Modern athletes and their moment

For the better part of 50 years, my father has tried to get me to feel the power of what he called a Joe Louis moment. Louis, the former heavyweight champion of the world, was the first universally embraced black American hero. In a time of war, Louis united a divided country, not by words but with deeds. My father frequently described happy street scenes in Chicago and New York after Louis won a big fight. Now 91, my father holds on to vivid memories of exactly where he was 70 years ago, June 22, 1938, when Louis defeated the German heavyweight Max Schmeling in a grand rematch at Yankee Stadium. I've seen photographs of those happy faces, watched documentaries, read books about it. But on Tuesday night, I finally understood. After Barack Obama's victory in the presidential election, I felt what my father described as that... [read full story]