken Burns' Documentary: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson aired today. I already knew who he was but this show definitely added a lot to what I knew about both the man and the boxer. Like most great people, his story was at once humbling, inspiring and saddening (the rhyming in unintentional, I promise). This was a man who, in an age where black men could be assaulted or killed for even daring to speak out of turn, lived his life with a fearlessness that would be remarkable even today. The fact that he was somewhat troubled and made several unwise decisions does little to overshadow the magnitude of his achievements or the strength of his character. I, for one, salute him and hope I can one day learn to live my life with the same fearlessness.
R.I.P Jack Johnson, a giant among men
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