Better than the Best (V Ethel Willis White Books)

These engaging and forthright interviews bring together the life stories of thirteen black athletes who have risen to the top rank of their sport. In revealing and fascinating detail, these athletes describe how they succeeded in the face of often daunting odds, some due to economic barriers and most the result of racist attitudes and practices. Many of the athletes included were the first African Americans to compete successfully in their sports, and their stories recall moments of pain, loneliness, and feelings of rejection. In the end, however, all express joy in the accomplishment of their goals and a determination to continue contributing to the societal transformation their efforts hastened.

Arthur Ashe Jr. (tennis)

Don Benning (wrestling)

Nikke Franke (fencing)

Ken Hudson (NBA referee)

Jennifer Johnson (Paralympics table tennis)

Sam Lacy (baseball and journalism)

Alan Page (football)

Maurice Smith (martial arts)

Mae Faggs Starr (track and field)

Wyomia Tyus (track and field)

Peter Westbrook (fencing)

Mal Whitfield (track and field)

Lenny Wilkens (basketball)

John C. Walter is professor emeritus of American ethnic studies, University of Washington. He is the author of The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones and Tammamy and coeditor (with Johnnella Butler) of Transforming the Curriculum: Ethnic Studies and Women's Studies. In 1953 he came to the United States from Jamaica on a track scholarship to Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Malina Iida is a student at William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai'i.