Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

John Arthur Johnson became the first black Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World in 1908. The controversial figure spawned the search for the "Great White Hope" to take the title away from Johnson in the ring, but it was the law that dealt the “Galveston Giant” his biggest blow. Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act for having a consensual relationship with a white woman across state lines. Now Senator John McCain and Representative Peter King are championing the champ by asking the first African American President to posthumously pardon the first African American Heavyweight Champion.

The post Jack Johnson appeared first on Larry Roibal.