Joe Louis
Culture
Joe Louis’ decision to fight for the segregated Navy was deeply unpopular — until Pearl Harbor was bombed
Why was the heavyweight champ helping a service that kept Black men in the galley?
Culture
Richard Wright discovers Joe Louis’ dynamite
The author of ‘Native Son’ was strongly influenced by the boxer’s success
Culture
If you didn’t know, Aretha Franklin was a lifelong boxing fan
She watched Joe Louis growing up and was close friends with Muhammad Ali
Sports
When Joe Louis fought Schmeling, white America enthusiastically rooted for a black man
80 years ago, a heavyweight fight morphed into Roosevelt vs. Hitler, Democracy vs. Fascism and Good vs. Evil
Sports
Joe Louis KO’d white supremacy and Max Schmeling 80 years ago
The ‘Brown Bomber’ was black America’s hero before he became heavyweight champion
Sports
Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson’s Pittsburgh story
New book ‘Smoketown’ illuminates city’s impact on black history
Sports
The day Joe Louis became the first black golfer to play a PGA-sponsored tourney
By taking his fight to the press, Louis beat the PGA rule that limited tournament participation to golfers of ‘the Caucasian race’
Sports
50 greatest black athletes
We teamed up with SurveyMonkey for a public ranking of the 50 greatest black athletes of all time.
Andscape
Sports
The day Joe Louis defended his heavyweight title against Billy Conn
The 1946 bout was the first heavyweight fight broadcast on TV