This dual biography highlights the transformative influence of Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith, two journalists who changed American sport and society through their calls to desegregate Major League Baseball and recognize Black baseball players.
In a decade-long battle, Lacy and Smith tirelessly advocated for the inclusion of Black players in the major leagues, reporting in the Baltimore Afro-American and Pittsburgh Courier, respectively. Both sports writers covered players in the Negro Leagues, following off-season games in places like Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. In 1947, Lacy’s and Smith’s work helped break through MLB’s racial barriers when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. Over the coming years, Lacy and Smith, on individual career trajectories but sharing a common goal, would report on the dissolution of the Negro Leagues and future MVPs such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Elston Howard. The book considers the lasting legacies of these sports journalists, both recognized in the writers’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Through its thoughtful analysis of Lacy and Smith’s groundbreaking impact on America’s pastime, this book will appeal to students and general readers interested in sports history and journalism and Afro-American history.
Table of Contents:
Part 1: Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith 1. Coming of Age: Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith 2. Negro Leagues: A Response to the MLB Lockout 3. Stalling, Then Jackie Robinson’s Breakthrough, 1946 4. Robinson and Montreal Royals: Dodger Blues 5. Jackie Fights Back; Wendell's Boxing Beat 6. Wendell Smith and Chicago TV; Sam Lacy’s Long-Distance Run to the 21st Century Part 2: Documents
About the Author :
Wayne Dawkins is a professor of professional practice at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He is the author of biographies of politician Emanuel Celler and voting rights activist Andrew W. Cooper. Dawkins was a journalist at four daily newspapers for a quarter century before transitioning to academia two decades ago.
Review :
“With meticulous research and lucid prose, Wayne Dawkins has given us a well-deserved tribute to the role that Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith, two pioneering Black sportswriters, played in the rise of Jackie Robinson. But this compelling book doesn’t stop there. It’s also an ode to the golden era of Black newspapers and Negro League baseball, and a testament to everything that was gained—and lost—with the integration of American sports and media.”
Mark Whitaker, author of Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance and Saying It Loud: 1966-The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement
“I stand on the notebooks of Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith. Though working for competing Black publications, they conspired—unintentionally most likely—to shame and shatter baseball's race barrier, opening the gates for myriad Black players to excel in the majors. Make no mistake: ‘Baseball’ did not eliminate its color barrier, Lacy and Smith did. They also cleared the path for generations of Black journalists to not just "cover" sports but challenge its racist ways—challenge it to change, and change America."
Roy S. Johnson, co-author of Magic's Touch with Earvin Johnson, Outrageous! with Charles Barkley, and Aspire Higher with Avery Johnson
“This is like a major stage production. Wayne Dawkins presents us with overlapping tales from early-to late twentieth century Black journalism, and sports is the backdrop, with an early focus on the crass racism of ‘America's favorite pastime,’ baseball. Key characters in the book are Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith, now deceased Black journalists who displayed singular courage and talents over the past century. Dawkins' well researched accounts can bring one to tears even as they inspire hope.”
Ron Howell, retired Brooklyn College Associate Professor, veteran journalist, and author of King Al: How Sharpton Took the Throne (2021); Boss of Black Brooklyn: The Life and Times of Bertram L. Baker (2019); and One Hundred Jobs: A Panorama of Work in the American City (2000)
"The author fleshes out the tense racial politics of the 1930s and ’40s in densely documented pages (the book has extensive notes and a bibliography) and fills his narrative with many notable personalities of the period. Dawkins also excels at bringing his two main subjects to life, skillfully distilling the bite and acerbity of their writings and capturing their voices. Much like its subjects, the book strikes a fine balance between baseball and civil rights."
Kirkus Indie (Kirkus Reviews) - Named one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Indie History & Biography Books of 2024
"The author crafts a dramatic, detailed narrative that captures the trials and tribulations of the pair, highlights their charismatic journalistic stylings, and balances the legitimate oppression and strife that people of color faced in America from the 1930s through the height of the civil rights movement. Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith: The Dynamic Duo That Desegregated American Sports will be a worthwhile inclusion for scholars interested in the civil rights, race, and/or the evolution of sports journalism."
Jason Peterson, American Journalism, 42(1), 92–94
